After three episodes we’re starting to get a handle on where WandaVision is going. With the first two episodes set almost solely within the weird world where Wanda and her android lover are trapped, we pieced together some clues. And the third episode confirmed some of our wildest suspicions as well as ending with proof that there’s another world out there. But if you’re still confused we’re here to help. See, the key to Wanda’s situation is her neighbors. After episode three, we know that Agnes and Herb seem to also be trapped in the strange world and are somewhat aware of their situation. And we think we know why.
So here’s who we think the real cast of WandaVision is: an impressive who’s who of magic users from the Marvel Universe.
Agnes – Agatha Harkness
Yes, we’ve been chomping at this bit ever since we first saw Kathryn Hahn in a witch’s hat. But this is almost certainly a fact at this point. Everything from her connection with Wanda to her iconic brooch points to Agnes being the Marvel Universe’s resident witch. If we think of Westview as a holding cell for the magic characters, Agnes/Agatha would likely have been the first one that they picked up, which is why she’s the caring matriarch of the town. But seeing as in the comics she’s also an ancient witch, she might not have been able to achieve what the villainous overseers wanted: the creation of magic babies. Think about episode two and the refrain of “For the Children” which ended with Wanda becoming pregnant. Maybe the weapons that the baddies want aren’t just the magic users but also what they can create.
Phil Jones – Phil Jones
Phil Jones exists either as a huge WandaVision easter egg or an even bigger red herring. In the comics, Phil Jones is a non-magic user with a very magical wife. And that makes his inclusion massively important, because in episode three we get confirmation that Phil is Dottie’s husband. That means Westview’s resident busy body Dottie is very likely to be…
Dottie – Arcanna Jones / Moonglow
Disney+
It is so good to be able to finally write about this. Ever since Phil Jones popped up, it seemed like Arcanna might become another magical WandaVision supporting character. But we like to have evidence before we put these theories out there. And thanks to WandaVision episode three, we now know that the creative team has either laid out some very exciting breadcrumbs or that they are enjoying messing with us. If we’re right though, Emma Caulfield could become a serious player in the future of the MCU. So who is Arcanna? And why does she matter?
First appearing in Defenders #112, Arcanna is part of the superhero team known as the Squadron Supreme. Marvel introduced the group as a Marvel version of DC’s Justice League, with Arcanna representing Zatanna. Her magical powers are naturally occurring although she’s not a mutant. But the most interesting thing here is the fact that the team is from an alternate universe: Arcanna is a multiverse hero. With WandaVision leading directly into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, this inclusion seems significant. Could it be that whoever’s controlling the dimension the heroes are all trapped in has accessed multi-dimensional heroes? It should also be noted that, in the comics, the Squadron Supreme battled the Avengers before becoming somewhat allied with them. That would be an intriguing way to set up a future conflict.
Baby drama?
Another interesting tidbit about Arcanna in the context of WandaVision is that she and Phil have two daughters. With the “For the Children” refrain seeming to be so important, could it be that she and Phil have already had their children taken away from them by the overseers? Maybe that’s why when we first meet Phil, he’s being fired from the job which Vision is being hired for? Were his and Arcanna’s children not powerful enough to satisfy the people in charge? Or did Dottie and Phil make a deal that they could get their daughters back if they found new parents and offspring to replace them? It would explain why Dottie was leading the events of episode two and seemed so eager for the talent show to go perfectly… “For the Children.”
Herb – The High Evolutionary
Disney+
Another near-certain magic Marvel character is Herb. The amiable neighbor who we saw scheming with Agnes in episode three shares a name with a scientist who played a vital part in Wanda’s comic book backstory. First introduced in The Mighty Thor #134, Herbert Edgar Wyndham is an ambitious and driven scientist who cracked the genetic code. It’s this secret that sets him on the dangerous path of moving to Mount Wundagore and creating a cabal of genetically modified animals called New Men. One of these evolved animals, Bova, delivered Pietro and Wanda as babies. While this might sound a little outlandish, episode two was filled with easter eggs hinting at this part of Wanda’s past and it would make sense that HYDRA and/or A.I.M. would need a scientist in their quest to turn magic users into dangerous potentially world-ending weapons.
