WandaVision welcomes a new line of Earth’s first defense at the MCU

WandaVision, the first original television series produced by Marvel Studios, is not exactly like anything that Marvel has released before.

It is absurd and pays homage to some of the best American comedies produced in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including Bewitched and The Dick Van Dyke Show. WandaVision it’s still a Marvel Studios show, however, and that means it’s connected to the Marvel cinematic universe. The first two episodes, now broadcast by Disney Plus, established a key organization that unites WandaVision at the present moment in the Marvel cinematic universe, while also creating the attractive era of the “cosmic universe” that is about to enter.

[This is your mandatory spoiler warning. Stop reading here if you don’t want to know anything that happens in the first two episodes.]

Image: Disney

The first episode shows Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) living a charming suburban life in a fictional city. Although the show takes place after Avengers: Endgame, there is no reference to anything that happened – no explanation of how the Vision is suddenly alive, why they are living in an alternative and dreamlike world or why they cannot remember anything that happened before they moved into their new home.

Throughout the first episode, there are some hints that not everything is what it seems for Wanda and Vision. Vision reiterates that Wanda came from Sokovia, and during a dinner scene, Wanda is paralyzed by a specific question: “Why did you come here?” It is not until the end of the episode, however, that WandaVision finds its most interesting revelation: the presence of SWORD

What is SWORD?

SWORD, or Sentient World Observation and Response Department, is a cosmic version of SHIELD. Most MCU fans know SHIELD It’s the organization that Howard Stark and Peggy Carter started and oversees Nick Fury, designed to employ supernaturals as Earth’s most powerful defenders against supernatural threats – Loki’s attack in New York City or Ultron’s attack on Sokovia. SHIELD was notoriously infiltrated by Hydra, as seen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and this is fundamental as WandaVision includes a reference to Wolfgang von Strucker. At the MCU, von Strucker was a sleeping Hydra agent within SHIELD who is seen holding custody of Wanda and his twin brother Pietro in a Winter Soldier post-credits scene and Ultron ‘eras opening battle. It is these little moments that link Wanda and Visão back to the MCU in general.

Okay, this is SHIELD; what about SWORD? The organization first appeared in Astonishing X-Men # 3, which was written by Joss Whedon in 2004. (Curiosity: the first appearance of anything related to SWORD in the MCU is a small Easter egg in Ultron era, which Whedon also directed.) The organization was originally created to defend the entire universe from extraterrestrial threats. Administered by Abigail Brand, a woman who is basically a mutant version of Nick Fury based on space, the idea was to act as an intelligence agency located off Earth.

Image: Marvel

The most memorable nod to SWORD came in the form of a Spider-Man: away from home post-credits scene. Fury, apparently on vacation, goes out on the deck of a spaceship while a flock of Skrull (those green aliens from Captain Marvel) are walking around. Of course Marvel Studios is setting up SWORD to appear and possibly connect the fourth and fifth phases of the MCU, but what does that mean for WandaVision?

Everything connects

Interestingly, the name of SWORD in WandaVision is slightly changed to Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division. This may just be a title change (the definition of SHIELD in the MCU is a little different from the comics), but it can also point to Wanda being trapped in a fictional world where SWORD is watching her. Monica Rambeau, who originally appeared in Captain Marvel as the daughter of Maria Rambeau (Carol Danvers ‘best friend), she is now an adult and SWORD agent, based on Topps’ official letters released before WandaVisionlaunch of.

Small visual glitches that appear in the sky imply that Wanda and Vision are trapped in an artificial world, and the final scene of the first episode confirms that SWORD agents are watching their every move. In the second episode, even more clues appear. A voice coming from a radio (it seems Ant Man(Agent Jimmy Woo) asks Wanda, “Who’s doing this to you?” Later in the episode, Wanda suddenly becomes pregnant. She asks Vision if “this is really happening” and, after he first reflects that something looks wrong, time suddenly recedes and he changes his answer to a simple one: “Yes, this is really happening”

Image: Marvel

The most important moment happens when Wanda and Vision are standing in the middle of the street after hearing a noise. A beekeeper emerges from a manhole, the SWORD logo on the back. Wanda, overcome with fear, says a simple “no” and everything goes back to normal – well, her version of normal. If the title change means that Wanda is being viewed as a possible sentient weapon (we still have no idea what happened to Vision’s real body), House of M comics, where Wanda creates a fictional reality to deal with a devastating loss.

This is where some fun predictions come in. Marvel Studios needs to unite its new group of superheroes, many of whom are connected to other planets. Remember when Captain Marvel told the makeshift Avengers board in Endgame that when Thanos snapped his fingers, it also devastated a lot of other planets? They can do this through SWORD. We already know that WandaVision connect to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. At the House of M comic book series, Professor X reveals that he brought Doctor Strange to try to break Wanda’s fictional reality. It doesn’t work, but it is possible that Doctor Strange could work with the SWORD in WandaVision to try something similar.

It also seems likely that Monica Rambeau will also appear in Captain Marvel 2. The character was in the first Captain Marvel, and considering that Fury appeared to be working with SWORD at the end of Far from home, it is no exaggeration to assume that Carol Danvers, Nick Fury and Monica Rambeau know each other and continue to work with each other.

Remember: WandaVision should not air until the end of this year, close to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Captain Marvel 2release date, and then The Eternals. Not to mention that with X-Men and the Fantastic Four under Feige’s belt – and a new The fantastic four film in progress – using SWORD to connect everything SHIELD has done to Iron Man, Captain America: First Avenger, Thor, and The Avengers, is a good way to do this.

Looks like WandaVision will spend its first season determining whether the SWORD is an ally or an enemy. More important for the MCU, getting fans to dive into SWORD before The Eternals, Captain Marvel 2, and other cosmic films is a good place to get people familiarized with the agency.