Disney+ has recently released a new Marvel Series WandaVision. This series was Marvel’s first attempt at prestige TV. The series is released in 9 half-hour episodes, at first glance it is a playful comedy following a couple through famous sitcoms of previous decades. But the series is much more complex than it lets on.

(spoilers ahead!)

Who are Wanda and Vision?

Wanda (a.k.a Scarlet Witch) and Vision are two Marvel superheroes on the Avengers team. Wanda was given her powers after she volunteered to undergo genetic experimentation overseen by HYDRA (fictional terrorist organization in the comics), using Loki’s scepter.

Wanda has various mind powers- telekinesis, telepathy, and mind control. She can also shoot energy balls out of her hands, create protective barriers around things, and float mid-air. Vision is one of Tony Stark’s creations- he can walk through walls, fly, shoot energy from a gem in his skull, and uses his super-logic to determine future events. Both Wanda and Vision have the basic superhuman speed, strength, endurance, etc.

The couple was last seen in Avengers ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame’. Wanda suffers serious trauma as she has to watch Vision die when Thanos steals the Infinity Stone from his head.

The series WandaVision shows Wanda and Vision in an alternate universe, essentially portraying a perfect American life where Wanda can be with Vision forever, not having to worry about the terrors of being a metahuman.

Easter Eggs and What They Mean

One of Episode 4’s final scenes is a disturbing one: Wanda turns to Vision and sees his mangled head without the Infinity Stone placed in the center. The scene is a reference to “Avengers: Infinity War,” where Wanda watched Thanos kill Vision and take his Infinity Stone. This scene neither confirms nor denies if Vision is still dead, it only shows that Wanda is still suffering from the traumatic events she experienced in the last Avengers movies.

Hydra Soak. In stores now! The show’s in-episode commercial promotes a reference to the terrorist organization and is the second time HYDRA has been name-dropped- remember they are responsible for giving Wanda her powers. The advertisement may also be a reference to an “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Season 4 episode where a HYDRA “mind control soap” that gives people false memories was referenced.

The increasingly loud and unsettlingly toaster, in one in-episode ad, has a blinking red light that serves as the show’s first splash of color, especially when the salesman in the ad says “forget your past, this is the future” references the idea.

Some Fan Theories

Many people had thoughts that Wanda must be set up by someone else, using her for their personal gain. Viewers believe that Agnes (her neighbor) needs to be explored, as well as the people being featured in the fake advertisements. They could be a part of the group of people pulling the strings in her alternate reality. Especially after viewers see Agnes ask Wanda “Should I go again from the top?” when Vision refuses to let Agnes near their children. Most fans think that whoever is manipulating Wanda has to know her past because of the references to her life from previous films.

Someone must be taking advantage of her grief and manipulating her, helping Wanda begin this reality and continue to take it farther. Mephisto has been suggested as the one behind this as Wanda’s twins actually come from him, which explains why S.W.O.R.D. cannot figure out why the twins are real.

Wanda could have made a deal with the devil in exchange for a “happy” life with Vision. Fans believe that Mephisto may have told Wanda that there is a possibility for her to live her dream life with Vision forever, all she needs to do is steal Vision’s body (shown in episode 5) because he has to project Vision’s essence rather than bringing him back to life.

Fans do not think that Wanda is behind this all by herself because of the recent episode. Wanda is shocked to see a version of her brother Pietro at her door, meaning she doesn’t have control over everything happening in Westview. Mephisto has the power to pull Quicksilver from another universe to add him to Wanda’s created reality.

What snapped in Wanda to make her turn ‘evil’ again? Was the pain of losing her lover really so unbearable she created an alternate universe filled with mind-controlled citizens?