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 available now with new episodes of the nine-part Disney Plus show follow every FridayStarting with episode 3 on January 22nd. We'll recap and peel back the tension of each episode as they arrive as Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and her robot beau Vision (Paul Bettany) landed on 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's pastiche from sitcoms from the 50s and 60s such as Bewitched and I Love Lucy contains a laugh track, stylized sets and farcical situations. It also extends to the fake ads in the middle of each installment. Episode 1 tries 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 seemingly innocuous Toast Mate 2000, however, takes a creepy twist when it beeps ominously just before the bread shows up - a bit like a bomb. We know from the 2015s Avangers: Age of Ultron that Wanda's parents were killed by an explosive device and that she and her twin brother Pietro were trapped under the rubble. For two days, the Maximoffs stared at an unexploded grenade from Stark Industries, expecting it to explode before being rescued. So the Stark beeping technology is unlikely to be a good match for Wanda.
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 Wolfgang von Strucker is the evil scientist who developed Wanda's powers and used them against the Avengers in the 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.
If these are clues to Wanda's origins, the ads may represent Wanda's memories, although the toaster ad warns, "Forget your past, this is your future." In this case, it could mean that both ads show the same woman and man. Could they be Wanda's parents?
The supermarket signs
When talking about commercials, look out for the supermarket signs in the animated opening credits of Episode 2. The store promotes 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's supporting cast, 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 written, produced, and arranged as a parody of the white bourgeoisie by Jewish songwriters Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller for black cast The Coasters 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 has / had a twin, her brother Pietro (aka Quicksilver) who was shot dead in the MCU by Vision's creators 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 is again playing 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 is doing 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.
Talking about the magic show interrupted by Vision's chewing gum, the couple adopt the name "Glamor and Illusion". In the comics, Vision and Scarlet Witch were friends with a married spell called Glamor and Illusion, who also secretly used superpowers to perform their tricks.
The wine
If Wanda magically saves dinner, the wine she pours is a fine drop of Maison du Mépris. That means house of contempt or scorn, but more importantly, it goes back to the central story of the House of M-Comics, in which a traumatized Wanda transformed all of reality into a new world ruled by her family.
The Grim Reaper
If you blink, you might miss the moment when Vision walks through the floor in the opening credits of Episode 2. Beneath the pipes and cobwebs are a few bones and a dark shape that looks suspiciously like the helmet Marvel villain Grim Reaper wears. In the comics, he's the brother of Wonder Man, whose brainwaves were used in the creation of vision. In the 2015 series, where Vision lives a suburban life, Grim Reaper showed up at his house and came to a sticky ending.
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 screen, AIM was the main threat in Iron Man 3. Or is it not that literal - the beekeeper could be another clue to being locked in a constructed space and being watched?
The sword
Whatever happens to Wanda and the vision, the observers use a logo that depicts a sword in a circle. In the comics, there's an organization called SWORD that complements SHIELD's terrestrial activities by dealing with alien threats. Given the presence of Geraldine, who is reportedly a grown-up version of the young Monica Rambeau who encounters aliens in Captain Marvel, WandaVision could take a turn for the alien. Or as vision puts it: "My wife and her flying saucers!"
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!). Distraught by the loss of her children, Wanda later reshaped reality in the 2005 House of M comic book story.
The MCU hasn't seen much supernatural so far. Thor is more of an alien than a god, while Wanda is an overpowering mutant, technically not a witch. But it is possible that Mephisto is involved in the madness of Wanda and Viz. The neighborhood queen bee Dottie is Emma Caulfield, who previously played a demon in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And what about Agnes and her invisible husband? The devil is in the details, but that's not the only place he is ...