In the comics, the High Evolutionary also creates his own secondary Earth. That means he too could be another hero pulled from an alt-dimension or universe. Herb also has a connection to the Soul Gem and Adam Warlock. In the pages of Marvel lore, Herbert was the one who gave Warlock the Soul Gem, which sat on the hero’s forehead. The MCU’s version of Vision is heavily influenced by the comics’ Warlock, with the Mind Stone replacing the Soul Gem. And if we consider that Wanda might still be behind WandaVision, there’s a chance she located the scientist to try and help her fix Vision and potentially relocate the Mind Stone.
Geraldine – Monica
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Just in case you aren’t already a huge Teyonah Parris fan and haven’t been following her every MCU move, we’re including Geraldine here. The woman who was brave enough to talk to Wanda about her past only to find herself flung through space and time is actually Monica Rambeau. Last seen in Captain Marvel as a cool little kid, she’s now an agent of S.W.O.R.D. We think she was sent to secure Wanda but got a little too personal and the Scarlet Witch ejected her. We’ll have to wait until episode four to see if that part of the theory is right.
So What Are They All Doing There?
Disney+
Here’s our hypothesis: someone is collecting all of the MCU’s magic characters and is trapping them in a pocket-dimension prison. Episode two established the likelihood of the involvement of HYDRA and A.I.M. How, you ask? The final moments of the episode featured a beekeeper, which in the comics is the casual term for agents of the Nazi soldiers’ science division. So what would HYDRA and their science arm A.I.M. want with magic characters? Look back at the creation of Wanda and Pietro in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Remember the MCU’s nefarious Nazi, Baron von Strucker? The one who used Loki’s scepter to magically give the Maximoffs powers? In the comics, he is the creator of A.I.M. and the beekeepers whose main aim is creating dangerous weapons. And wouldn’t a roster of magically powered heroes be great weapons to have?
Who is Really Behind it all?
Disney+
As we mentioned earlier, there’s also the chance that HYDRA is using the magic characters to create naturally occurring magic users… or mutants, in the form of their offspring. If that is the case, then Wanda and Vision are in trouble as their sons Tommy and Billy are incredibly powerful. And in the context of the show, they’ll likely age at an alarmingly fast rate. A.I.M. has always been most concerned with creating nefarious tools of destruction. For example, in the comics they created the Cosmic Cube.
In the MCU, we know A.I.M. isn’t above human experimentation. So would breeding babies as weapons really be much of a reach? There’s also a lot of precedent for that sort of thing in the pages of Marvel Comics’ most famed team, the X-Men. That is, of course, the series where Wanda hails from originally and who we know will join the MCU at some point in the future. So could the real people behind this be Weapon X?
The X-Men?
Marvel
While it’s unlikely we’ll get a direct link to the notorious mutant experimentation program right now, setting up mad scientist villains established the groundwork to introduce mutants in the future. Especially as in the world of the MCU Wanda and Pietro are not mutants but instead genetically enhanced humans. With the big bads of WandaVision still not fully revealed, there is a chance we’ll see a reference or nod to X-Men affiliated groups like Department K or the Facility, organizations that ran the Weapon X program in the comics. This seems particularly likely with the news that Deadpool—who was a victim of the program— will be joining the MCU.
Seeing as we’re also getting into multiverse territory and we have several potential multiverse characters here, maybe a shadowy government organization, such as S.W.O.R.D., has been enlisted to collect the multiverse’s magic characters. After all the HYDRA/A.I.M stuff could be Wanda’s trauma resurfacing. And it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that here S.W.O.R.D. stands for Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Department. The W stood for World in the comics. And yet, in WandaVision we have a special government org just for finding sentient weapons.
The Madness of the Multiverse
Marvel Comics
The multiverse magic characters route would be an easy way to introduce both mutants—who have never existed in the MCU—as well as characters like the Fantastic Four. That’s true whether or not it’s HYDRA, S.W.O.R.D., or Wanda herself behind everything. Plucking heroes from other universes immediately stops the nagging “where have they been the whole time?” question. Agatha was originally a Fantastic Four character, so she could be from their universe. Herb could be from Counter-Earth. Dottie and Phil would, of course, be from their comic book Earth-712. And Wanda is obviously from our very own little enclave of the MCU. It all sets the stage for an even bigger MCU.
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