It’s that time of the week where we’ve had a few days to digest the latest episode of WandaVision, so it’s time to drag out our diminishing ball of red yarn and start connecting theories about what’s really going on at the core of the show’s story. In Episode 6, ‘All-New Halloween Spooktacular!’, there were more Marvel Easter eggs than ever flying around. We also got to spend some quality time with Wanda’s new family, including Evan Peters’ integration as the MCU’s long-dead Pietro Maximoff. Hard to argue that Uncle Pete’s energy was absolutely intoxicating, but it occasionally verged on disturbing, which only served to whip up WandaVision’s fans into a finger-pointing frenzy as to the true nature of Peters’ role in the Disney+ event series. Let’s take a look at the most compelling WandaVision theories gaining traction on message boards and social media since we last saw the show’s worst villain – the end credits. The theory balances on the notion that either some horrible accident occurred while the kids were fending for themselves, or that a dark entity pounced on them. Wanda could conceivably consider Westview a perfect place to create a protective bubble around; somewhere that they could all ‘forget’ about their grief and loss together. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen, these people are still in pain – whatever is keeping Wanda suspended in a state of ignorant bliss isn’t without side effects for the residents of Westview. However, if there were some ‘agreement’ with the town’s council to go along with Wanda’s plan in an effort to bring the children back to life or pry them from the grip of a nefarious villain, perhaps the grownups of Westview might expect to see their families eventually return – if they just play along. Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 8
The Red Note
A theory flourishing on Reddit via DrewAutote presents an interesting observation about WandaVision’s theme songs to date. They note that each episode’s opening theme utilizes tritones, which apparently aren’t particularly popular in modern music. From the early 18th century/late Middle Ages the Latin phrase ‘diabolus in musica’ or ‘the Devil in music’ was applied to the harsh-sounding tritone interval, which is “essentially one half-step away from a perfect fifth”. The theory posits that their continued use in WandaVision’s catchy themes could be “hinting at a darker entity pulling the strings.” Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 8
Might As Well Jump
Is The Hex a newly created ‘jump point’ that allows someone or something easy access to Earth? Hmm, a better question to start with is “hang on, what even is a ‘jump point’?” Well, as we’ve seen in several Marvel blockbusters to date – most prominently in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – jump points are fissures in space which allow spaceships to use the MCU’s interdimensional travel system – the ‘Universal Neural Teleportation Network’. You can hop near instantaneously to other areas in space by accessing one of these jump points. Oh, and they look exactly like a hexagonal field, much like the dome that surrounds Westview. If Wanda and whoever else is behind the strange goings on in Westview fabricated a mystical fissure in the town to make it happen, it might have not just produced a new jump point in space or time, but a dangerous multiversal doorway – which could explain both the sudden arrival of Evan Peters’ version of Quicksilver and WandaVision’s connection to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 5 With Billy and Tommy having mystical powers and super speed much like their comics counterparts Wiccan and Speed, Clint Barton handing his bow and arrow to Kate Bishop in Marvel’s Hawkeye series, Ms Marvel on the horizon, Cassie Lang aging up to have a much bigger role in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Iron Man’s legacy extending out to a Riri Williams Ironheart project, there’s a new breed of superheroes waiting in the wings to take over from the old guard. Is it possible that when WandaVision is over, a teenaged Billy and Tommy will survive to tell the tale and we’ll see a gang of new Avengers start to take shape? Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 3
Mepietro
Plenty of WandaVision fans have committed to the theory that Mephisto is behind the creation of Westview, or that he helped Wanda do it. For those who couldn’t pick the diabolical demon out of a line-up, Mephisto was inspired by Mephistopheles of the Faust legend and is basically Marvel’s version of The Devil. He also looks similar to a traditional artist’s impression of Satan. The villain was originally brought to life by Stan Lee and John Buscema in The Silver Surfer #3, and since the first batch of episodes arrived, most of WandaVision’s regular characters have been accused of being Mephisto at one time or another, including those we’ve already met like Dottie and Herb (where the Hell is Dottie??) and those we haven’t even clapped eyes on, like Agnes’ problematic husband Ralph. For a start, he’s very aware of what’s going on. Turning up unexpectedly wearing a semi-familiar guise at a moment of conflict that may have pushed Wanda and Vision to break down the walls between them, he goes onto be very direct with Wanda, asking her how she created The Hex and condoning her behavior while trying to gain her trust. He’s also casually cruel, dismissing Vision’s loss with “it’s not like your dead husband could die twice”. Not only that, he calls Billy and Tommy “demon spawn” and tells them to raise Hell. Mephisto’s relationship to Wanda’s twins is somewhat complex in the comics, but they were essentially magical constructs created by Wanda using slivers of Mephisto’s life essence, and they ceased to exist when they were reabsorbed by Mephisto. They were also reincarnated later on, but that’s a whole other deal. Arguably, it’s a great time in the MCU’s evolution to introduce a major new villain now that Thanos is dust in the wind, and since so many of both the surviving and upcoming MCU superheroes have lore with Mephisto in the comics, there are plenty of resources to pull from if he’s set to be a huge antagonist. But did Mephisto really offer Wanda a Faustian bargain before Westview took shape? She gets some happy family time with Vision in Westview, and he gets …well, that’s the big question, isn’t it? Two new superpowered beings at his disposal? Maybe. The opportunity to drain Wanda’s still somewhat unexplored mystical power? Mayyybe. Is Evan Peters’ version of Pietro really Mephisto? Perhaps, sure. At this point we’d suggest those who don’t think Peters has the range to play a massive Marvel villain go watch him play eleven different roles effortlessly in American Horror Story, then get back to us. Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 2
