The Multiverse. It's on every MCU fan's mind right now and the whole fandom is raring to see what happens when the concept is explored fully in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness coming just this Thursday. But on the way to the Multiverse of Madness, there have been more than a few driving forces pushing the narrative. One of the most powerful Avengers, driven by one of the most powerful human emotions, moved the world a little closer to the edge in WandaVision. Grief was the force that drove Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Wanda's grief drove her towards healing in a productively unproductive way. Wanda's powers allow her to shape reality and that's what she did. But it came with a terrible cost and some of those wounds are still shaping Wanda even after the events of the series. So let's take a look at everything that happened in the first season of WandaVision and see how it all leads Wanda to Madness.
Wanda's First Steps Toward a New Reality
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The beginning of WandaVision seems to bring us back in time to a 50s TV show with an episode named “Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience” that was true to its name. Despite the quaint name, and seemingly standard TV show plot, some major issues have been covered up. The most important of them is the fact that Vision (Paul Bettany) ought to be dead, killed not once but twice at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. At the beginning of WandaVision, Vision is alive, well, and fully using his powers although the source of his power, the Soul Stone, has been destroyed. The last clue is the after-credits scene at the very end of the episode, which is in color and set in the usual world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As we continue, Wanda and Vision focus on this idea of fitting into Wanda’s perception of the perfect suburban world. Full of comedic callbacks in the sound production, types of gags, and even the changing introductions to fit into the perspective time frames, the first three episodes focus totally on the world that has been created. A few minor characters are introduced, such as Agnes the neighbor (Kathryn Hahn), or Dennis the mailman, but they lack any level of personal detail.
Enter S.W.O.R.D Stage Right
Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Division or S.W.O.R.D. is the agency sent to observe the abnormality created by Wanda. Originally they sent two familiar faces, Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) to investigate. Jimmy Woo was originally the FBI agent who was in charge of Scott Lang's house arrests. Monica Rambeau is the daughter of Maria Rambeau, who was a squadron-mate of Carol Danvers, the hero now known as Captain Marvel. Maria Rambeau would become the director of S.W.O.R.D. where her daughter would later become a Captain.
Monica attempts to enter the “Hex,” as the anomaly around Westview is later called, but is swept in and temporarily becomes a character in Wanda’s world. In Westview, her name is Geraldine, and she acts normally until Wanda gives birth to two sons in record time. As Monica is helping deliver the babies, she starts to remember events in the outside world and when she confronts Wanda, Wanda ejects her from the Hex. As Monica is flung out of the Hex, she sees the aggressive director of S.W.O.R.D. Tyler Hayward (Josh Stamberg), and our old friend from the Thor movies Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings). Darcy has now earned her Ph.D. in astrophysics, and she is the one that figured out that Wanda was somehow sending a TV broadcast signal out of the Hex.
Vision Sees the Fractures in Reality
While Vision is starting to piece together that something is going wrong, the situation outside the Hex is ratcheting up as Director Hayward demands results. The director starts issuing commands that Monica, Darcy, and Woo fundamentally disagree with. As S.W.O.R.D. continues to observe, we move into the '80s with Wanda’s twin boys, Billy and Tommy. Agatha (formerly Agnes) once again appears with exactly what the family needs, seemingly unfazed as the boys magically age ten years in a matter of days. Watching the boys change dramatically causes S.W.O.R.D. to realize that Wanda is rewriting reality on a molecular level and controlling almost every single person. Vision receives a message from the outside and that causes him to interrogate one of the residents of the town, Norm. Vision’s interview with Norm makes him realize that the Westview residents are not here of their own free will.
As Vision continues to wrestle with these realizations, Wanda is forced to confront Hayward as he attempts to attack her and her family with a drone. She comes out of the Hex, throws the armed drone out, then returns to her family. Wanda herself is also starting to notice the cracks in her reality, as her telepathic abilities are not giving her all the information from across the town. Even as Vision is seemingly alive, Wanda tells us that she cannot control the dead. This begs the question, who or what is bringing back Vision in Westview, and who is really in control of the Hex?
Wanda's Brother Returns (Sort Of)
Shortly after Wanda returns to the Hex, her brother Pietro Maximoff appears at her door. Unfortunately, we have two problems. One, her brother is dead, and two, the person claiming to be her brother looks completely different (because he's played by Evan Peters instead of Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Despite all that, he still has all the powers of Quicksilver and the memories of Pietro. Pietro’s return, as well as Vision’s continued investigation into the brainwashing of the entire town, has Wanda on edge and pondering what is happening.
Meanwhile, in the S.W.O.R.D. base, Director Hayward is tracking Vision by his decaying vibranium signature. Vision interacts with Agatha, dressed as a witch, wandering on the edge of town. Vision wakes her up, and she seems to know who Vision is. After this encounter, Vision attempts to break through the barrier outside the Hex. As he does so, however, parts of him start to break off. The Hex is what is keeping him together, and as he starts to come apart, Wanda is forced to expand the Hex in a desperate move to save Vision once again. Vision is seen by his son Billy as he and Tommy develop telekinesis and super speed respectively (another Young Avengers hint perhaps?).
