The following contains spoilers for the first 7 episodes of WandaVision.
WandaVision has been a hot topic for fan speculation since the first two episodes dropped in January. Due to the weekly release schedule, and the strange, mysterious nature of the show, fans have had a field day theorizing and guessing what will happen next after each new episode. It’s a great way to continue to draw and maintain viewer interest in the show, especially since the show unravels its mysteries fairly slowly.
A lot of the fan speculation has been regarding possible cameos and appearances from other heroes in the MCU, as well as possible introductions of new heroes. People have been so focused on spreading theories, in fact, that a lot of the online discussion seems to be based around “what’s going to happen next?” instead of “what’s happening in the show right now?” This intense focus that a lot of fans have on hoping that some big-name celebrity or superhero will make an appearance on WandaVision is taking the focus away from what the show is actually supposed to be about: how a woman in deep pain is handling her grief.
When the show first began airing, it was rumored that WandaVision would have a cameo comparable to that of Luke Skywalker’s in The Mandalorian, based on a comment made during an interview with Elizabeth Olsen. As soon as that tidbit was dropped, fans went wild trying to figure out who the cameo might be. Now, with 7 episodes out, some fans think this comment might have been in reference to Evan Peters appearing as Pietro Maximoff, but others think that the cameo has yet to happen, and are still speculating about who might appear, with guesses ranging from Doctor Strange to Captain Marvel.
Another popular topic of discussion centered around Monica Rambeau’s mention of an aerospace engineer that she knew, and many fans speculated that this might be a reference to Reed Richards, and a way to bring the Fantastic Four into the MCU. There was a considerable amount of disappointment when, in episode 7, the person Monica meets up with turns out to be a new (and seemingly minor) character that no one has heard of, though it remains to be seen if this person will be of any importance in the future.
But this is exactly why these fan discussions are almost becoming too intense. Marvel fans have come to expect the biggest surprises from the MCU, and constantly try to stay one step ahead of guessing which characters might show up where. The problem with that in a show such as WandaVision is that though the show has plenty of wild moments and big plot twists, at its core it’s a show that is trying to comment on grief and loss. It’s exploring Wanda’s grief at losing Vision in Infinity War and trying to give herself the life she dreamed of, and it also explores Monica’s grief at losing her mother during the five years that she was blipped, and never properly getting to say goodbye. Any meaningful discussion about these topics, however, has been lost amidst the desperate cries of the fans for some other superhero to show up.
It’s fun to see MCU movies where another hero that’s not the main focus of the story show up, because it’s what makes the universe feel as interconnected as it does, and it often lends itself to comedic situations, depending on the clashing personalities of those heroes. However, in a show like WandaVision that until this point has been less focused on spectacle and more in tune with emotion and mystery, it’s important that the focus stays on the main character – in this case, Wanda Maximoff.
It’s especially interesting that in one of the few female-led Marvel properties, there has been a lot of excitement about possible male hero cameos that would just steal the spotlight. Again, this is Wanda’s story, and while it might tie into the stories of other male MCU characters (for example, Doctor Strange), it should still be about her, and the excitement generated around the show should be more focused on getting to see her character development or the strength of her powers. While fans were excited about the prospect of getting a Reed Richards cameo, it wouldn’t really make sense to make this show the origin story of a new male character who would generate that much excitement in the fandom, especially because the show has already set itself up as a Monica Rambeau origin story.
This rampant excitement over possible cameos in WandaVision takes away from a greater focus on Wanda’s story in the fandom, but it’s not really anyone’s fault. Of course, a fandom such as the MCU’s is going to assume that big cameos are going to happen, partially because they’ve been teased, but also partially because it’s what everyone has come to expect from the Marvel universe at this point. As a show, WandaVision really lends itself to fan theories, just by the nature of the way Marvel chose to tell this story, only giving the viewer small morsels of information at a time.
While there’s no one specifically to blame for the problem, it would be nice if the fandom would shift away from constant speculation about which character is going to show up next, and move more towards a discussion about what the show is saying about grief and loss. Talking about Wanda as a character and the journey she’s gone on through her TV show and the MCU as a whole seems like a more productive conversation than focusing on which big superhero we might get a glimpse of this week.
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