‘WandaVision’ Theory Assumed Wanda Was Actually Trapped In a Prison
Marvel fans have been theorizing about WandaVision ever since the show was announced in 2019.
Even before much if any of it had been shot, Marvel aficionados were trying to figure out what in the world this strange concoction was. Was it a sitcom? Was it a parody? Was it still a superhero story? Was it as nutty as Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany made it out to be?
The answer to all of those questions has been yes, but the more answers this show serves up, the more questions pop up in its place. One of the key questions has been, where exactly is Wanda? At least one fan thinks it’s a place Wanda doesn’t really want to be.
Last time on ‘WandaVision’
WandaVision walks a tightrope between uncanny recreations of sitcoms through the decades and your usual superhero storytelling. The first episode evoked 50s TV shows like I Love Lucy. The second, fittingly enough for the Scarlet Witch, harkened back to the Bewitched episodes of the 60s. The third episode dove into the 70s with tropes from The Brady Bunch.
While all this was going on, the show also introduced elements of unease and foreboding, as though something dangerous was lurking just beneath the TV parody surface. The commercials indicated the presence of the dreaded organization Hydra, and the nosy neighbor played by Kathryn Hahn managed to seem suspicious and comic at the same time.
Knowing that in the comics, Wanda suffered a mental breakdown after having twins with Vision, fans have fused that story with a continuation of what happened in the Avengers movies.
The general thinking seemed to be that after Vision died in Avengers: Infinity War, Wanda either created or got stuck in an alternate reality because she couldn’t cope with losing Vision. While the show hasn’t exactly disproved that notion, it has added intriguing layers to it – and so have fans.
Was Wanda being held against her will?
On the incubator of fan theories known as Reddit, one fan put forth the idea that while Wanda may be creating these visions, it may not exactly be her choice to do so. The fan wrote:
Pleasant Hill is a prison for Supervillains built by SHIELD in Marvel Comics. It removes their powers and inserts them as law-abiding citizens in an artificial town. SWORD seems to be the new SHIELD in the MCU, so if anyone were to build Pleasant Hill, it would be them.
We know that Wanda has some power over what happens in Westview, but there are still things (like the Stork) that she can’t control. Agnes is also not in complete control, because she asks “Are you here to help us?” in the trailer.
Some fans liked the idea, although others didn’t seem convinced because elements of the theory come from the TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. While that show is supposed to be canon, it seems doubtful Marvel would draw from a show that already ended its run.
One fan said: “That certainly hangs together as a theory. I’d be surprised if they leaned so heavily on events from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., though, as: a) it’s not 100% clear that the show is canon and more importantly: b) how many people have actually watched it?”
‘WandaVision’: What did the latest episode show?
Spoilers ahead for those who have not seen episode 5 of WandaVision.
The latest episode seems not to bear the fan’s theory out. We see that Wanda knows that she is creating an alternate reality, because for the first time in the series, she steps outside of the TV world, proving she is very dangerous to Agents of SWORD.
While she does not appear to be in a prison, the question still remains as to who or what is making Wanda create these alternate realities. Is it just a coping mechanism gone terribly awry? Or is something more nefarious afoot?
The latter seems to hold true, given that Marvel has already said that WandaVision will ultimately lead to the 2022 movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. That might mirror a plotline in the comics where Strange has to stop Wanda from wreaking havoc with her grief.
Besides, there’s still at least one more decade, the 90s, to go with the TV parodies. Many fans have guessed that episode will be modeled on Full House, which starred Elizabeth Olsen’s sisters, Mary-Kate and Ashley. Fans will surely stay tuned to see how the show mutates.
