The Disney+ series WandaVision gives some much needed character development to Wanda Maximoff while teeing up a few events for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans finally get a chance to see what’s going on in Wanda’s head beyond standing up for the right to use her own powers. She battles a few different villains, eventually coming out on top, but is beating the bad guy enough for the audience to call her a hero?
Unlike the more traditional heroes of the MCU, Wanda doesn’t spend her series saving a bunch of civilians or stopping a villain from controlling the world. Instead, the villains she puts a stop to are after her specifically. What’s more concerning, however, is her treatment of the town she “saves” as a result of her own presence in it. Wanda doesn’t prevent a horrible fate from befalling them or stop them from being tortured. Instead, she’s the one causing the damage.
There are three different villains in WandaVision. The most stereotypical of Marvel villains is SWORD’s Director Hayward. Hayward wants to use Vision’s body to have his own sentient weapon. This explicitly goes against Vision’s own wishes and angers Wanda when she realizes the truth. Wanda might antagonize Hayward, but she’s not the one who stops him. Instead, Darcy Lewis hits him with a truck when he directs his soldiers to move against Wanda and her family.
The second (and arguably, bigger) villain in WandaVision is Agatha Harkness. Agatha finds herself drawn to Westview as a result of Wanda’s magic. She spends her time there pretending to be Wanda’s friend, but also secretly antagonizing her, trying to figure out how Wanda’s magic works. It’s Agatha that Wanda has to stop from hurting people and taking her power in the finale of the series. That is, however, a selfish save since if Wanda hadn’t managed to defeat Agatha, Wanda would no longer have her superpowers.
The final and most prevalent villain in the series is Wanda’s own grief. It’s Wanda’s grief that leads her to Westview and to create the WandaVision atmosphere. Wanda’s grief is so all-consuming that she doesn’t even realize the things she’s done under its influence until it’s too late. Being able to push through her own grief is what allows Wanda to set Westview (and herself) free. That should be a heroic deed, but it’s not entirely. Wanda does make a heroic move in finding a way to move on with her life. To Westview, however, she’s still a villain.
Throughout the series, Wanda references Westview as her family’s new home. She appears to make nice with the neighbors and wants to fit into this picture-perfect world. For Wanda though, that’s all an image she keeps up in an effort to stay happy. She turns Westview into whatever sitcom environment she chooses in order to keep herself happy.
Wanda’s method is certainly an intense coping mechanism for her, but it’s also a psychologically damaging one for the town. The residents of Westview are essentially locked in their own minds with Wanda’s grief. While they appear to go about their daily lives, it’s really their characters going about their daily lives. Wanda has almost total control. The real personalities of Westview’s residents remain hidden.
That’s clear when “Norm” begs Vision for help, when “Dottie” gets confused about what’s happening, and in the fact that there are no children on the streets until Wanda has her own. Despite believing the sitcom facade makes Westview safe and happy, Wanda shields all of the town’s children from the world. Her control keeps them hidden, proving that, on some level, she knows being forced to play a part isn’t good for them.
When Agatha Harkness forces Wanda to confront reality by “waking up” Westview, Wanda has to make a choice. She can either maintain her perfect world, or she can set Westview free. After learning the residents share her nightmares every night and hearing “Dottie” plead for her daughter to have a role, Wanda gives them their freedom.
Wanda walks back through town with the residents looking on and hides her head from them in her hoodie. It’s clear that she’s ashamed of her actions, and that she’s still grieving. While Monica Rambeau approaches her and makes it clear she understands her, Wanda doesn’t think anyone else will. Monica knows Wanda gives up her perfect family for Westview. In reality, she wouldn’t have to if she’d never controlled the residents.
Wanda doesn’t offer up any kind of amends or apology that the audience sees. She simply goes back to the lot that Vision purchased for them and lets her family go. She also forces Agatha Harkness to remain in Westview in her role of “Agnes.” That means there is a living reminder of what Wanda did to that town. It’s possible that Monica or even Jimmy Woo’s team of FBI agents have plans in place to provide the residents with options for therapy, but that’s never addressed. Knowing that an entire town of people live with someone else’s grief, under someone else’s control, and in a prison that is their home town, makes it incredibly hard to see Wanda as another hero on the Avengers.
The audience understands her grief, and empathizes with her. She still certainly takes a few steps too far without even admitting to what she’s done.
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