This article is going to dive into massive spoilers for the end of WandaVision (the last episode, and the series), so please stop reading this now if you haven’t yet caught up, or if you give a damn about spoilers.
In the end, WandaVision told a self-contained story about the grief suffered by Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) following the murder of her soul mate, The Vision (Paul Bettany). Wanda tried to postpone the harsh reality of life without Vision, trapping the duo -- and several innocent bystanders -- in an artificial sitcom reality. Nine episodes later, the finale found Wanda releasing the citizens of Westview, embracing her unlocked potential as The Scarlet Witch, and saying goodbye to her love, and the “children” they had created to form a Marvel family.
This is, however, a chapter in the MCU… albeit an unconventional method for storytelling. (“We are an unusual couple,” Wanda states, and the show followed her lead.) And as is the case with all MCU stories, there were credits that teased possible directions for where the universe can and will go following the conclusion of this program. Disney+ will pick right back up with the action-heavy The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, making its debut on the streaming service on March 19. But what do the two end-credit sequences for WandaVision tell us about the MCU’s future? Let’s break them down:
Monica Going Back 'Up There'
The first scene is immediate fallout from Wanda bringing down her Hex. Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) has assumed a position of leadership, Darcy (Kat Dennings) has made a hasty exit, and former S.W.O.R.D. acting director Tyler Hayward (Josh Stamberg) is under arrest. The residents of the town still will have to deal with the consequences of the powerful Scarlet Witch essentially imprisoning them, using them as pawns in her larger game against their will. But don’t expect Monica (Teyonah Parris) to hang around Westview to see how that all plays out.
That’s because Monica is summoned into the nearby movie theater by a nameless agent… who ends up revealing herself as a shapeshifting Skrull. We learned all about the Skrulls in Captain Marvel, and the race of aliens also infiltrated the MCU in Spider-Man: Far From Home when Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) filled in for Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) while the S.H.I.E.L.D. director vacationed on what looked to be a S.W.O.R.D. space base. The Skrull says that she was “sent” by an old friend of Maria’s, who had heard that Monica “had been grounded.” The Skrull adds that this friend wants to meet with Monica, and points towards space.
On my initial watch, I thought the friend might be Talos, who met Maria and a young Monica in Captain Marvel. On a second pass, I now think that it’s Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), and he will be the catalyst that propels Monica into whatever the story will be for Captain Marvel 2. It has been confirmed that Parris will be appearing as Monica in the Captain Marvel sequel, as will Ms. Marvel, who gets her own show before that happens. This scene sets up bringing Monica to space, where the bulk of Captain Marvel 2 likely will take place. Right now, that movie arrives in theaters on November 11, 2022.
Wanda, The Darkhold and Her Twins
The second end-credits scene sets up Wanda’s planned involvement in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, possibly as a way for her to continue to explore and master her newfound abilities as The Scarlet Witch. Wanda promises Monica before she leaves Westview that she will figure out her new powers, and she has a few ways to do it.
One is the Darkhold, the book that was in Agatha’s basement lair and has been referenced in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The book has had other names over the years, including “The Book of the Damned,” and “The Book of Sins.” The Darkhold is a book of evil spells, and Wanda is very busy researching it as she masters her arts. One of the spells she has figured out allows her to create a docile version of herself, one that sits by a lakeside and makes tea while the other version of herself studies.
What is Wanda studying? We get a brief indication as the camera tightens in on her face. Right before we cut to red (then black), we hear the voices of Wanda and Vision’s twins calling their mom for help. Is she trying to resurrect her children? Or maybe make them “real,” in a way that they weren’t before? It’s possible that Wanda’s quest for her children is what will bring her to Stephen Strange in the Doctor Strange sequel. Or, Wanda could be going down dark paths to retrieve her children, forcing Strange to step in. Either way, the audio cue of the Doctor Strange theme song implies that this is what this scene is setting up, and we’ll see what comes of it when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opens in theaters in March 2022.
(Also, hat tip to our very own Nick Venable for pointing out that “Multiverse of Madness” is an anagram for M.O.M.)
