Note: The following contains spoilers for the TV show WandaVision airing on Disney+.
The newest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a new TV show called WandaVision. Wanda Maximoff, aka The Scarlet Witch and Vision, are the two main Marvel characters in the show. The show takes place in this strange alternate reality where Wanda and Vision are married and are living in a series of TV sitcoms starting with the 1950s and moving forward through the decades. The format is quite odd but I believe that the show actually explains what is happening. This essay is my theory on what is going on in WandaVision.
The main motif in the show is the classic television sitcom. This is more than just a gimmick. It is integral to what is happening in this strange alternate world. To understand we need to look at the show trailers for two important clues. The first is the Monkees song Daydream Believer that is used in the first trailer. The idea of “dreaming” is prominent in the trailers and Daydream Believer is a song about suburban life and the strange tone life takes after the wedding day. The next clue is in the last trailer where the narrator says “dreaming starts Friday”. The narrator uses the word dreaming instead of streaming. It is clear from these two clues that the show is composed of a dream world. We know from the comics books that Wanda is capable of altering reality so it appears that this world of WandaVision is a dream world that Wanda is creating for some reason. Wanda has to be creating this since this takes place after the events of the war with Thanos and Vision is dead.
This is confirmed by Agnes, the nosy neighbor (probably Agatha Harkness from the comics) where she sees Wanda looking at the red toy helicopter and says “the star of the show!” This reference clearly indicates that Wanda is the one that is in this dream state and is creating this alternate reality.
The episodes are in black and white but we find that certain objects in the show appear in the color red. We have the toy helicopter, the light on the toaster in the fake commercial, blood on the hand of the lady at the meeting after the strange radio signal. Red is a color closely tied with the Scarlet Witch and I think the color red represents reality or the real world. At the ending of episode 2, we have Vision turning red, his natural color, and Wanda's dress turning red, the color of the Scarlet Witch. The color red represents reality and the real world.
We have another important clue at the end of episode 1 where we see that Wanda is being monitored by what appears to be the organization called Sword. Sword is an acronym that means Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division. It is an organization like Shield that handles threats of an extraterrestrial nature. The Weapon part of the acronym implies individuals with superpowers that have become weaponized. In the case of Wanda, this may refer to her ability to alter reality, a power we haven't yet seen in the MCU but is probably now being revealed in WandVision. Since Sword is monitoring the dream state of Wanda, is clear that they have her in a facility where this monitoring can take place. This brings us to the toaster commercial which I believe is the explanation of what is going on in WandaVison.
The commercial starts with burnt toast and the narrator are addressing the woman in the audience, an obvious reference to Wanda. The burnt toast is bad. We don't want burnt toast. The answer to this bad situation is a toaster created by Stark Industries that will produce perfect toast when the red light blinks. In the commercial, the red light blinks, and the prop lady takes out the perfect toast and places them on a plate after giving a very odd look at the camera. In fact, the whole commercial is odd.
The prop lady doesn't act like a prop lady should in the commercial. If you have ever seen the Price is Right, you know what I mean. She is focused on the toaster and when the red light blinks she gives a look to the camera like she is saying “I told you.” We also have that red light. Red is the color of the real world, and since the toaster has a red light, it is connected to a real-world machine. The toaster is just a manifestation in the dream world of this real-world machine that is designed to correct a bad situation.
Let's look at the commercial again, but from a higher level. Something bad has occurred, some sort of disaster, represented by the burnt toast. The answer to fix the source of the disaster is a machine made by Stark Industries that is being monitored by doctors or scientists represented by the prop lady. We know that Wanda is being monitored by Sword, as she lives in this dream world, so it appears that the Stark toaster is actually a machine that Wanda is in where she is dreaming this alternate reality. Sword has her in a machine that allows Wanda to dream and because Wanda can alter reality, she is creating an alternate reality from this dream state. But why?
The dream is the key here. They have her in a dream state because mentally something is wrong with Wanda. The machine is designed to heal Wanda's mental state. Suppose after the battle with Thanos, Wanda has a mental break. After all, she watched Vision die twice. It is easy to see that if Wanda had a complete mental breakdown, her ability to alter reality would pose a serious threat to the world. I believe that the burnt toast indicates that Wanda was wreaking havoc in the world because of her mental breakdown and they were able somehow to put her into the dream state within the machine. I suspect Agnes, aka Agatha Harkness, a person closely connected to Wanda in the comics books, may have had something to do with getting Wanda in this dream state.
The sitcom motif of the show is a metaphor for Wanda's mental state. In the 1950s, sitcoms had little resemblance to the real world. They were these bubble worlds that existed in an almost different reality, far removed from the real world. The first episode sitcom setting is from that idealized world of Leave it to Beaver and the Dick Van Dyke show. This shows how far mentally Wanda is from reality, her deep mental break after the events with Thanos.
As the series continues we see the show sitcom motif change to shows from the 1960s and 1970s like Bewitched and Brady Bunch. The 1960s and 1970s sitcoms were closer to reality than previous shows. For example the two-bed bedroom of the 1950s sitcom became the one-bed bedroom in the late '60s and early '70s sitcoms. This indicates that Wanda is also moving closer to reality, that her mental state is improving. So the sitcom motif of the show is actually an indicator of Wanda's improving mental state while she is in the Stark machine.
There is a wrinkle in all of this though. In the scene where Wanda and Agnes are at the Rotary Club meeting, the leader says “the devil is in the details” and Agnes responds “that isn't the only place he is at”. In the comics, Wanda has ties to a major villain called Mephisto. Mephisto is portrayed as a “devil” character so it is clear that Agnes is referring to Mephisto. After the meeting, Wanda hears a message from the radio that sounds like it is saying “Wanda, what are they doing to you?” and immediately afterward, the lady who was running the meeting breaks a glass in her hand and the resulting blood is red, indicating a connection to the real world. I think this shows that WandaVision and Mephisto have a connection that will bring bloodshed in the real world. It may be that this alternate reality Wanda is creating is the vehicle that Mephisto uses to come into our world. There is quite a bit of speculation that Mephisto may be the main villain in the next phase of the MCU which is starting with WandaVision. I think this scene foreshadows the events we will see in the new MCU phase.
All of this is just a theory, but I think it fits the facts and is a reasonable interpretation of the clues given in the show. Time will tell if I am correct.
