In the latest “WandaVision” recap, Wanda is pregnant and progressing faster than expected but a tragedy from the past soon disrupts her happy family fantasy…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Following the third episode of “WandaVision,” it’s apparent that Marvel would have done well to release three episodes instead of just two when the series debuted a week ago.
The third episode of the series titled “Now in Color” finally started to reveal what’s actually happening right now in this weird, pseudo sitcom world where Wanda Maximoff is living a happy life with her husband Vision, who we all know died during the events in “Avengers: Infinity War.”
The payoff in the closing moments really begins to set the stage for what will undoubtedly come over the next six episodes as Wanda continues to deal with tragedy and loss in a unique and potentially destructive way.
The latest episode also referenced events in the seemingly forgotten sequel “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” which is where Wanda and her brother Pietro (aka Quicksilver) were introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the other three “Avengers” movies are on constant repeat, it feels like “Age of Ultron” came and went without nearly as much fanfare or impact on the larger MCU.
That’s all changing with “WandaVision” as the series references events that took place in that movie so it might be worth a rewatch while waiting for next week’s episode.
That said, let’s get to our recap of the latest episode of “WandaVision” where we will once again attempt to explain everything that’s happening beyond the happy sitcom existence…
Daydream Believer
After spending two episodes in black and white, the third episode of “WandaVision” finally transforms to color with this one serving as an homage to “The Brady Bunch” including a staircase in the house that looks like it was designed by Mike Brady himself.
As revealed in the closes moments of episode 2, Wanda is suddenly pregnant, which creates even more havoc around her home because her due date is drawing near despite the fact that she only discovered she was with child a few days earlier.
Of course, Vision does his best to play the doting dad while attending to Wanda’s needs but her rapidly progressing pregnancy makes his job that much tougher.
Outside after saying goodbye to the doctor who paid Wanda a visit, Vision has a strange interaction with one of their neighbors after he accidentally saws through a fence while attempting to trim the hedges on his property. When Vision goes back inside, Wanda is now looking even bigger as the pregnancy is nearly reaching its apex.
When she starts having Braxton-Hicks contractions, the electricity in the entire neighborhood begins fluttering as things around Wanda and Visions house come to life as control on her powers begin to slip. When the final contraction ends, Wanda’s reaction ends up knocking out power in all the surrounding houses.
These continued mishaps have Wanda concerned that perhaps the neighbors will soon discover their secret identities and that question suddenly sparks Vision’s own curiosity about all the strange occurrences that keep happening to them. The comedy soon fades away as Vision looks more and more concerned about what’s actually going on inside this home.
A second later a “glitch” occurs and suddenly the scene is reset except this time, Vision isn’t asking those same probing questions.
Much like last week where Wanda said “no” when the person with the beekeeper’s outfit climbed out of the sewer and the entire scene just reset itself, it seems she did the same thing in her mind by erasing Vision’s questions about their curious existence. Soon after Wanda’s false labor turns real when her water breaks — which causes real rain to fall from the ceiling in their home — and Vision needs to get the doctor.
With the phonelines down due to Wanda’s uncontrollable powers zapping just about everything around her, Vision decides to run to retrieve the doctor. That’s when Geraldine shows up and Wanda is forced to hide her pregnancy because just days ago these same neighbors saw her without child and now she’s about to give birth.
Of course, Geraldine is really Monica Rambeau — the character we first met in “Captain Marvel,” who will be a central part of this particular series.
Following some more comical hijinks involving a real life stork being brought to life, Geraldine discovers Wanda’s pregnancy and she decides to lend a helping hand with the birth. Of course in the middle of all this is another era appropriate commercial — this time advertising a Calgon like bath experience except this time it’s sponsored by HYDRA.
Before long, Wanda has given birth to a healthy baby boy just as Vision returns with the doctor. A few moments later, a second baby arrives unexpectedly as Wanda and Vision welcome their twin children to the world and decide rather quickly to name them Tommy and Billy.
Now for a better understanding of Wanda and Vision’s children, you have to take a trip back to the comic books to have some idea of what’s actually happening here.
There was a time when the Scarlet Witch and Vision decided to retire from the Avengers after getting married as they decide to leave the superhero game in order to start a life together. Along the way, Wanda suddenly becomes pregnant, which seems impossible considering Vision is an android without any capability to father children.
That doesn’t seem to matter much to Wanda, who soon gives birth to twin boys named Thomas and William (aka Tommy and Billy) with Doctor Strange actually helping to deliver the children.
