Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige premiered the latest WandaVision trailer and more at Disney’s Investor Day 2020. This trailer break down will examine the reality WandaVision is setting up and what it means for Wanda and the future of the MCU. In doing so, we will throw out some theories about WandaVision since we still don’t truly know the plot of the show. It only feels fitting that the title of this list feature Paul Bettany’s favorite word to describe the series.
There is a lot of pressure on WandaVision‘s shoulders. Not only is it promised to usher in “a visionary new age of television,” it’s also the start of Phase 4 of the MCU. It’s telling that Marvel Studios decided to lay all of this at the feet of the most powerful Avenger, Wanda Maximoff. It’s ironic because the MCU hasn’t given Wanda the attention and credit she deserves until now.
The trailer’s strongest asset is its dedication to Wanda Maximoff. Though the show is named after the iconic duo of Wanda and Vision, it is abundantly clear from the framing of every teaser and trailer that Wanda is at the center of all of this. Vision and his literal existence (however he’s existing) orbit around Wanda – not the other way around.
Wanda and the Mind Stone
Wanda’s hair looks the closest to present Wanda that we saw last in Avengers: Endgame. This could mean that this is Wanda after Endgame, doing everything she can to piece the stone back together to bring Vision back somehow. The logistics of bringing a sentient robot back to life with a decimated stone doesn’t make much sense to me, but that’s the fun of fiction. Sometimes things don’t have to make complete sense.
This obviously looks similar to Wanda destroying the Mind Stone in Avengers: Infinity War to save the world. I appreciate any opportunity I have to remind people that Wanda held Thanos back with one hand and destroyed the only thing keeping the love of her life alive with the other. That means that these shots, though briefly shown in the trailer, could be some of the most important.
Taking that this is present Wanda, this sequence could be the catalyst she needs to create a new reality. It looks like the stone explodes in her face, likely due to the fact that it can’t be pieced together as easily as she may believe. Her frustration with the stone could lead Wanda to taking the magic in her hands and creating a world she wants to live in.
“Daydream Believer”
This is why it’s so fitting that the WandaVision trailer features The Monkee’s song “Daydream Believer.” The lyrics are almost too on the nose for the series and especially for Wanda Maximoff. There’s a few moments, like the one in the gif above, that seem to be Wanda learning about her powers in real time. This also goes with the theory that the Wanda with the Mind Stone is from the same decade as this Wanda — the present. Even the camera work in that specific shot feels like a nod to recent sitcoms like Modern Family and The Office. Wanda’s becomes a daydream believer by warping her reality into the best domestic daydream she can think of with Vision by her side.
Family Time
This may seem silly to discuss since it’s such a minuscule portion of the trailer, but it’s extremely meaningful to Wanda and the reality she’s created. There’s a moment about 35 seconds into the trailer, where you can see Wanda leaving her house with a pup and two little humans just behind her. It’s so fast and it’s hard to make out, but it’s there. It’s smartly followed by a shot of a magical mobile over a baby’s crib. The sequence of the shots can’t be a coincidence.
There have been sequences of Wanda and Vision starting a family in both the Super Bowl TV Spot and the first trailer that Marvel released. This is the first time we get to see even the slightest of glimpses of the twins — if they keep with the comics — as children instead of babies.
This is relevant because Wanda is doing everything she can to live a mundane life in this warped reality, which included a human husband and a family. The first trailer sees Wanda being questioned about why her and Vision haven’t had children in the 50s and it looks like she turned that around by the 70s.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I do believe this warped reality is a way for Wanda to cope with her trauma. It’s her utopia that she never got to experience. If she sees a family for herself with Vision in that vision of her life, then she should have that.
Who’s in Control?
Now we can get into the fun theories. I believe that Wanda creates this new reality with the good intentions. She makes it for herself, presuming she won’t hurt anyone else. We all know how badly she took the events of Captain America: Civil War when she made a mistake and put people in harm’s way to save others. I can’t see her making the same mistake again on even larger scale.
That being said, Wanda would be the one to control this reality, right? That makes sense to me and probably to her, but I think there’s someone else pulling the strings. I don’t think it’s anyone outside of the reality — the people in the real world like S.W.O.R.D. agents. It’s more logically someone who exists within the reality and can gain something from its manipulation.
