*WARNING: MCU SPOILERS AHEAD*
If you're reading this right now, then there's a good chance you still have a ton of questions regarding the 'WandaVision' season (series?!?) finale. The show's ending left many viewers with their questions unanswered and even more to ponder moving forward as Marvel transitions into 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.' You're probably wondering, "what's next for Wanda? What the hell happened to White Vision? Is he alive now? When will Doctor Strange finally make an appearance? What's going on with S.W.O.R.D. now?" Today, I'll cover some of your questions and share some theories of my own as we continue to speculate as to what direction Marvel is heading in as Phase 4 progresses.
1) Is White Vision Still Alive?
The short answer? Yes. However, it's not clear what direction Marvel and Kevin Feige will go with the character. Paul Bettany isn't confirmed for any upcoming Marvel projects as of right now, but as Bettany said himself, "Never Say Never." Also, White Vision isn't technically transforming into the real Vision, either. We last saw White Vision in the library trying to destroy Westview's Vision. Westview Vision was able to talk White Vision out of destroying him by returning the essence of the mind stone to his body. The blue arc-shaped reactor on White Vision's forehead turns gold when other Vision touches it, "restoring" his memories.
But wait, technically the mind stone was destroyed, right? Yes, however, if you remember from 'Avengers: Infinity War,' Shuri was trying to detach the mind stone from Vision without destroying him; the inverse of that is kind of what happened in the library scene. But, with White Vision flying away, the mystery of when he'll return to the MCU was instantly created. I think this was a possible multiverse introduction because, in the comics, White Vision is from a parallel version of Earth. I think the next time we could see the White Vision is in 'Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness,' since we know Wanda will have a big role in that film. It's a good sign that the White Vision left so abruptly, as this means that he left Westview and is currently roaming around the MCU, waiting to be looped back in to the story.
2) What's The Future of Skrulls in the MCU?
In the mid-credits scene from the 'WandaVision' finale, an unnamed S.W.O.R.D. agent takes Monica into the movie theatre, revealing herself to be a Skrull. She claims she was sent by "an old friend of your mother's," assumed to be Nick Fury. We last saw Fury on "vacation" in space during the 'Spider-Man: Far from Home' post-credits scene. It's very clear that Fury needs Monica for a mission, as the Skrull points to the sky to end the scene. It's also entirely possible that this Skrull agent is Talos' daughter; she and Monica shared a bond in 'Captain Marvel.' This mid-credits scene is setting up the events of 'Captain Marvel 2' and the Disney+ series 'Secret Invasion.' But, this could also be setting up something else that we don't know about. In the trailer for 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,' we get a shot of Sam and Bucky walking through a club and, believe it or not, a wall full of Skrull heads is present in this scene.
This could suggest some huge implications for Skrulls in the MCU moving forward. 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' takes place in the city of Madripoor, which is a city divided between the wealthy and crime-riddled poor. Madripoor is actually an important city in the X-Men comics, when Khan led an alien invasion that the X-Men defeated. We now know that Marvel is starting production on an X-Men project called 'The Mutants' in the near future; could this be an introduction to the history of mutants in Madripoor? Maybe, but then again, Marvel always seems to make origin stories simpler for its viewers. Maybe it's possible that Talos' cover was somehow blown when he was posing as Nick Fury on Earth. Either way, Skrulls are here to stay in Phase 4 and it will be interesting to see how Marvel introduces them as a threat, as we know that there are both good and bad Skrulls in the source material.
3) What Was Wanda Doing in that Post Credits Scene?
In the 'WandaVision' finale post-credit scene, Wanda is living in a log cabin by what appears to be the Sokovian mountains in the background. She appears to be doing stuff around the cabin but, in the back room, we see the Scarlet Witch floating in the air reading the Darkhold until she hears the screams of her children, Tommy and Billy. It's very clear that she's trying to learn more about chaos magic while also trying to find a way to bring her children back into her reality. Many people were asking, "how was she able to do this just like Doctor Strange?" It's actually quite simple; in the first 'Doctor Strange' movie, Strange uses astral projection to speak with the Ancient One. He used it once again in 'Avengers: Infinity War' before the battle with Thanos. Wanda is using astral projection in this scene, most likely because if she were to be tracked down, she'd only be seen living in the cabin and not using the Darkhold.
Now, this is where I think we get our tie-in to the next 'Doctor Strange' movie. Wanda still doesn't know the full extent of her magic at this point and she'll most likely set off a series of events that disrupts or opens up the multiverse while trying to rescue Tommy and Billy. Strange could then use astral projection to find Wanda and explain that what she's doing is wrong and that there's another way to rescue her boys. Wanda now knows that she's stronger than the Sorcerer Supreme, as Agatha Harkness told her as much in their battle scene, so she might not buy into Strange's strategy right away. This could possibly serve as an opportunity to reintroduce Agatha, since Wanda told her at the conclusion of their battle, "I'll know where to find you" in case she ever needed magical help (Agatha's more of a mentor in the comics to Wanda). With the help of both Strange and Agatha, Wanda will fully understand her powers and bring back Tommy and Billy for future 'Young Avengers' movies.