Despite an attempt to leave the Avengers, Wanda and Vision eventually return to the team and that’s when things take a really odd turn. It seems whenever Wanda goes off on a mission with the Avengers, her nanny at home is shocked to discover both Tommy and Billy just disappear.
It’s later revealed that Wanda created the pregnancy with her powers and the twins were nothing more than a fragment of her imagination. Whenever Wanda’s mind got distracted by something else, the children she created just disappeared until she began thinking of them again.
When Wanda discovers the truth about her children, she falls into a deep catatonic state, unable to face the reality of her powers or the way she used them to literally created twins out of thin air.
Later down the road, Tommy and Billy are actually recreated again — this time for real — but it’s a confusing set of circumstances that allow them to become more than a figment of Wanda’s imagination. That involves the Marvel demon Mephisto and parts of him used to create Tommy and Billy in the flesh. Eventually, Wanda is reunited with her children, who both develop mutant powers and eventually become Wiccan and Speed.
Years later, Wiccan and Speed join the Young Avengers
It’s impossible to know how much of that origin story will make it into “WandaVision,” although it appears at least some part of that has already been adapted. Tommy and Billy have been brought into this false fantasy world that Wanda has created but it remains to be seen if the twins stick around any longer.
Following the birth of the twins is when things take a real turn back to reality.
Vision steps outside to say goodbye to the doctor, who informs him that the vacation planned to Bermuda probably won’t happen because it’s so hard to escape a small town. Vision then encounters his neighbors, Agnes and Herb, who caution him against Geraldine, who apparently moved to Westview without any family and she doesn’t actually have a home.
Vision seems confused by this foreboding warning from his neighbors but just when it appears Agnes and Herb are going to reveal what’s actually happening, they both decide not to tell him anything further as they scamper back to their own homes. It’s almost as if the neighbors are aware of this false reality yet they are being forced to play house thanks to Wanda’s damaged mind altering reality.
Inside the house, Wanda is marveling at the birth of her twin baby boys and that’s when she reveals to Geraldine that she was also born a twin. Sadly, her brother Pietro died.
As Wanda begins singing a lullaby to her children, Geraldine suddenly says in a rather matter of fact tone “he was killed by Ultron, wasn’t he?”
That revelation forces Wanda to then begin questioning Geraldine and her true intentions. She then notices Geraldine’s necklace, which is made up of the same symbol that she saw on that toy helicopter that crash landed in her yard in the last episode.
The symbol belongs to S.W.O.R.D., which as previously explained is essentially the outer space version of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Marvel universe. Clearly, S.W.O.R.D. is playing some role in Wanda’s fantasy land and it appears that Monica Rambeau works for them.
Wanda’s fractured mind can’t handle the reality brought into this world with the news that Pietro had been killed by Ultron and she soon turns on Geraldine. A moment later when Vision comes back into the house, Geraldine is gone and Wanda explains that their neighbor just went home.
A second later, the real town of Westview is revealed and a breech opens up in the sky and Geraldine is cast back out to the ground where she’s soon surrounded by military vehicles and spotlights. As the shot is widened, we soon discover that this entire area has been cordoned off by the military — presumably S.W.O.R.D. — and we get our first glimpse of what’s actually happening.
It appears the entire town of Westview has been engulfed in a force field, which looks to be the warped reality that Wanda has created in order to live a happy life with Vision.
Judging by this closing scene, Wanda’s new reality isn’t necessarily in her head but rather she’s actually taken over this entire town and twisted it to allow her to exist solely in the fantasy that she’s created. That would explain why the neighbors, Agnes and Herb, seem to know more than they’re letting on and perhaps it’s because they understand this world isn’t real but Wanda’s power is too great to overcome.
By all accounts, Monica Rambeau was likely sent into infiltrate Wanda’s false reality in hopes of finding a way to pull her out again. Wanda’s damaged, grief stricken mind is so absorbed into this fantasy that she’s not capable of understanding what’s actually happening right now. Perhaps Monica thought mentioning Pietro’s death at the hands of Ultron would remind Wanda of her real world versus the false one she’s apparently created.
We’ll certainly learn more about this in the coming weeks as Wanda attempts to maintain her happy home life with Vision while the agents of S.W.O.R.D. are likely trying to stop her.
“WandaVision” returns with a brand new episode next Friday on Disney+.
