There’s more going on with WandaVision’s fifth episode than you may imagine, including that very surprising and baffling ending.
Fittingly titled, “On A Very Special Episode…,” the fifth episode of Disney+‘s WandaVision took inspiration from those 1980s sitcoms which blended drama with its comedy, particularly Family Ties. Not only does the “casting” of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision’s (Paul Bettany) boys, but the heroic couple’s first marital fight, all result in Vision starting to question his reality. It also had one of the biggest surprise endings thus far, one that seems to potentially change the landscape of the Marvel Cinematic Universe forever.
Yet within its messages about (literally) growing up way too fast, dealing with death and loss, secrets and lies, and that new fangled thing called “email,” the miniseries continued dropping clues and hints to its greater and hidden storyline. And as we’ve seen so far, there’s more to them than what they first appear to be.
There’s plenty to decipher here, so be ready for some potential SPOILERS as we take a deeper look at what’s happening inside the “Hex” (fitting name), especially when it comes to that ending.
“Let’s…take it from the top?” in WandaVision
We’ve bandied about a lot of theories of what’s really been going on in WandaVision, and this episode appeared to confirm a few of them.
Thanks to Monica (Teyonah Parris) shooting the groovy ’70s outfit she wore while inside Westview and discovering it was made from her kevlar vest, we know Wanda is changing and altering pre-existing matter, not creating it out of (pardon the pun) whole cloth. We also know that Wanda stole Vision’s body from a S.W.O.R.D. facility, and if you read last week’s article, you may also suspect why the organization with the phrase “Sentient Weapon” in their name really had it (hint: Wanda isn’t the one trying to revive Vision to make him into a weapon).
Yet the biggest confirmation we got from this episode is that Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) is fully aware that she, Wanda, Vision, and the people of Westview are trapped in a sitcom. If anything, she, not Wanda, might be the real “director” of the show within the show.
The moment in which Vision briefly restores Norm’s (Asif Ali) memory, and his trapped colleague tells him, “You have to stop her”? We’re meant to think he’s talking about Wanda, but what if it’s Agnes? What if she, not Wanda, is the one reprogramming the citizens of Westview? After all, Wanda does tell Vision she has no control over what everyone in Westview does in their spare time.
In addition, notice that anytime that Tommy (Gavin Borders and Jett Kylne) and Billy (Baylen D. Bielitz and Jullian Hillard) age, Agnes just so happens to be around? Of course, seeing as we suspect Agnes is actually Agatha Harkness, this definitely tracks. Incidentally, that lavender perfume she sprays on the twins? In both witchcraft, aromatherapy, homeopathic medicine, lavender and lavender oils weren’t only used for relaxation but also for treating infertility. Rather telling, then, Agnes uses it “every night” when she’s with her husband “Ralph.”
Speaking of other residents in Westview whom Wanda has no control over…
The boys and their dog
Darcy is correct about the speed in which Billy and Tommy are aging so quickly, but she doesn’t know how right she is. As discussed before, Billy and Tommy are the real names of Wiccan and Speed from the Young Avengers. Don’t be surprised if, at the end of this series, the twins will become old enough to become the MCU version of that team.
Notice also that, regardless of their age, Billy and Tommy wore color coordinated clothes which match their older counterparts’ superhero costumes. Billy, who is more like his mom, wears mostly reds, while Tommy, who is more like his uncle Pietro, aka Quicksilver, wears mostly greens. It also happens those are the same color schemes both Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver wore in the original Marvel comics, too.
There’s also a comics reference when it comes to the twin’s new (albeit short-lived) dog, Sparky. Sparky was also the name of the Visions’ family dog from Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta’s Vision comic. However, in that series, Vision turned Sparky into a robot dog after he died from electrocution… when he bit the Grim Reaper’s electro-scythe. Here though, there looks be no bringing the pooch back to life, as Wanda says she can’t “bring back dead.” Of course, if that’s true, how is Vision back and without his Mind Stone?
The Lagos Towels commercial
During S.W.O.R.D. Director Hayward’s (Josh Stamberg) briefing, he and FBI agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) recount Wanda’s backstory. This includes footage from Captain America: Civil War (2016), in which Wanda accidentally blows up an office building full of innocent bystanders when attempting to stop Crossbones (Frank Grillo). It’s this very incident which kicks off the infamous Sokovia Accords, superhuman registration, and the MCU’s version of Civil War. And the city where this happened was Lagos, Nigeria.
It’s a good thing the series reminded the audience of this, because this episode’s commercial was for “Lagos Paper Towels,” an obvious riff on Bounty Paper Towels. It doesn’t take much to figure out this fake ad reflects Wanda’s guilt. Nor is it subtle, either, as the spilled juice is the exact same color as blood, and the tagline is, “For when you make a mess and didn’t mean to.”
“They recast Pietro?”
But now we come to the big surprise twist at the end of this episode: The return of Wanda’s brother, Pietro Maximoff. Or rather, the recasting of Pietro Maximoff. Because instead of Aaron Taylor-Johnson from Avengers: Age of Ultron (2005), it’s Evan Peters from X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), and Dark Phoenix (2019).
Naturally, since Disney bought 20th Century Fox – the studio which made the X-Men movies – this seems like confirmation that the X-Men and mutants have now officially been added to the MCU. Or, at the very least, this is the first sign of some multiverse mischief.
But just as Pietro’s arrival is perfectly-timed to stop Vision from asking some pointed questions (why, indeed, are there no other children in Westview?), the casting of Evan Peters as Pietro is designed to throw the audience off the scent as well. Because I don’t believe Pietro has been recast; I believe we’ve been introduced to Agnes’ mysterious husband, “Ralph.” And “Ralph” might actually be Marvel Comics’ version of the Devil, Mephisto.
Sure, this seems like a stretch, but it does line up if the theory about Agnes is correct, and how Wanda’s twins were really conceived in the comics. Also, considering that WandaVision will apparently tie into the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it would be perfect timing to bring the granddaddy of all supernatural threats into the MCU. (Then again, there are also rumors that another Doctor Strange villain could be involved.)
We’ll just have to wait and see how “Uncle Peter” factors into whatever is happening in Westview. And whether Vision will start having even more of an existential crisis. And just how old will those twins be in the next episode anyway?
What Easter Eggs did you spot in WandaVision Episode 5? Let us know in the comments below!