Eight weeks and nine episodes later, WandaVision has come to an end. It may not have delivered the bang some fans were expecting, but there is still plenty of story that WandaVision sets up for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s fourth phase.

Before we get into that, the biggest question is whether WandaVision nailed the ending. Like too many third acts within the MCU, big, splashy CGI fights in lieu of more nuanced storytelling can sometimes get in the way of providing a satisfying, emotional closure for fans. At the same time, WandaVision never lost sight of the story it wanted to tell, the show it wanted to be, and the finale does a mostly decent job of hitting those final notes.

Sure, there are some rushed sequences and scenes compacted into a couple of minutes that could have stretched out for 15 or 20. TV show finales are always tough to perfectly land — it’s why there are only a handful of series that have achieved a nearly perfect scorecard by the time the credits roll on the last episode — but for a show about the power of a woman’s grief and unrelenting love, the team did one hell of a job.

All right, so where does the finale leave us?

(I have to imagine if you’re reading a piece about a show’s final episode, you understand that spoilers are ahead. But just in case, here’s your warning that we’re getting into the nitty-gritty details ahead.)

Answering the basics

WandaVision’s finale — literally called “The Series Finale” — wrapped up as much as possible within roughly 40 minutes excluding credits. Here’s a running list of some of the big takeaways:

• Pietro is actually Ralph, who seems to own the house Agatha was using.
• White Vision, created by S.W.O.R.D. to seemingly destroy Wanda, quickly came and went. He encountered a short battle and conversation with Real Vision, where he was shown real memories and served unquestionable proof that White Vision was not the person he believed himself to be. Where he left to, well, that’s still unknown.
• Finally, and most importantly, Agatha revealed that the mystical book of spells she kept encased in magic in her (or, I suppose, Ralph’s) basement is, in fact, the Darkhold. Not only is this a huge moment for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D fans everywhere who may be wagging their finger at the canonical retcon (if Agatha has had the book in her hands since the 1600s, does that just erase several Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. storylines?), but it sets up Wanda’s next steps and how this all connects with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
• We still don’t know which hero Monica Rambeau is playing, but we do have a pretty good hint about her future.
• We know what Scarlet Witch’s new costume looks like, and it’s immaculate.

A little underwhelming, right? The side characters brought in as the supporting cast to Wanda’s own television show were underserved by the story’s end. Darcy helps land Director Hayward in jail and then disappears, Jimmy wounds up in roughly the exact same position as where he started, and even the neighbors never really get their final due. (Although, we’ll see Darcy again in Thor: Love and Thunder, and Jimmy in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.) Where the episode did shine, outside of nailing the final moments between Wanda and Vision, was giving Agatha and Wanda their chance to finally hash things out.

Since it’s the finale, and there aren’t too many surprises or theories to explain, let’s dig into the final post-credit scenes.

Monica Rambeau is going to space

There are two credits for this week’s episode, and both are pretty damn exciting.

The first features Monica Rambeau talking to a secret Skrull character, who informs Monica that she was sent by a “friend of her mom’s” because he wants to see her. When asked where the so-called friend is, the Skrull character simply points to space. She gets excited about heading out to a cool space base, and we get excited because we know that spells two things: Nick Fury and Captain Marvel 2.

Spider-Man: Far From Home fans might remember the last time we saw Nick Fury was aboard a spaceship full of Skrull workers in the film’s post-credits scene. It’s a massive base (likely a S.W.O.R.D. base), and he’s seemingly in charge of operations. We already know that Monica Rambeau’s character is confirmed for Captain Marvel 2, and WandaVision sets up some storylines I’m sure we’ll see play out. She’ll have to confront Carol, her pseudo-aunt who she suddenly doesn’t seem to like talking about, and explore her newfound powers while taking on a celestial villain of some kind.

There’s also, however, Secret Invasion. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige announced the Nick Fury-centric series back in December. The show takes place after Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home. There’s a good chance that Monica Rambeau could show up in that series, too, especially since Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos (the Skrull character from the original Captain Marvel) is also set to reprise his role for the series.

Monica Rambeau’s story is only just getting started, and it’s clear she’s going to become a key figure in Marvel’s fourth phase. The question is still whether that’s as Spectrum, her most popular character in the comics. Okay, but what about that second post-credits scene?

Wanda, are you there?

Look, if I’m being honest, if I had to watch my kids and synthezoid husband literally disappear after collapsing the fake town I made to deal with my grief, I too would run away to the outskirts of Canada or Norway or Iceland, living remotely in a tiny cabin.

A harmless way to grieve once more, some might suggest, but nothing is ever harmless or simple in the MCU. The first Wanda we see in the post-credits is drinking some tea on the porch, but it’s only when we venture into the house that we see the real Wanda levitating while encased in her own Chaos magic while reading the Darkhold — at least, I’m making the assumption that it’s the real Wanda. It could also be an astral projection, like the one we saw Doctor Strange use when he was first studying magic. The question is why does Wanda have two versions of herself walking around?

There are a couple of theories I can throw around, but I think the simplest answer is that Wanda doesn’t want anyone who happens to be watching her to think anything has gone wrong. If someone — or some government agency — were to look in on her activity, all they would see is a woman in her sweatpants drinking coffee and taking in the fresh mountainside air. Inside the house, Wanda is reading through a dark text literally created out of dark matter and in the dark dimension. It convinces people who try to wield it that they can accomplish unspeakable things.

Except in Wanda’s case, she could pull off many of the spells within the book because she’s pure Chaos magic. She’s the Scarlet Witch. There’s an entire chapter just on her, as Agatha pointed out. In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., one arc involving the book specifically centers on being able to prevent death. For someone like Wanda, whose last words to Vision were “we’ll say hello again one day” and is looking for her children, that’s a powerful spell to possibly learn about. If only someone could show Wanda Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith! Learn from Anakin’s mistakes, Wanda!

Speaking of her children, we hear Tommy and Billy screaming for Wanda to help them. Unlike Vision, it’s very likely that Tommy and Billy were real children. It’s also very likely that they’re stuck somewhere — in another dimension, perhaps — and she’s going to try and get them back. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Billy and Tommy. Alongside Cassie Lang, Kate Bishop, Kamala Khan, and potentially whoever becomes Patriot in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Tommy and Billy could belong to a Young Avengers story — something that Feige has hyped up already.

All of this is likely going to be explored in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Regardless of how Wanda uses the magic, she’s either the greatest threat to the world or could become the biggest ally. This should sound pretty familiar to comic book fans. As a Nexus being, she’s also key to Earth’s survival. Add in that Agatha literally told her she’s more powerful than the Sorcerer Supreme (that’s Stephen Strange), and we’ve either got a big showdown coming or a wild team-up.

There’s clearly a lot more to come. WandaVision is just one piece of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s giant, ongoing puzzle. For now, there are two weeks without any new Marvel series or films, and then we dive right into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Grab some water, watch something that’s not Marvel related, and we’ll see you again in about 14 days. The MCU is a marathon, not a sprint.

Source: The Verge