Many WandaVision viewers out there have likely spent more time theorizing about the MCU TV show than they've spent watching the actual episodes, but that's definitely part of the fun with this series. From the clues embedded in the classic TV aesthetic to the mysteriousness surrounding every single character that gets introduced, WandaVision is quite a puzzling piece of entertainment. Two of the biggest questions we have thus far is "What is happening to Wanda?" and "Who is this show's presumably secret villain?" (And also, "Is this really the House of M?") But what if everyone is overthinking the villain conundrum?
While it's entirely still possible that Kathryn Hahn's Anges will inspire a bonkers reveal where she's a mystical villain from Marvel's comic history – the safe money would be on Agatha Harkness – WandaVision star Elizabeth Olsen recently addressed the twisty drama's approach to its big bad in a way that made me wonder if this show is the rare superhero property that might not even have a central villain. Here's how Olsen put it in an interview with Elle:
Someone said to me when you watch any of these hero movies, you know when the villain's about to show themselves, and you also have an idea of who the villain is. With our show, you don't know what the villain is, or if there is one at all.
From the outset, it appeared as if the new-to-live-action organization S.W.O.R.D. would be a source of WandaVision's villainy, but it now looks like they're just as desperate as viewers to understand what the hell is going on in Wanda's bubble neighborhood of Westview. It definitely didn't look like Teyonah Parris' Geraldine/Monica Rambeau wanted anything bad to happen to Wanda, even though she certainly pissed Wanda off with her suddenly jogged memory about Pietro's death, to the point where she got evicted from the fantastical neighborhood.
In any case, Episode 3 also took a strange step forward with Agnes, who was seen gossiping with Herb before advising him to not giving Vision too much information. But she might just be trying to figure the situation out like everyone else. Even if she has different motivations from those in S.W.O.R.D., it doesn't automatically make her a baddie.
Which leads us to another theory that's growing in popularity: Wanda is being set up as the actual villain of WandaVision, which may or may not have ramifications on the character's future in the MCU. Since it's pretty clear that Wanda is largely responsible for how certain things transpire in Westview, and that she has the ability to rewind anything that doesn't suit her interests, I can easily see why some viewers suspect that Wanda will head down some very dark roads before this series is finished.
But what if none of those ideas turn out to be reality? What if part of WandaVision's brilliance is having viewers set themselves up with false expectations so that we're spending so much time thinking about who the villain might be that we end up missing other big answers staring us right in the face? Or at least staring us right in the S.W.O.R.D. pendant hanging from our necks. The hero-villain dynamic is obviously inherent to this kind of storytelling, so I can't tell if it would be revolutionary or pointless for WandaVision to set up a tale without a clear enemy for its main character. Maybe you can all let me know what you think in the poll below.
New episodes of WandaVision air on Disney+ on Fridays, so keep tuning in and keep letting us know your wildest theories in the comments. Now if only there was a complete lack of villains in my real life.
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