“WandaVison” is coming to an end. And, frankly, Marvel fans will be making sure their love perseveres.
The show started with a simple idea — Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and her husband, Vision (Paul Bettany), lived together in a sitcom-like alternate reality where they took on identities similar to those in different eras of comedy shows. Everything seemed happy and right (save for a few odd moments) in the first three episodes.
Fast forward to now. Let me take a deep breath.
Things could not be weirder and confusing. We have a wicked witch in Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) facing off with Wanda, as Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and the resurrected yet slightly different Pietro (Evan Peters) square off in their own fight. Vision (Bettany) is set to fight with White Vision (also Bettany). Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) and Dr. Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) are still trying to figure out what’s going on with this alternate reality. And, yeah, we don’t know anything about what this all means in the bigger picture of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
So what should we expect in the finale of the show? It will likely be a complete story since all signs suggest there won’t be a second season. But there are plenty of possibilities for what might happen given that the show ties into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
So let’s explore these a bit. We have five questions and four predictions for the finale of the nine-episode show.
Just a note: I review episodes of “WandaVision” and other Marvel projects regularly. These questions and predictions are based on speculation and my thoughts alone. They are opinions. Read on if you wish.
Question 1 — Who wins: Vision or Anti-Vision?
We’re likely going to see Anti-Vision take on Vision in this next episode. The end of Episode 8 showed agent Tyler Hayward (Josh Stamberg) approach a room where there’s a new version of Vision waiting for him there. This version of Vision looked to have a white color. Tyler suggested the new Vision needed power from Wanda’s alternate reality, called the Hex, in order to work right. Now, they have that power from a drone that went into the Hex. So it appears — if anything — we’re going to see this Anti-Vision (or White Vision) take on the Vision that’s living inside Westview.
The funny thing is that Episode 8 revealed that Wanda had discovered SWORD agents taking apart the real Vision’s body to rebuild him, meaning that the White Vision we’re seeing now is actually the real Vision with a new level of programming. The Vision inside the Hexagonal is a different Vision — one made up of Wanda’s abilities. It’ll be so fascinating to see these two battle each other and to see what it means for Wanda. She couldn’t exactly be happy to see her husband facing off with her husband.
Question 2 — Will Pulsar make her full debut?
One of the burning questions for me is what the future holds for Monica Rambeau, who has been one of the central characters for “WandaVision.” She definitely took a step forward in her MCU career by stepping through the “Hex” — the nickname for the bubble that surrounds Westview — and gaining some new abilities when she did. Per the comic book history, Monica ends up taking on a few different roles such as Pulsar. But we haven’t seen her fully embrace the role in “WandaVision” yet. Given that we’re still waiting to see what happened between her and Pietro — the two first had a confrontation a mid-credits scene — there’s a good chance we’ll see her use her abilities in an all-out fight. If there was ever time to fully debut the new superhero, this would be the episode to do it.
Question 3 — Is this the end of Westview and the Hex?
It doesn’t look like there’s going to be a second season of “WandaVision.” The show appears set to be a one-off that tells a complete story. So does this mean we’re going to see the end of Westview and the Hex? It’s possible. But there’s also a chance that the Hexagonal expands. Yeah, that’s right. We saw it already grow at the end of Episode 6, which wrapped up Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) into the alternate universe. So it’s clearly possible that this alternate reality could expand again. Is it possible that it would grow even more? Could we see the Hex take over the entire world? If “WandaVision” is the first new project of the next phase in MCU films, it wouldn’t be shocking to see something like this happen. it would rewrite the rules of the MCU moving forward. And, as we learned about before, “WandaVision” will change how we see Marvel films moving forward.
Question 4 — Who is the aerospace engineer?
OK. I may be one of the few people who remember this. But Monica Rambeau mentioned that her aerospace engineer friend would help her get into Westview. Soon after, a team of soldiers showed up to help her, but we never got any mention of the aerospace engineer. So who is it? There are some theories it might be Reed Richards, the real name of Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four, and that he’ll be played by John Krasinski. But that seems unlikely given that “WandaVision” director Matt Shakman told Entertainment Weekly that fans with major theories will be disappointed by the finale. I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but hopefully the show can tie up this loose end.
