When rumors began that Evan Peters would appear in WandaVision, fans were quick to speculate that he would play Pietro Maximoff, the long-dead twin brother of Wanda Maximoff. Episode five ended with Peters in a cameo at the door, and those speculations proved correct. The audience now wonders if Pietro’s presence in the show opens up the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the multiverse – or if there’s something else going on.
As much as the WandaVision audience might hope that Pietro’s presence will offer Wanda a life line in an ocean of grief, that might not be what’s in store. In episodes five and six of the series, Pietro serves little more of a purpose than to be the “fun uncle” for Wanda’s twins. He also, however, spends plenty of time getting under Wanda’s skin, which might speak to his larger purpose in the show. It’s entirely possible that Pietro isn’t Pietro at all.
Ever since Vision became suspicious of Westview, Wanda denies being in complete control of everything. She even explains to him during an argument that it would be impossible for her to keep track of every resident going to work, walking their dogs, and living their daily lives. Wanda does, however, have a modicum of control over her vicinity. After all, she changes the house every night, rewinds moments in the series, and even sends Vision to work on a Saturday when he needs a distraction.
While Pietro says that Wanda “called to him” after death, Wanda is genuinely surprised to see him. It even takes her a moment to realize that the man at her door is her brother. It raises the question of whether she called to him intentionally – or whether she called to him at all.
Wanda herself is suspicious of her brother showing up out of the blue. She tries to be subtle about it, but still questions Pietro on their past together. It’s evident that even Wanda thinks something is off, but isn’t quite sure what.
When she asks him about one of the children at an orphanage with them, Pietro brushes it off. He also calls her out on testing him, but never actually answers the question. When he talks about their Halloween as kids in Sokovia, Wanda even looks confused for a moment, as if she doesn’t know what costumes he’s talking about, or even what illness he’s referencing. These brief glimpses into their childhood only create more questions about Pietro.
If Wanda tests Pietro’s knowledge, he probes her for information about Westview and what she’s doing. He doesn’t judge the fact that the entire town seems to be under her control. In fact, he tells her that he’s impressed by how much her power has grown and wants to know just how she does it.
Pietro is conversational enough while discussing Wanda’s powers, but his questions are incessant. He wants details, and she doesn’t have them. What she gives him are vague explanations about her grief, not her power. In her grief, she might be blind to the fact that he’s essentially interrogating her.
There’s also the fact that this version of Pietro seems colder than the last. In Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Pietro is definitely the more light hearted of the two. Despite the tragedy they endured, he manages to crack jokes and keep his sister smiling. His jokes are never aimed at hurting her. That’s not the case in WandaVision’s “All-New Halloween Spooktacular.” He only seems to get serious when questioning her. Typically, he teases the twins, but when he does make jokes for Wanda’s benefit, they aren’t ones that would make her laugh.
First, he makes the remark that he died “like a chump” on the street. His remark is vague enough that he doesn’t even have to be addressing the events in Sokovia directly, though that’s certainly what Wanda remembers. She even has a vision of him riddled with bullet holes after he makes the remark.
He also makes a crack about Vision’s death. When Billy reveals to Wanda that he can hear his father, despite him being on the other side of town, Wanda wants to know more. Billy also reveals that SWORD’s soldiers think Vision is dying. Pietro simply laughs and jokes that Wanda’s husband can’t die twice. That prompts Wanda to blast him away, something she likely wouldn’t have done to her own brother in other circumstances.
His teasing about death doesn’t seem like something the original Pietro would do. He might have joked about being faster than her, but when Wanda was upset, he was always immediately there for her.
The fact that the residents of Westview don’t entirely exhibit their own personalities in this sitcom world also comes into play. Though the audience, and Wanda, see Evan Peters as playing Pietro Maximoff, he could be playing a resident who, in turn, is playing Pietro.
He never even calls himself Pietro. Instead, he uses Pete, or even “Uncle P” to refer to himself. That could be leaning into the idea of the multiverse since the version of the character Peters plays in the X-Men franchise goes by Peter. Since Wanda still calls him Pietro, however, it’s odd that he never uses the name himself.
Most of the audience remains focused on the real identity of Agnes in Westview since she hasn’t been identified by SWORD. That doesn’t mean other Westview residents aren’t just as mysterious. After all, Jimmy Woo’s lost witness is still a story thread to be pulled as well, and Dottie never even made it onto SWORD’s board of players. Pietro could easily be someone from Westview, or just outside of it, that ended up caught in Wanda’s Hex.
If “Pietro” is just a personality put on by someone affected by The Hex, he could easily turn out to be the missing witness – or someone else entirely. Wanda’s desire for comfort from her brother may have prompted the part he plays. The constant questioning of Wanda’s ability, however, suggests otherwise.
It seems more likely that Pietro is not there at Wanda’s behest, but someone else’s. Wanda suddenly has more power at her disposal than she’s ever exhibited in the MCU before. Her abilities have included telekinesis and hallucinations in the past. They haven’t included rewriting reality until now. Either someone (or something) gave her a boost, her grief unlocked her full potential, or someone else started the control of Westview and allowed her to piggy back on it. That someone could be responsible for Pietro’s appearance in Westview, which could make him (one of) the real villain(s) of WandaVision.
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