Warning! The following contains spoilers for WandaVision’s “On A Very Special Episode.” Read at your own risk!
WandaVision featured its biggest moment so far when the often surreal MCU series welcomed a very special and unexpected guest into Wanda Maximoff’s odd reality. Audiences were stunned to see Pietro Maximoff standing at the door, seemingly back from the dead, only this time played by Evan Peters.
The internet has since run rampant with what this means for the MCU, with theories ranging from Evan Peters' presence confirming mutants becoming official canon to Wanda inadvertently messing up the multiverse. I’m not sure of all the details surrounding those ideas, and I'm obviously not positive where things are going next. But I have a strong suspicion that, to put it succinctly, Marvel did not cast Evan Peters to play this universe's Quicksilver. Here are my thoughts on the matter and why I’m convinced that, much like many things in Westview, Peters' appearance as Pietro Maximoff is not what it seems.
This Reveal Makes Sense To Fans, But Not Within The MCU
An actual X-Men actor reprising their role in an MCU show isn’t just exciting because it happened, but because of the potential implications that come along with it. Are Evan Peters and Elizabeth Olsen's characters officially siblings now? Was the timeline altered in order to make that a thing? Is this the MCU doing some take on the House of M arc? There are at least a dozen theories floating around about this WandaVision reveal, with the only consensus being that nobody really knows what's going to happen.
One reason why there are so many solve-in-reverse theories is that the reveal only makes tangential sense because Evan Peters played Fox's Quicksilver in the X-Men films. While Peter had similar hair and powers as Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Pietro, there are a ton of differences between them. For example, Peter is an American and doesn't have any form of accent, and Pietro was a Sokovian. Peter had a little sister, where Pietro is a twin of Wanda.
Given all of this, why didn't anyone mention any of the above when his first made his Fonz-esque appearance in WandaVision? He treated Wanda like she was his sister, even though she looks nothing like the sister we've seen. He also responded to "Pietro," even though he was never called that in his movies. Something is clearly weird here, and if Wanda comes to truly believe that's her brother, then she's probably not the one that orchestrated his appearance, at least not consciously. As I said, this doesn't make sense from an MCU standpoint, even knowing it's a playful nod to classic sitcom characters being recast without incident. So while there are many possible explanations, I think the simplest one is to believe that Evan Peters is not Pietro Maximoff.
Peter Is The One Who First Introduced Himself As Wanda's Brother
After revisiting that final scene, at least one key detail sticks out about Wanda and Vision's surprise guest. When Wanda first opens the door, she stares ahead for a good while in mild confusion before Peters' breaks the silence to as if a "long-lost brother" can get a hug from his sister. It's only then that Wanda refers to him as "Pietro" and feigns recognition, though there's some clear skepticism in her voice.
If Wanda is controlling things in Westview like S.W.O.R.D. currently believes she is, she would have inherently known who arrived at the door in the same way she so warmly welcomed Agnes and others upon meeting them the "first time." But Wanda's mixed reaction to Pietro's arrival was all too genuine. It's possible she suffers her own mental blocks within Westview's walls for one reason or another, and it's likely no coincidence that her "brother" would show up after she was just reminded that he was killed by Ultron in Sokovia, and after Billy and Tommy talked to her about bringing back the dead.
To that same end, how timely it was that "Pietro" interrupted Wanda and Vision's emotionally charged discussion-argument about all the weird things happening in Westview. His arrival definitely seemed like a true distraction tactic, but considering those very distractions were at the center of Vision's anger, it wouldn't make sense for her to use the same trick to keep Vision off the trail. Especially since she was also in the midst of sharing how confused she was by how anything in Westview began. Thus, it seems like Pietro was a distraction that someone else sent over to keep the two Avengers from sniffing out the truth. (Vision's sense of smell is top-notch.)
Bringing Fox's X-Men Franchise Into The MCU Doesn't Sound Like Marvel
Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios have spent the past decade curating and crafting storylines for the MCU, and for the most part, all involved have done a phenomenal job. Sure, there've been a few hiccups along the way, but the MCU is a well-constructed universe with meaningful ties connecting its heroes across multiple movies and franchises. That's not an easy thing to do, especially if you look at other studios's past attempts to do the same, like Fox with its X-Men heroes.
There's no way around it. The X-Men films' timeline is inconsistent, poorly constructed in places, and the various creative teams didn't appear to dedicate tons of time to planning what would come next for characters, and sometimes even what came before. In the hypothetical that Evan Peters is truly THE Peter Maximoff, plucked from his multiverse and placed in the MCU, and then brainwashed into believing he's Pietro, that means the MCU just absorbed a whole bunch of nonsense into its carefully curated universe.
This same MCU distanced itself from Marvel TV shows like Daredevil and Jessica Jones, and maintained only a bare connection to the actual MCU series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., many of which were more acclaimed than some of those X-Men features that weren't standalone Wolverine movies. And unlike the X-Men movies, the aforementioned Marvel shows made an effort to stay grounded within the rules of the MCU and even occasionally referenced major Avengers-related events despite not getting the same love in return. And now I'm supposed to believe that same studio just opened its arms to welcome a franchise that poorly adapted The Dark Phoenix saga not just once, but twice?
I'm sorry, but I don't buy it. What I can believe is that Marvel can appreciate specific elements of non-MCU canon properties, and that it can pick and choose which parts they wish to incorporate into its universe. People loved Evan Peters as Quicksilver, and in general, Peters as an actor. I think it's perfectly logical to assume Marvel Studios wanted Evan Peters in the MCU, and that they found a perfect opportunity to do so with an intentional misdirect by "casting" him as Pietro Maximoff.
Keep in mind that the prevailing theme of WandaVision is that nothing is as it seems, so I think it's entirely possible Peters isn't who he says he is, and is actually playing another character altogether. That makes way more sense than brazenly absorbing Fox's X-Men movies from a business and lore-building perspective, and it's probably something Kevin Feige is way more willing to greenlight given what Marvel Studios has delivered so far.
I have my theories on who Evan Peters may actually be playing in the MCU, but I'd love to hear everyone else's thoughts instead. Let me know if you think the reveal is legit in the comments, and of course, be sure to catch new episodes of WandaVision on Disney+ Fridays.