Question 5 — Who is the mystery actor? And what about the ‘Luke Skywalker’ moment?
Before the show’s debut, Vision actor Paul Bettany mentioned he was excited to work with a specific actor that he hasn’t had a chance to work with, as I wrote about before. Fans speculated that the actor would turn out to be someone important in the show. Theories suggested it would be Ian McKellan, who would reprise his role as Magneto. Others wondered if it had something to do with the Fantastic Four or Doctor Strange. But it looks like we already learned our answer — apparently, that mystery actor may be Bettany himself. Yes, he has always wanted to act opposite himself, which is something he’s apparently never done before (but could do now because of the whole Anti-Vision thing). So, it looks like we got an answer to that. But you never know — maybe there will be another surprise appearance in this show.
The other major moment that hasn’t been explored — the “Luke Skywalker moment.” Olsen mentioned during the early days of the show that “WandaVision” would have a moment similar to when Luke Skywalker showed up at the end of “The Mandalorian” Season 2 finale. She didn’t exactly give details, but most “Star Wars” fans will remember the shock and awe they felt from seeing a young Luke Skywalker return to the “Star Wars” universe to kick trash and take names. We haven’t seen something like that just yet in “WandaVision.” Sure, Peters showed up to play Pietro/QuickSilver — a role he previously played in the X-Men films for 21st Century Fox, which led to questions about the multiverse and where Marvel planned to go next. But is that really on the level of the Luke Skywalker moments? Plus, the real Luke Skywalker moment happened in a finale episode. So there’s still a chance we’ll see this exciting moment in Friday’s episode.
Prediction 1 — We will get a proper goodbye for Vision.
One of the moments that stood out in “Infinity War” — by far the best Marvel Cinematic Universe film — was the death of Vision. Not because it happened, but because it happened twice. Wanda stopped Thanos from killing Vision and completely wiping out half of the universe by killing Vision herself. But then Thanos used the reality stone to rewind the events and kill Vision by taking the Mind Stone out of his head.
The thing is — the two deaths were super quick. Vision was literally unplugged and tossed away. The good news is that the “WandaVision” finale will likely give us a proper death to Vision. We will get to say goodbye to one of the MCU staples and mourn him in the proper way, instead of remembering his pathetic and simple death in “Infinity War.”
Prediction 2 — Someone else from the MCU will show up.
I’ll cover this a little later, but I’m definitely feeling someone from the Marvel Cinematic Universe will show up. We have “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” literally dropping on March 19 (that’s two weeks away), so I’d bet we see some sort of hint of what’s to come on that show — whether it’s a news clip that references an event in that show, or someone like Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) showing up. Marvel is good at putting pieces of other projects in its stories. The studio seems to have mastered the concept of the Easter egg. More of that could likely appear in the “WandaVision” finale.
Prediction 3 — Agatha Harkness will survive.
Again, this is pure speculation. But I see Agatha Harkness playing a major role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe moving forward. In some ways, I could see her playing the new Loki-style character — someone who tricks others in the MCU and uses her magic to troll everyone else. She probably won’t get her own film or series, but she might be featured prominently in other projects, becoming something of a role player, especially if the MCU delves more into the multiverse.
Prediction 4 — The end credits scene will lead to ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.’
Speaking of multiverses, we’ve heard before that “WandaVision” will lead into the “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” film, as I wrote about before. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Doctor Strange shows up at the end of “WandaVision,” specifically during an end credits scene. We know Doctor Strange works to protect the universe from falling apart, so something like Westview would certainly fall on his radar.
This would also align with something Olsen said at the beginning of the show’s run. She said “WandaVision” would have a Luke Skywalker moment — a reference to when Skywalker showed up at the end of “The Mandalorian” Season 2 to help save the day against Dark Troopers. There’s a chance “WandaVision” might have its own version of that scene — and I could see a world where Doctor Strange shows up to save the day.