WandaVision episode 5, ‘On a Very Special Episode…’ gave us a new approach to storytelling. Switching seamlessly between sitcom life inside the ‘Maximoff Anomaly’ and MCU reality, the episode closed with a multiverse shattering cliffhanger. The episode was packed with references, call backs to comics and details that definitely required a second and third viewing. Here we break down some of the episodes stand-out moments.
Before we get into it – this is your final spoiler warning! Spoilers for WandaVision episode 5 and the wider MCU ahead.
Previously On – Did you notice the script change of the scene from episode 3? We saw the scene a second time in episode 4 from Wanda’s point of view, with Vision’s dead face. Now as its shown in a recap, the script has changed. Instead of Wanda telling Vision that Geraldine had to “rush home,” as she did previously, the sequence shows Wanda informing him, “She’s gone. She didn’t belong here.” Is this a continuity error on the edit of the show, or is it Wanda editing the show before broadcast? Or is it a continuity error on the edit of the Disney+ show? Two minutes in and my head has gone.
The Decent of Man – Vision mentions reading a Charles Darwin book to the twins, could this be a reference to mutants entering the MCU? After all the book is about the evolution of man.
Aunty A – Neighbour Agnes drops by with a “few tricks up her sleeve” to help get the twins off to sleep. Its been theorised that Agnes is, in fact Agatha Harkness, a witch who, in the comics mentors Wanda. She’s also referred to as ‘Aunt Agatha’ by Wanda in a comics storyline that involves her caring for Wanda. This scene is packed with weirdness, there’s a moment when Agnes breaks character, asking Wanda if she wants her to “take that again”. This hints at the fact Agnes knows Wanda is in control. There’s references to tigers throughout, known to be a symbol of protection. Agnes appears each time Wanda needs help, could it be that she’s there as some kind of protector to the twins?
Monica’s Scans – Monica gets some tests done by SWORD but none of her scans develop properly, showing her body looking like an over-exposed photo. Is it possible that Wanda’s blast has given her powers? In the comics she’s known as Photon, Pulsar and Spectrum and also as the second Captain Marvel. She gains powers similar to Captain Marvel when she is exposed to extradimensional energy.
Scarlet Witch – Director Hayward asks Jimmy if Wanda has an alias. “Not a one” is Jimmy’s reply. It’s easy to forget that Wanda has never formally used the Scarlet Witch name in the MCU. Darcy manages to come up with a name for Wanda’s “reality bubble” calling it The Hex. This is explained as being because Wanda has dropped a hexagonal shape around Westview, and because there are hexagons everywhere. Hex is the name given to Wanda’s powers in the comics. Wanda is using powers previously unseen in the MCU. Are we moving towards Wanda being called Scarlet Witch onscreen with powers to match the comics?
Wanda The Body-Snatcher – Hayward shows footage of Wanda breaking into SWORD and stealing Vision’s corpse. In the footage we see his body broken up into parts and it looks like it’s being experimented on. The shot is lifted straight from the page of West Coast Avengers #43 where we see visions body in bits. Jimmy explains that by resurrecting Vison’s corpse, Wanda is in direct violation of the Sokovia Accords.
Sparky the Goodest Boy – In Tom King’s Vision comic in which Vision Attempts to live a normal life with his sythezoid family, they have a dog called Sparky. Sparky is a sythezoid with similar powers to Vision, who was created using the brain of Zeke, the neighbour’s dog who died after digging up the Grim Reaper’s corpse (anyone remember the helmet that was spotted in the opening credits to episode 2, next to it was a bone).
In episode 5 Sparky goes missing, there’s a weird interaction with the mailman and he’s soon found dead, by Agnes after supposedly eating her flowers. Or did he? We never see his actual body as its wrapped in a cloth, could it be that he died digging something up that he shouldn’t?
There’s loads more in this segment, as the dog’s death is used to explain grief – calling back to sitcoms again. The twins seem to know that Wanda has the ability to bring the dead back to life, she brings a dog back to life in the comics with the help of Tony Stark. Agnes is at it again with the weirdness.
Billy and Tommy – Not only do the twins age up, seemingly at their own will (note that Agnes is around each time they do) but it seems that Wanda isn’t able to control them. There’s also something later on where Vision mentions there being no other children in Westview. Billy and Tommy are also seen wearing red and green/blue – their signature colours from the comics.