This trailer points to Wanda’s utopia falling apart when a voice that can be presumed to be Randall Park‘s Jimmy Woo from Ant-Man and the Wasp says, “Wanda, can you read me? Who’s doing this to you?” I don’t really understand how it’s possible for Jimmy to communicate with Wanda inside of the warped reality, but I’m sure WandaVision will explain. This leads me to believe that Wanda is trapped in a world she created and it’s being used against her.
Breaking the Fourth Wall (and Reality)
There’s a moment in the trailer when Vision looks directly at the camera like Jim from The Office before looking back at Wanda to express his concerns that something is wrong. The look on Vision’s face at that moment makes it seem as if he’s suddenly all too aware of the cameras and the fact that their reality is manufactured.
My theory is that once you’re are in the warped reality you have no recollection of the real world. This could be Vision doesn’t know he’s dead as seen in the first trailer. This could also be why Wanda is so happy and carefree at times, because maybe she doesn’t remember all of the things that happened to her.
This would explain why Jimmy Woo and possibly Thor‘s Darcy Lewis are trying to communicate with Wanda. There’s no way that they are immediately informed when Wanda creates this reality. Something has to happen, like a giant red force in the trailer, to alarm them. If Wanda and Vision are so caught up in the lives they never got to live together with no memory of the dark and twisted things that happened to them, then of course they’re not going to be aware of the repercussions their utopia has on the real world.
The Villain of the Story
That bring us to the villain of this story. Kathryn Hahn‘s Agnes is the most likely contender. It’s been a rumor amongst fans for a while now that Agnes is actually the powerful witch Agatha Harkness from the comics. Since she’s possibly a witch too, Agnes could use her magic to retain her memory of the real world unlike everyone else.
It’s unclear what Agnes has against Wanda or wants to gain from this new reality, but it’s clear that there’s something up with her. Then again, Agnes may see the strongest Avenger as an asset she needs on her side, willingly or not.
She’s the only recurring character throughout the decades that isn’t Wanda or Vision. She’s also a little too happy to tell Vision that he’s dead in the first trailer. Not to mention, it’s her who says, “Are you here to help us?” after we hear Woo ask Wanda who’s doing this to her. The order of those clips has to be intentional. It tracks that Agnes would want Woo and people in the real world to believe that she’s distressed and being manipulated by Wanda. That she, in fact, is trapped in Wanda’s world against her will, because it perfectly deflects from Agnes trapping Wanda.
Monica Rambeau
As for Monica Rambeau, she’s the real world’s chance at stopping Wanda from doing any damage. Clearly Wanda’s power is too much to contain in an alternate reality and is having some effects on the real world. Assuming Woo, Darcy, and Monica work for S.W.O.R.D. or an agency like it, it’s plausible that Monica is an olive branch to Wanda’s reality. She’s the bridge the real world needs to put an end to the red sky.
Although, there’s a pitfall to that plan if I’m right about people not remembering the real world once they enter the warped one. Monica clearly doesn’t remember who she is in this new trailer, and it looks like she’s improvising on the spot when Wanda opens the door. This doesn’t escape Wanda, and I don’t think it ends well for Monica.
If you piece together the first trailer and this new one, Monica is wearing the same outfit in both. This could mean it’s here or around this time that Wanda (or Agnes) sends Monica flying through the rift and back to the real world.
Fighting for What Matters
This all ties together in a fight for what matters to Wanda — who and what she loves. Wanda has loved and lost so much, so it would be out of character for her not to put up a fight when someone comes after her heart and her home again. That’s why it’s so meaningful that this trailer ends the way it does. I don’t think Wanda’s fighting Woo, Monica, or Darcy. I think she’s fighting Agnes because she’s probably the one turning Wanda’s utopia into a dystopia with lasting effects on the real world.
This may be a reach, but what kind of things can happen when two powerful witches go at each other with their powers on high? What about if one of those witches is the most powerful Avenger? Do you think that could cause the creation of the Multiverse? If so, is Wanda’s warped reality now a strand of the multiverse? Meaning that there is a Vision alive and well that could travel into the present, main timeline and live with the Wanda we know and love? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
What do you think of the new WandaVision trailer? Let us know in the comments! Watch it again below!
WandaVision premieres on Disney+ on January 15, 2021!
