The last episode of WandaVision shows how Wanda gained her powers, provoking that she was always a mutant.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for WandaVision Episode 8, “Previously On,” streaming now on Disney +.
A show as skilled in storytelling as WandaVision he is as good in his great showy settings as in his subtle winks to the audience. Throughout the series, fans go crazy after every Easter egg and oblique reference that could turn into something bigger, and in the last episode, Agatha Harkness released a detail that could change the entire Marvel cinematic universe by proving that the mutants already exist .
The episode revolves around a deep dive into Wanda’s story as Agatha seeks to understand the source of her immense power. Amazed by Wanda’s ability to perform magic on a colossal scale, Agatha travels through Wanda’s memories in an attempt to discover where that power came from. The tour includes visits to Wanda’s childhood, her experiments in the hands of Hydra and her relationship with Vision, from her flowering to the android’s death. There is so much going on that it can be difficult to notice the subtle nod to the mutants that Agatha dismisses.
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Since the origin of Wanda in It was from Ultron, it was clear that her initial anti-Avenger motivations resulted from the near-death experience that she and her brother had in Sokovia. Trapped under the rubble looking at a Stark Industries missile that could detonate at any time, Wanda considered herself lucky that the weapon was a failure. After her radicalization, she underwent Hydra’s experiments with the Mindstone, which was originally believed to be the source of her and her brother’s powers. However, it turned out that there was a deeper story going on.
When visiting Wanda’s childhood, Agatha points out the immensity of the coincidence that involved the Stark weapon never detonating. It reshaped Wanda’s powers not as a result of the Stone of the Mind, but as a natural aptitude for “hexagonal magic” that would have “withered on the vine” if the Stone of the Mind had not further empowered them. It’s a very light hint, but it doesn’t take much to trace the connection between the innate powers that Agatha identified and the X-Gene that serves as the precursor to mutant abilities in the comics.
Under such an interpretation, mutants could have existed for generations, with their powers being so light and subtle that they are rarely recognized. Significant trauma or exposure to sufficient energy sources like an Infinity Stone can catalyze the X-Gene, activating it in a recognizable superhuman ability. This would not only link the origins of Wanda and Pietro in their mutant comic book history, but it would also create an easy method by which mutants exist in the MCU without requiring any massive change in reality.
For Wanda, its origins are clearly deeper than mere mutant powers. Agatha identifies her as the “Scarlet Witch” and links her to the larger magical elements of the MCU, but for her brother Pietro, the explanation may be as simple as an activated mutant gene. Separated from all the antics that alter Wanda’s reality, Pietro is simply a speedster whose powers are activated after exposure to the Mental Stone. Under similar circumstances, a mass event, perhaps encouraged by Wanda herself, could trigger genes within the rest of the mutant population. The X-Men finally have a clear path to the MCU, and they WandaVision to thank you for that.
Written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, WandaVision stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Randall Park as agent Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Kathryn Hahn like Agnes. New episodes air on Fridays at Disney +.