The expanding Hex consumes much of the town, including Darcy and the S.W.O.R.D base. As the now-revived Vision attempts to communicate with the mind-wiped Darcy, Wanda starts to have a mental breakdown. She loses all sense of control or direction. In her moment of desperation, Agnes/Agatha once again returns to the scene, taking the children away to give Wanda some alone time. This alone time does not seem to help, however, as objects inside the Hex start to randomly shift between time periods, and Wanda continues down this self-destructive path.
On the outside, Jimmy Woo and Monica meet up with an engineer who has created a vehicle that will supposedly allow Monica to travel safely into the Hex. While the rover is ineffective and gets spit out, Monica charges straight through. In her moment of great adversity, we see a secret power that Monica had latent in her system. Agatha intervenes to pull Wanda away from Monica and to safety. But as she is pulled away Wanda gets curious and walks into Agatha's basement to see that it's full of mystic objects, just as we discover it's been Agatha all along.
Turns out Agatha is a witch and has been around for centuries, slowly taking power from other magic users across time. She reveals to Wanda that she is also a magic user but Wanda knows no spells nor does she use anything traditionally related to magic. In an attempt to force Wanda to accept that she is a witch, Agatha takes control of her mind and forces Wanda to live through her darkest moments. We get to see the death of her parents, her torture at the hands of Hydra, her first interactions with Vision in the Avengers compound, and her deciding to take Vision's body. Agatha sees all of this, including Wanda going to her planned home with Vision and creating the Hex in an act of pure grief.
As Wanda's trip through the past comes to an end, Agatha gives Wanda her moniker, the Scarlet Witch, and reveals that she is a prophesied force of destruction. Simultaneously, we see Director Hayward activate an all-white replica of Vision known as White Vision. Despite the unimaginative name, both Visions share the same power-set and are equally matched. As Wanda tries to fight Agatha to protect her kids, we see Wanda temporarily push her away as White Vision tries to kill her per Hayward’s orders. Vision steps in to save her, but Wanda is unable to fight both White Vision and Agatha at the same time. Vision and White Vision spar, but realizing they are equally matched. Eventually Vision causes White Vision to question the reasoning behind his actions as the Hex starts to dissolve.
The Emergence of The Scarlet Witch
As White Vision regains his memories, Monica defends the boys against Hayward until he is incapacitated by Darcy. White Vision is freed from Hayward's control, but Agatha still threatens to destroy the Hex, and with it, Wanda’s reality. Wanda and Agatha fight, and it seems as if Agatha starts to absorb Wanda’s power. But Wanda has accepted that she is a witch, and casts runes across the entire Hex to block all of Agatha’s power, thus rendering Agatha powerless. In defeating Agatha and accepting her true identity as the Scarlet Witch, Wanda reveals that the Hex’s time is finished. She has to say goodbye to Vision and her sons but does not surrender to S.W.O.R.D.’s custody. She flees with the Darkhold, a magical tome previously in Agatha's possession, so she can learn how to find her sons again.
Scarlet Witch is the time-honored name of the character in the comics and the final battle reveals just how powerful Wanda has been this entire time. With Wanda now at full power, we may finally be able to see her creating new universes or controlling the flow of existing ones.
How the Darkhold Hints at Multiverse of Madness
While the Darkhold has appeared in the Marvel TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Marvel’s Runaways, most people remain unaware of its full potential. This magical totem is connected to the Dark Dimension and has been seen creating entire worlds. With Wanda in possession of this object that is said to hold near-infinite knowledge, she may attempt to use it to find her sons and truly resurrect Vision. In fact, there have been a number of rumors that Vision will appear in this week’s Multiverse of Madness. Paul Bettany has not yet confirmed or denied his role. If Wanda wants to regain what she has lost, an event that fractures the multiverse could be the perfect opportunity to unleash even more chaos (magic).
Will There Be a WandaVision Season 2?
Unfortunately, Elizabeth Olsen has confirmed that there will not be a WandaVision Season 2. We have confirmation that Scarlet Witch will be in the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness but as for White Vision, we are unsure when he may show up again or what his current mental state might be. Whenever they all show up next, we can be sure that eventually, they will return in some other format. For Monica, we have confirmation that she will return in The Marvels, set to be released in 2023. Of course, the most important takeaway from all this is that going into Doctor Strange 2, Wanda is now the most powerful magic-user in this universe. And she will either save the multiverse or become its great destroyer.
Watch Wanda Next in the Multiverse of Madness
Wanda has been seen in multiple versions of the Doctor Strange 2 trailers that have been released so that's where Scarlet Witch fans will be able to see her next. Additionally, a new TV spot released on April 28 has confirmed that certain What If? characters such as Captain Carter, presumably played by Hayley Atwell, will be showing up in the movie. We’ve also had confirmation that Professor X, as played by Sir Patrick Stewart, is appearing as part of the Illuminati. The Illuminati is a serious powerhouse in the Marvel Universe including members such as Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt, and more. This opens doors to previously dead characters and shuttered series, so who is to say who else we might encounter in this movie?
Find out this week when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness premieres.