She's a magical small town girl, he's part of a machine, and they share a love like you've never seen before. That's the brisk intro too WandaVision, but what Easter eggs and Marvel testimonials can be seen in the first two episodes now streamed on Disney Plus?
WandaVision Episode 1 and Episode 2 are now streamed on Disney Plus. New episodes of the nine-part show follow every Friday, starting with episode 3 on January 22nd. We'll recap each episode as it arrives, pulling the levels back eagerly to see how Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and her robot Beau Vision (Paul Bettany) got into this surreal suburban sitcom ...
Here are the Easter eggs we've spotted so far, and we'll add more as soon as we see them. But be warned: spoilers for both episodes!
The door number
Wanda and Vision live on their picture-perfect suburban street at number 2800. In a 2015 acclaimed comic book series by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta, the Vision set up shop on a suburban street, but while this highly recommended comic was completely different, It fun to note that Viz lived at # 616. That was a reference to Earth-616, the version of reality that most Marvel comic book stories take place in.
Other parallel dimensions - like the different worlds in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - have their own numbers. So the meaning of 2800 is unclear, but WandaVision will be included in the upcoming film Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness it could have some kind of multiverse meaning.
The ads
Wandavision pastiche from sitcoms from the 50s and 60s such as Bewitched and I Love Lucy includes a laugh track, stylized sets and farcical situations. It also extends to the fake ads in the middle of each installment. Episode 1 is trying to sell us a new toaster from Stark Industries - a softball made from an Easter egg, as most viewers find a reference to the company that Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) and his father Howard Stark ran before him.
The commercial break takes a darker turn in Episode 2, however. This second ad advertises a watch called the Strucker and Hydra. Hydra is of course the sinister terrorist organization that threatens Marvel's world, and Baron Strucker is the evil scientist who developed Wanda's powers and turned them against the Avengers in the film Age of ultron.
The ad's slogan, "He will make time for you," implies a continued role for Strucker despite his death at Ultron's hands, and could be related to the televisual themes of the show if he were seen on a television screen again, as the Hydra scientist did Arnim Zola in Captain America: The winter soldier.
The supermarket signs
When talking about commercials, look for the supermarket signs in Episode 2. The store advertises Bova Milk, a reference to the sophisticated cow who served as a midwife when Wanda was born (comics!). Another character mentions Aunt A's Kitty Litter, which is certainly a reference to another member of the comic cast, the old witch Agatha Harkness and her feline confidante named Ebony. Which might make you wonder about Kathryn Hahn's fabulous neighbor who happens to be called Agnes ...
The songs
With the catchy rock'n'roll song Yakety Yak from 1958, Vision takes on the role of parent and child and gives and receives commands in an enclosing or imprisoned suburban world. ("Don't talk back.") Interestingly, this view of suburban teenage life is a construction in its own way: Yakety Yak was parody, produced, and arranged by Jewish songwriters Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller for black cast The Coasters of the white middle class Society.
This is a range, but there is another possible meaning. In the 1988 comedy Twins, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a naive outsider who comes to America and sings the song. Wanda is / was a twin, her brother Pietro (aka Quicksilver), who was shot in the MCU by Vision's creator in Avengers: Age of Ultron. In the 1980s, she magically gave birth to twins in the comics.
And the meaning of Old McDonald? With his Moo Moos and Baa Baas, Vision again plays the role of characters who are locked in against their will. Or it's just funny.
In episode 2, the song we hear at a pivotal moment is the Beach Boys' hit Help Me, Rhonda from 1965. Along with hairstyle and costume changes, this is one of the subtle characters that set the show from the 1950s in episode 1 to a pastiche of the 60s in episode 2. And of course, Rhonda is easily interrogated for Wanda. But why does someone ask: "Who does this to you, Wanda?"
Oh, and does the line "get her out of my heart" fit with the Harts presence in episode 1?
Big red
The chewing gum brand that encapsulates the works of Vision is Big Red, which was also the working title of the show when it was filmed in Atlanta in 2019. Whether that's just a goofy code name or something more important is something to think about.
The beekeeper
At the climax of Episode 2, Wanda and Vision are surprised by a manhole cover sliding back and a shadowy beekeeper climbing out. Comic book fans may see a resemblance to the helmet uniforms worn by subordinates of the evil Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM), a cabal of rogue scientists and offshoots of Hydra. On the screen, AIM was the main threat in Iron Man 3.
The sword
Whatever happens to Wanda and the vision, the people behind it seem to prefer a coat of arms that depicts a sword in a circle. In the comics, there was an organization called SWORD that complemented SHIELD's terrestrial activities by overseeing extraterrestrial threats. WandaVision could take a turn for the alien given the presence of Geraldine, who is said to be a grown-up version of the young Monica Rambeau who encounters aliens in Captain Marvel.
However, it is unclear why the crashed helicopter in Episode 2 is painted in the typical Iron Man colors of red and yellow.
The bump
At the end of Episode 2, Wanda is suddenly and noticeably pregnant. This reflects a plot in The Vision and The Scarlet Witch, the '80s comic book series in which she magically gave birth to twins. The children were unfortunately exposed as fragments of the demon Mephisto (comics!). Wanda was upset by the loss of her children and later reshaped the reality in House of M's comic book story.
It is certainly unlikely that a demon is behind the madness that involves Wanda and Viz, but strange things have happened (in comics) ...
