WandaVision Easter Eggs episodes 1 and 2 and Marvel references

She is a magical girl in a small town, he is part of a machine and they share a love like you’ve never seen. That is the cheerful introduction to WandaVision on Disney Plus, but what references to Easter eggs and Marvel can be found in the first two episodes?

WandaVision episodes 1 and 2 are now broadcasting, with new installments of the Disney Plus program in nine parts follow every friday, starting with episode 3 on January 22. We’ll recap each episode as it arrives, removing layers of suspense about how Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and her robotic boyfriend Vision (Paul Bettany) arrived on this surreal suburban sitcom. ..

Here are the Easter eggs we’ve seen so far and we’ll add more as we see them. But be warned: Spoilers for the two episodes below!

The door number

On their perfect suburban street, Wanda and Vision live at 2,800. In an acclaimed 2015 comic series by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Vision took up residence on a suburban street, but although that highly recommended comic was very different, it’s fun to note that Viz lived in No. 616. It was a reference to Earth -616, the version of reality in which most Marvel comic book stories take place.

Other parallel dimensions – like the different worlds seen in Spider-Man: in the spider verse – have their own numbers. Therefore, the meaning of 2,800 is not clear, but with WandaVision reported as linked to the next film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness it can have some kind of multiversal meaning.

The ads

WandaVision’s pastiche of sitcoms from the 50s and 60s, like Bewitched and I Love Lucy, includes a laugh track, stylized scenarios and farce situations. It also extends to fake ads in the middle of each parcel. Episode 1 tries to sell us an ultramodern toaster from Stark Industries – an Easter egg softball, as most viewers will find a reference to the company run by Tony Stark (also known as Iron Man) and his father, Howard Stark, before him.

However, the seemingly innocuous Toast Mate 2000 takes a frightening turn when it emits a menacing beep just before the bread pops – a bit like a bomb. We know since 2015 Avengers: Age of Ultron that Wanda’s parents were killed by an explosive device, leaving her and her twin brother, Pietro, trapped under the rubble. For two days, the Maximoffs looked at an unexploded bomb from the Stark Industries, hoping it would detonate before being rescued. So, beeping the Stark technology is probably not going to please Wanda.

The commercial break takes a darker turn in episode 2, however. This second ad announces a watch with the names Strucker and Hydra. Hydra is, of course, the sinister terrorist organization that threatens the Marvel world, and Baron Wolfgang von Strucker is the evil scientist who developed Wanda’s powers and pitted her against the Avengers in the Age of Ultron.

The ad slogan “He’ll make time for you” implies an ongoing role for Strucker, despite his death at the hands of Ultron, and can connect to the show’s television themes if he is seen again on a TV screen, like his fellow scientist Hidra Arnim Zola in Captain America: The winter soldier.

If they are references to Wanda’s origins, then the ads may represent Wanda’s memories, although the toaster ad warns: “Forget your past, this is your future.” In that case, it can mean something that the same woman and the same man appear in both ads. Could they be Wanda’s parents?

Supermarket signs

Speaking of ads, pay attention to the supermarket signs in the opening credits for episode 2. The store advertises Bova Milk, a reference to the superevolved cow who served as a midwife at Wanda’s birth (comics!). Another sign mentions Kitty Litter from Aunt A, who is certainly a reference to another supporting member of the comic book cast, the witch Agatha Harkness and her feline relative named Ebony. What can make you wonder about Kathryn Hahn’s fabulous neighbor, who happens to be called Agnes …

The songs

In singing the captivating 1958 rock ‘n’ roll song, Yakety Yak, Vision takes on the role of father and son, giving and taking orders in a closed suburban world or imprisonment. (“Don’t answer.”) Interestingly, this view of suburban teen life is, in its own way, a construct: Yakety Yak was written, produced and arranged by Jewish composers Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller for black artists The Coasters as a parody of white middle class society.

This is a scope, but there is another possible meaning. In the 1988 comedy Twins, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a naive outsider who comes to America and sings the song. Wanda has / had a twin brother, his brother Pietro (also known as Mercury), who in the MCU was shot dead by the creator of Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron. She also magically gave birth to twins in the comics in the 1980s.

And what about Old McDonald? With his moo moos and baa baas, Visão again plays the role of characters who are closed against their will. Or it’s just funny.

In episode 2, the song we heard at a crucial moment is the 1965 hit Me, Rhonda by the Beach Boys. Along with the hairstyle and costume changes, it is one of the subtle signs that the series has moved from the 1950s in episode 1 to a pastiche of the 60s in episode 2. And, of course, Rhonda is easily misunderstood by Wanda. But why is someone asking, “Who’s doing this to you, Wanda?”

Oh, and is the phrase “Get her out of my heart” related to the presence of the Harts in episode 1?

Big red

The gum brand that gets in the way of Vision’s work is Big Red, which was also the working title of the show when it was shot in Atlanta in 2019. Whether that’s just a silly codename or something more important, it’s something for you to think about.

Talking about the magic show interrupted by Vision gum, the couple adopts the names “Glamor and Illusion”. In the comics, Vision and the Scarlet Witch were friends with a married magic act called Glamor and Illusion, which also secretly used superpowers to perform its tricks.

The wine

When Wanda magically saves dinner, the wine she serves is a good drop of Maison du Mépris. This means a house of contempt or contempt, but more importantly, it goes back to the central plot of the House of M comics, in which a traumatized Wanda reshaped the whole reality in a new world ruled by her family.

The Reaper

Blink and you might miss the moment Vision crosses the floor in the opening credits for episode 2. Between the pipes and cobwebs are a pair of bones and a dark shape that looks suspiciously like the helmet worn by the Marvel villain Grim Reaper. In the comics, he is the brother of Wonder Man, whose brain waves were used in the creation of Vision. In the 2015 series in which Vision lives a suburban life, Grim Reaper appeared at his home and had a difficult end.

The beekeeper

At the climax of episode 2, Wanda and Vision are surprised by a manhole cover sliding back and a shadowy beekeeper leaving. Comic book fans can see a resemblance to the helmeted uniforms worn by the subordinates of the wicked Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM), a conspiracy of dishonest scientists and the Hydra branch. On the screen, AIM was the main threat in Iron Man 3. Or perhaps it is not so literal – the beekeeper could be another reference to be closed and observed in a built space.

The sword

Whatever is going on with Wanda and the Vision, the people who watch use a logo representing a sword in a circle. There is an organization called SWORD in the comics that complements SHIELD’s ground activities by addressing extraterrestrial threats. Given Geraldine’s presence, reported as an adult version of young Monica Rambeau seen meeting aliens in Captain Marvel, WandaVision could take a turn for the extraterrestrial. Or, as Vision says, “My wife and her flying saucers!”

However, it is not clear why the helicopter shot down in episode 2 is painted in red and yellow with Iron Man’s signature.

The collision

At the end of episode 2, Wanda is suddenly and visibly pregnant. This echoes a storyline in The Vision and the Scarlet Witch, the 1980s comic series in which she magically gave birth to twins. The children were sadly revealed as fragments of the demon Mephisto (comics!). Upset over the loss of her children, Wanda later reshaped reality in the 2005 plot of the House of M comics.

The MCU has not seen many supernatural things until now. Thor is more of an alien than a god, while Wanda is a superpowered mutant, not technically a witch. But it is possible that Mephisto is involved in the strangeness that surrounds Wanda and Viz. The queen bee of the Dottie neighborhood is Emma Caulfield, who previously played a demon in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What about Agnes and her invisible husband? The devil is in the details, but it’s not the only place he is …