4) How Will 'WandaVision' Tie Into 'No Way Home?'
Some people theorized early on that the mid-credit or post-credit scenes would have a direct effect on 'Spider-Man: No Way Home,' which is set to release this December. We know the heavy speculation for the upcoming film is that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield will reprise their past Spider-Man roles. That still hasn't been confirmed, but Marvel could finally address it in any future trailers. It is confirmed, however, that Alfred Molina will reprise his role as Doc Ock from 'Spider-Man 2,' alongside Jamie Foxx's Electro from 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2.' This ties into my theory that Wanda is going to open up the multiverse through the Darkhold while she's trying to rescue Tommy and Billy. While she's doing this, Peter will be on the run, since he's now a fugitive and we know that 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' takes place after the events of 'WandaVision.' While Peter's on the run with Ned and MJ, it's possible he runs into Doc Ock and Electro and the "other Spider-Men" come to the rescue, much to Tom Holland's Peter Parker's surprise. We know Benedict Cumberbatch is confirmed to be in the movie, so it's possible Peter turns to Doctor Strange for help, which would explain the below still shot of Peter, Ned and MJ looking up at a mysterious shadow.
Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, "come on, Corey, that's not Doctor Strange's sanctum." However, there are three sanctums in the MCU: New York, London and Hong Kong. So, they could always be at one of the other two sanctums, since Strange can walk through a portal to get to any of them. It would make sense to have the trio be someplace other than New York, since Peter is on the run. Remember, too: Doctor Strange was blipped away, so he hasn't been in the sanctum for five years. It's still unclear whether or not Wong was blipped, but either way, we don't know who was taking care of the New York sanctum as of right now. It's possible that Strange is hiding the actual interior of the sanctum with his magic, too, with Ned and MJ being regular civilians and Strange only being slightly familiar with Peter from the events of 'Infinity War' (when the two of them and Tony Stark traveled to Titan to face off against Thanos). This could be entirely wrong, of course, since Marvel likes to laugh at our fan theories, but as of right now, I think this makes the most sense on paper.
5) Will 'WandaVision' have a direct tie to 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' and 'Loki?'
I don't think that the events of 'WandaVision' will have any direct tie-in to the plot of 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,' but Wanda's past might. I'm referring, of course, to the Sokovia Accords that were passed by the United Nations after Wanda's accident in Lagos during the first act of 'Captain America: Civil War.' Wanda's lack of control over her magic caused her to throw Brock Rumlow into a building during his suicide bombing attempt, which killed several innocent bystanders. There hasn't been any mention of the Sokovia Accords since 'Captain America: Civil War' because, after the movie, the Avengers were a little busy trying to defeat Thanos and bring everyone back from the blip. My theory is that the UN will find out Captain America is "dead" and handed his shield over to Sam, who broke the Accords when he teamed up with Cap and became a fugitive. The UN will then tell Sam that he has to turn the shield over to them, which explains this scene from the first trailer.
The UN will then hand over the shield to John F. Walker (a.k.a. U.S. Agent), who is tasked by the U.S. Government with being the successor to Captain America. We know that Sam somehow gets the shield back eventually, because Bucky is teaching him how to throw it later on in the trailer. Zemo appears to be the main villain of the show (he was responsible for the Avengers' break up) and Sharon Carter has been on the run since the events of 'Civil War' as well. The show appears to have more of a direct tie-in to the aftermath of that film than 'WandaVision,' even with Doctor Strange's name being dropped in the final trailer.
As for the 'Loki' series, which will drop after 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,' it still remains unclear if we will see any direct correlation to 'WandaVision.' A popular fan theory was that Loki was the one behind 'WandaVision,' but we know now that...it was Agatha all along. The main premise behind 'Loki' is that he stole the Tesseract during the events of 'Avengers: Endgame' and travels through time altering history. This isn't the same Loki that was killed by Thanos in 'Infinity War,' but rather the 2012 'Avengers' version of the God of Mischief. Right now, it seems like the show will explore the vast details of the multiverse more clearly before 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' and 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.' After all, there's still a lot about the multiverse that we don't yet know. So yes, 'Loki' will have somewhat of a direct tie-in to 'WandaVision,' but it most likely will not follow up on the events of the series. Maybe that's why a second season is in the works for 'Loki' at this time.
If you have any theories, hot takes or predictions of your own, be sure to send them over to me on Twitter at @celticshive or on Instagram at @thehiveunfiltered, as I'll be sure to read and respond to them all during a future podcast episode!
- Corey (@celticshive)