SCARLET ALERT! Let’s Talk About the WANDAVISION Spoiler

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This post contains a discussion of major spoilers from Episode 5 of WandaVision, titled “On A Very Special Episode,” which was released for streaming TODAY: Friday, February 5th, 2021. This week, we finally got some answers about who is doing this to the Scarlet Witch, and we also got some more questions.

So if you haven’t seen the episode yet and want to avoid spoilers, then please click away from this article now. And honestly, you probably want to just leave the internet in general until you’ve seen the Scarlet Witch’s latest episode – or, at the very least, you should take a breather to look at some pictures of Pizza Dog.

Photo: Gotham/GC Images/Getty Images

Now then: on to the spoilers for “On a Very Special Episode…”

The Monkey’s Paw Curls One Finger

In the final moments of the fifth episode of WandaVision, the Family Ties-version of the Scarlet Witch responds to a knock on the front door. And when she opens it, who should she find but – and the silver hair is a dead giveaway here – wait, Evan Peters???

Photo: Marvel Studios

The actor portrayed Peter, A.K.A. Quicksilver, in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, one of the entries in 20th Century Fox’s series of movies about Marvel’s marvelous mutants.

The Implications of that Special Appearance Explained

It’s already been clearly established in Episode 3 of WandaVision that in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s movie timeline, Wanda’s twin brother, Pietro Maximoff (usually played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in this dimension), was killed by Ultron.

You can bet the Community references were rolling in after this casting annoucment was made. Photo: Marvel Studios

No surprises there, because we saw it happen with our own eyes in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. Photo: Marvel Studios

So how can Pietro be here now? And why the heck was he recast as a different actor?

In accordance with the terms of a legal arrangement reached by the two financially strapped entertainment companies, Marvel sold the rights to the X-Men to 20th Century Fox in 1993. With that deal, the character Quicksilver appeared in both 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past (played by Peters) and in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron (played by Taylor-Johnson).

The Tale of Two Quicksilver(s). Photo: 20th Century Fox/Marvel Studios

However, because of the tricky legal deal, Quicksilver was a mutant in Days of Future Past, while the character shares an origin with Wanda in Age of Ultron.

Elizabeth Olsen‘s Wanda Maximoff in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where the character first appeared with her twin brother, Pietro Maximoff. Photo: Marvel Studios

In the MCU, Quicksilver’s powers are the result of the twins participation in the experimentation with the mind stone undertaken by HYDRA’s Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann). At Marvel, fans got the first glimpse of Wanda and Pietro during the mid-credits scene in 2014’s Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier that gave us our first look at the fateful twin siblings.

Seeing Scarlet: Inter-Dimensional Antics?

While there were originally many legal distinctions that had to be made between the two different incarnations of Quicksilver, the necessity for the differentiation collapsed when the rights to Marvel’s mutants reverted to Marvel Studios thanks to Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox on March 20th, 2019.

Elizabeth Olsen‘s Wanda Maximoff is reunited with her brother from another father, Evan Peters‘ Quicksilver, who is recast as her twin from the X-Men franchise at 20th Century Fox. Photo: Marvel Studios

This is the first time that we’ve seen an actor from 20th Century Fox’s mutant movies reprise an associated role in the MCU, but we already know it won’t be the last. Ryan Reynolds is confirmed to be returning to the role of Deadpool, a mutant-related character which he first played on the big screen in 2016’s Deadpool, released by 20th Century Fox.

Brother from another dimension. Photo: Marvel Comics

Plus, meta casting like this is just an overture for what’s in store in the MCU’s upcoming Spider-Man 3, which will also feature Olsen in the role of Scarlet Witch (oops – that’s just plain “Wanda” in the MCU), along with a whole bunch of casting that draws on preceding adaptations for inspiration.

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