This article contains spoilers for episode four of WandaVision.
Marvel has taken the audience into the world of sitcoms – with a twist – in WandaVision for its first three episodes. The fourth episode is the first time the series shifts to a new perspective, that of Monica Rambeau and SWORD. It gives a lot of answers to questions fans have had about the small town of Westview. With those answers come plenty of references to other parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel comics.
Of course, because the episode focuses on expanding plenty of the backstory and filling in the blanks, some of the things the audience might normally think of as Easter eggs at the start of the episode are even called out by the end of the episode. The audience gets explanations, for example, for the appearance of SWORD’s “helicopter” in the second episode of WandaVision, or even Jimmy Woo’s voice on the radio. There are still plenty of other things for fans to catch.
WandaVision marks the first time the audience sees just what happened when the Avengers managed to “unsnap” the world in Avengers: Endgame. The same effect used to make characters disappear in the movie is used to make them reappear in the episode opening. That’s not the Easter egg; it’s really just establishing the timeline for the audience.
As Monica wakes up in a chair in an empty hospital room, the audience is able to hear bits and pieces of dialogue, like her entire life is rushing back to her. That’s a definite Easter egg for movie fans. Those bits and pieces of dialogue are courtesy of Captain Marvel. The audience can even hear Carol Danvers call her “Lieutenant Trouble.” Right up until the Marvel title card, the audience gets to be filled in on more of Monica’s backstory. This includes the fact that her mother ran SWORD, and even built it from the ground up.
There’s also a nod to her comic book turn as Captain Marvel. Though Monica has gone by a lot of names, like Photon (the call sign used for Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel, seen on the wall at SWORD) and Spectrum, she also uses the name Captain Marvel for a while. Her boss at SWORD references her rank, whether within SWORD or the military, as Captain.
While Monica is walking into SWORD’s headquarters, news broadcasts about people returning to the world play on screens above her head. Eagle-eyed fans will notice that one of those broadcasts comes from WHiH News. That particular news network is used throughout the entire MCU. It’s appeared in several movies, been used as part of the marketing for Ant-Man, and even made its way into Marvel’s Netflix shows and Agents Of SHIELD.
The episode titles for WandaVision haven’t been revealed in advance. Fans haven’t been getting to see them until the episodes are available to stream. Episode four is called, “We Interrupt This Program.”
That particular phrase is typically used for breaking news broadcasts in primetime. If a news broadcast has to cut into what’s airing, the anchor or reporter would typically use this phrase. It’s a fitting title as it signals the audience that this episode marks a change in what they’ve been watching so far. The perspective shift is, quite literally, interrupting the sitcom format.
The audience gets to see what the world looks like just outside of Westview’s city limits in this episode. They also get to find out just who (most of) the citizens are. Westview is confirmed as a town in New Jersey. That’s a nice comic book nod for the show since New Jersey is where Wanda and Vision attempted to live a normal life. There’s also a nod to Jimmy Woo’s introduction in Ant-Man. He uses the same card trick when he meets Monica that Scott Lang showed him.
When SWORD and Agent Woo start theorizing about just what could be happening in Westview, there are a few fun nods. The “cast” of Westview’s reality do not have the same names or occupations that they appear to have when interacting with Wanda and Vision. The Harts, for example, are really Todd and Sharon Davis. These aren’t comic book characters, but Sharon Davis is the name of one of the art directors for WandaVision. So, in fact, is John Collins, the real name for the character the audience knows as Herb so far.
Woo’s whiteboard notes also include the theory that Skrulls could be behind Westview’s isolation. That’s an interesting Easter egg for WandaVision fans since last the audience saw, Skrulls were the good guys in Captain Marvel.
Darcy Lewis (now with a doctorate in astrophysics instead of being Jane Foster’s intern) makes note of picking up “cosmic radiation.”
Now, that particular phrasing could be a coincidence, but maybe not. It’s typically associated with the Fantastic Four in the comics. They will eventually be joining the MCU in their own movie. It might also be of note that SWORD’s director makes a point to mention astronauts still missing at the top of the episode. That tracks with the usual origin story for the foursome.
There is another group on the way to the MCU that utilizes cosmic energy. Marvel hasn’t revealed much about The Eternals just yet, but they are said to draw their own superpowers from cosmic energy.
The series has been keeping the mystery going of just who is controlling the sitcom atmosphere of WandaVision. With this episode, however, it seems clear that Wanda is the one in control of the illusion. That’s evident based on the “glitch” the audience experiences with her. When Vision returns to Wanda after she expels Monica Rambeau from Westview, Wanda’s control is briefly lifted. Instead of the usual Vision, the audience sees him lifeless, and with a cracked skull where the infinity stone was removed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. That moment doesn’t just serve as a callback to the movie, but as a peek into what happens when Wanda’s control slips. When Wanda loses control, things change.
Fans will be able to see just how much control Wanda maintains, and more Easter eggs in WandaVision every Friday as new episodes are made available to stream on Disney+.
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