- The WandaVision TV show offers us a glimpse at the kind of story that Marvel can tell now that Disney+ is part of its MCU storytelling machine.
- With just four episodes left, we’re fast-approaching the end of the series, and we’re finally getting more answers to our most burning questions.
- But, as the mystery unfolds, a glaring WandaVision plot hole becomes clear — one that Marvel might not even address anytime soon.
We’ve seen five WandaVision episodes, and after last Friday’s big reveal, it’s clear that the best is yet to come. The first TV show in the MCU Phase 4 has been an incredible journey so far, a mystery with horror accents that debuted as a silly sitcom placed in an unlikely setting. We knew from the outset that Vision would come back to life and that he and Wanda would live together as husband and wife in what had to be an alternate reality.
Of course, it’s been anything but a walk in the park for either of them. We now know where she ended up after the final battle in Avengers: Endgame. But the more the story unfolds, the clearer the first major plot hole of WandaVision becomes, and I’m here to explain it. Beware, some spoilers will follow below, so proceed at your own risk.
The timeline
First thing’s first; let’s remember exactly where we are. Monica Rambeau came back from the blip, and three weeks later, she was assigned to a missing person case in Westview. This happened three weeks after the Avengers defeated Thanos during a massive battle at their compound. When we last saw Wanda, she was looking for closure. She attended Tony Stark’s funeral alongside everyone else and had a touching moment with Clint.
After that, Wanda decided to storm the SWORD headquarters and steal the disassembled body of Vision. We’ve yet to find out what motivated her, why she chose Westview, and who is pulling the strings.
It’s important to note that SWORD existed for the majority of these five years, maybe longer than that. And we must presume that the group helped the world deal with the life between the two blips. The fact that SWORD intervenes in this particular case is a clear indication that the agency has been involved in similarly unusual events that might have happened between Infinity War and Endgame.
The Avengers
It’s unclear what happened with the Sokovia Accords, especially after Thanos attacked and defeated Earth in Infinity War. Many people vanished, and the Avengers had to manage the chaos. That much is clear from Black Widow’s frequent meetings with her fellow Avengers, scattered around the world, fixing what needs to be fixed. This fractured team was likely working together with authorities to contain and monitor threats, from the dangers that Ronin dealt with in an unofficial capacity or more serious threats from space or other dimensions.
If anything, the Thanos fight proved that the Earth isn’t safe, and he might not be the only danger. In that case, you might want to have defenses in place alongside the Avengers, Sokovia Accords be damned!
That goes double for the world emerging from the second blip. Most of the Avengers are ready to fight again if needed. The list of active Earthbound Avengers includes War Machine, Captain America, Spider-Man, Hulk, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Wasp, Black Panther, Wanda, Falcon, Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, and Captain Marvel. The Guardians and Thor have left Earth, but we already know that interplanetary communication is possible.
Now, Hawkeye is indeed retired, but we know he’d do anything to protect his family. Also, Captain America is old now, but can you really imagine him watching the world burn? And Captain Marvel could have departed after the funeral as well to comfort and aide others. And yes, Chadwick Boseman died in real life, but Black Panther is still around at the end of Endgame.
Add to that Nick Fury and Maria Hill, and the team is almost back together. The point is that you’ve still got an incredible number of heroes who’d be ready for action in case of danger. And this time, there’s more support, including SWORD and the Earth defenses that Tony Stark built which we saw in Far From Home.
The WandaVision plot hole
This brings me to the plot hole that Marvel will have to address somehow. Less than three weeks after Thanos was defeated, a brand new situation has developed. We’ve got the FBI investigating a bizarre missing person case. SWORD agents were sent to investigate, and not just anybody from SWORD, but a person who has been missing for five years. And that person vanishes within a few minutes after reaching Westview.
Who are you going to call? Not the Ghostbusters. Not (just) the brightest minds that SWORD has to offer. You’re also going to ping the Avengers. Who knows what might have caused the anomaly in Westview? Who knows how dangerous it might be given what happened in New York just weeks ago?
It’s pretty clear that SWORD and the FBI had a thorough debriefing of the Thanos battle. How else would they know how powerful Wanda is, or speculate whether Captain Marvel is stronger than Wanda?
Days go by, and the only people SWORD calls are scientists and the military. And we know that time moves fast in Wanda’s Westview. She went from pregnant to a new mom in a day, and it took another day for the kids to reach their preteen years. So we’re still relatively close to Endgame, let’s say within a month of the battle.
Then everybody realizes that Wanda, one of the most powerful beings the world has ever known, and an Avenger that started as a terrorist of sorts, might be pulling the strings. And you still don’t call an Avenger? Maybe Clint could help. He recruited Wanda, after all. Plus, he knows what it means to lose everything and just go Ronin on everyone. Maybe Doctor Strange could use some of his magic. Ant-Man and the Wasp have seen the multiverse. Then there’s Wakanda’s technology. Stark’s defense system might also come in handy.
In a world that had to face Thanos twice and witness what it means to really lose, you must have an Avenger on deck at all times. Especially when Wanda comes out of her fake universe and threatens you.
The absence of Avengersis the thing that makes the least sense so far, no matter how great WandaVision is. And yes, I know that Strange is coming. We’ve known for months that Doctor Strange will appear in the finale. That’s probably when they have no choice but to call. Either that, or Strange will realize that he has to intervene.
The possible explanations
This brings me to the possible explanations for this problem. The simplest one is that Marvel wants the show to be about Wanda and Vision, and that’s definitely a story that needs to be told without interference from other Avengers. Plus, bringing the Avengers later in the story would have a different effect. That’s why the Evan Peters cameo worked so well. Marvel took its time and delivered a new Quicksilver in the best possible way.
Let’s also remember that WandaVision wasn’t supposed to be the first MCU Phase 4 show. Black Widow is a prequel, but it would have teased some of the post-Endgame future, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier would have shown us the world after Endgame well before the WandaVision premiere. Maybe something else happens around the same time that the events in Westview unfold, and maybe that’s where the other Avengers are.
Marvel will probably fill in the blanks soon. But this doesn’t change the fact that not having an Avenger on call to deal with this potentially massive threat is the biggest plot hole in the WandaVision story so far.