I know an Aerospace Engineer – Monica tells Darcy she knows an “aerospace engineer” who could be up for a challenge who could help them out. The Fantastic Four are on their way to the MCU, and they’re lead by Reed Richards, an aerospace engineer. Could this be setting up the MCU’s introduction of the Fantastic Four?
Stay out of My Home – One of the biggest moments of the episode comes when Wanda leaves the hex to confront SWORD, after SWORD sends in a drone that also ends up being a missile. Wanda comes out to confront them. She’s wearing her Avengers uniform, and her accent has returned. She returns the Stark Industries branded missile to Hayward, and after a brief interaction with Monica warns them to leave her well alone. Her speech to Hayward gave off serious Magneto vibes, she even turned the SWORD agents’ guns against Hayward – something we’ve seen Magneto do in the X-men films on more than one occasion and that familiar flick of the wrist! We know the X-men are on their way to the MCU, and in the comics it’s revealed that Magneto is Wanda’s father. Could we be seeing an MCU Magneto at some point in the near future?
Lagos Brand – Episode 5’s commercial is for Lagos brand paper towels. This is a reference to Lagos, Nigeria, where Wanda accidentally destroyed an entire building of innocent people in Captain America: Civil war. The commercial follows suit in representing a period of trauma in Wanda’s life: the Stark toaster references her parents death, the watch of episode two and the Hydra Soak in episode 3 her time with Strucker. Could these adverts/products also be a nod to the infinity stones?
Vision Wants Answers – Near the end of the episode, Vision starts to question what’s going on, things come to a head and the pair face-off whilst hovering in mid-air. Vision is pretty angry, is this the first time we see any kind of real emotion from him? Is he capable of any feelings, being a sythezoid? Is it that he’s not himself? Could it be that we’re seeing a different Vision that Wanda has brought back to life? Is the lack of mind-stone changing him and allowing him to show emotion? Could this be a call back to Tony during Infinity War when he says that Vision is evolving? Its certainly the first time we’ve seen Vision let his feelings get the better of him. There definitely seems to be more going on here.
She Recast Pietro? – The biggest talking point of the week surely has to be the mystery knock at the door. At a point where Vision is seemingly asking far too many questions, Wanda is saved by the doorbell. It seems like she’s not in control here, which is backed up by her shock when she sees who’s behind the door. Cue Evan Peters’ version of Pietro (Peter) Maximoff / Quicksilver. He doesn’t seem like either version of the Quicksilvers we know, he’s actually more like ‘Nick Moore’ – a character from Family Ties, which this episode of WandaVision pays homage to.
Is Pietro alive again in the MCU? If so, why is he a different version? Evans appeared as Quicksilver in Fox’s X-men Days of Future Past, Apocalypse & Dark Phoenix.
According to SWORD, everything that Wanda creates inside the Hex is real, including the twins. However, Wanda seemed surprised by her brother’s appearance, could it be that he wasn’t created by Wanda, meaning he doesn’t actually exist. Is it even Pietro or is it an imposter? The arrival of Pietro leaves a lot of questions and new possibilities. Does someone else have control of Wanda’s reality as well? Or is she loosing control of things?
That was just a handful of things we noticed in episode 5, theres tons more and we probably could have written a separate article for each detail. How many of these did you notice? Did you see any you think we might have missed?
“WandaVision,” the first Marvel Studios series created exclusively for Disney+, stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, Paul Bettany as Vision, Kathryn Hahn as Agnes, and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, who was introduced to audiences in “Captain Marvel.” Kat Dennings reprises her role as Darcy from “Thor” and “Thor: The Dark World,” and Randall Park reprises his role as Jimmy Woo from “Ant-Man and The Wasp.” The series is directed by Matt Shakman with Jac Schaeffer as head writer. Featuring nine episodes, “WandaVision” is now streaming on Disney+ weekly.
Since Pietro showed up I think that reality has already been broken leading up to Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. I think that instead of House of M’s “no more mutants”, Wanda wishes something like, “I want Vision back” after failing to resurrect him. Since she says to the twins that she can’t bring back the dead. So in order to fulfill the wish it breaks reality and pulls in a Vision from a universe where he wasn’t murdered by Thanos and still has the Mind Stone. He says he doesn’t remember life before Westview, so mind wipe? ?♂️
I also think that the Lagos commercial is both a reference to Wanda’s mistake in Civil War blowing up a building and a reference to what’s happening in Westview just like you. She did a thing and the consequences are bigger than she thought. So I think the barrier around Westview is both keeping people out and keeping the broken reality contained. Something’s going to break that containment and lead into Doctor Strange.