Spoilers follow for Episode 9 of WandaVision, “The Series Finale.”
After eight weeks and nine episodes journeying through television history and a post-Blip MCU, Marvel Studios’ first Disney+ show WandaVision came to an end on Friday. And contrary to the myriad fan theories and predictions which all pointed to comic book villain Mephisto being behind everything happening in Westview, the story ended much more simply. It was all about one woman coming to terms with her own grief, although it took some wildly entertaining detours into sitcom territory (and in the case of Agatha Harkness, a chart-topping, scene-stealing musical number) before finally getting there.
Of course, it was still Marvel, and so the finale dropped a brand new superhero costume, two post-credits sequences, and a whole bunch of Easter eggs into the mix for good measure. A new video on the Heavy Spoilers YouTube channel rounds up some of the oblique references that might have slipped under your radar if, like many fans, you found that you had something in your eye during the episode’s many, many emotional moments.
One of the finale’s most on-the-nose cultural references (in a series full to the brim of homages to classic television) came early on, when Wanda hurled a car at Agatha, sending her flying into a nearby house. When she went to inspect the wreckage, the only trace of the witch was her boots—which was far from the show’s first nod to The Wizard of Oz. In the Heavy Spoilers video, Paul also points out that Wanda has a history of bombarding her opponents with vehicles, as demonstrated in Captain America: Civil War.
Another brief moment which delivered a satisfying payoff was the scene in which Jimmy Woo escaped the clutches of SWORD by using his sleight-of-hand skills to pocket a cellphone and a safety pin, proving that the card trick from the fourth episode had plot relevance as well as being a callback to the Ant-Man movies.
Fans of the original comics will also have noticed that during the scene when Vision, Tommy and Billy all begin to disintegrate as a result of Wanda trying to end the Hex, they are disappearing into tiny fragments shaped like Tetris blocks or jigsaw pieces. This is a direct visual allusion to the artwork depicting Wanda on the cover of Volume 1 of House of M, the storyline from which WandaVision drew some of its plot. Shortly after, the Maximoffs can be seen striking a superhero pose reminiscent of The Incredibles; this is the second time this show has invited comparisons between the two families.
There are also visual parallels between the blocking and posing of the scene in which Wanda and Vision say goodbye, and a similarly intimate scene between the two in Avengers: Infinity War, evoking the idea that Wanda was, in her own way, finally able to steal back some time with Vision. (Sorry, it looks like there’s something in my eye…)
Source: Read Full Article
