Now that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen Thanos kill half of all life in existence in Avengers: Infinity War
and the Avengers use time travel to undo that devastation in Avengers: Endgame, it’s safe to say that it’s gonna take a little more legwork to really shock the audience going forward. But that’s
what WandaVision is setting up to do, as it follows psychic powerhouse Wanda Maximoff seeming to live out a happy life with her android love Vision. But, as is usually the case when the dead suddenly walk, everything is not as it seems…
The show is perhaps Marvel Studios’ strangest outing yet in the MCU, and it has fans wondering where it fits in the MCU timeline, whether or not it takes place after Endgame, and more generally WTF it even is. So let’s catch up on how the MCU’s most prominent witch and robot couple made it to their sure-to-be-short-lived happily ever after in the first place.
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Watch the video above or read on for all the details!
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Wanda and Vision’s Debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron
Wanda and Vision both start their Avenging careers around the same time, after the heroes bring down the HYDRA leadership that has been pulling SHIELD’s strings. But, you know, cut off one head and those damn things keep sprouting! Case in point, a HYDRA splinter group run by Baron Strucker in the mountains of Sokovia continues their research on Loki’s scepter, which was recovered from the Battle of New York and houses the Mind Stone. In the post-credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we see that Strucker has been using the scepter to try to give people superpowers!
That includes Sokovian siblings, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. While Pietro’s powers mostly make him go real fast, Wanda’s are a bit trickier to nail down. Sure, we see her ruin her cube toy (which is a waste, that thing looks like fun), but it’s not until the Avengers come to bust up Strucker’s operation in Avengers: Age of Ultron and recover Loki’s scepter that we learn that telekinesis is just the tip of Wanda’s mental iceberg. As Tony learns the hard way, Wanda’s also capable of projecting psychic visions into her victims’ minds. They leave the extent of this power a little vague… we’ll come back to that later.
Now, the Maximoffs have some significant beef with the Avengers, specifically Tony, whose Stark Industries-engineered missiles are responsible for the death of their parents. It’s why they signed up for Strucker’s experiments in the first place. That grudge leads them to align with Tony’s robo-nemesis-slash-son Ultron, who’s also out to destroy Earth’s Mightiest Heroes after being gifted with life thanks to the very same Mind Stone that gave the Maximoffs their powers. Ultron compels Avengers ally Dr. Helen Cho to make him a shiny, invulnerable new body, complete with the Mind Stone embedded in the forehead. The heroes manage to recover Ultron’s would-be body and upload their own artificial consciousness into its brain: Tony Stark’s A.I. JARVIS! Quite the promotion from being a weapons-enabled virtual assistant! This new android takes the name Vision and proves that he’s not going to go all Skynet on the Avengers by picking up Thor’s hammer. He’s worthy!
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It’s during the failed process of transferring Ultron’s brain into Vision’s body that Wanda discovers that the robotic villain is not just planning on wiping out the Avengers for the good of the planet, but all of humanity. The Maximoffs decide to jump ship and join with the good guys to foil Ultron’s plan, which is to kickstart the apocalypse by turning the Sokovian capitol into a meteor and rocketing it back to Earth. And he would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling Avengers! While the heroes are successful in killing Ultron, averting the end times, and even evacuating most of the Sokovian capital’s population, Pietro is killed in the battle. That leaves Wanda without a family, but hey, at least she’s got job prospects!
The Sokovia Accords, Captain America: Civil War… and Love!
Wanda joins a new Avengers lineup, alongside Vision, and operates for the next year without incident. But in Captain America: Civil War, while on a mission to apprehend Crossbones, Scarlet Witch accidentally lets his suicide vest detonate next to a crowded building.
This latest loss of civilian life during a superhero match-up is the last straw for the global community. Secretary of State Thunderbolt Ross presents the Avengers with the Sokovia Accords, under which the team will give up their independence and defer to the United Nations for which missions to go on. The heroes are split on the issue, with half the roster falling in behind the pro-Accords Tony and the other half, led by Captain America, believing that independence is the only way the Avengers can remain effective. Wanda and Vision – spending a lot more time together these days at the New Avengers Facility – find themselves on different sides of this conflict. Recognizing the destructive effect the Avengers have had, Vision is in favor of the accords, but Wanda’s not so sure. And the fact that Tony’s now commanded Vision to keep Wanda in custody after the tragedy doesn’t do a lot to bring her around to his way of thinking, either.
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Eventually, this leads Wanda to side with Team Cap while Viz joins Team Iron Man. The Avengers have it out on the tarmac of Berlin’s airport, and although it’s gonna take a few more movies for Tony and Steve to get there, Wanda and Vision get a moment of reconciliation.
Still, after all is said and done, Wanda’s in the slammer for helping Cap… but if we know one thing about Cap, it’s that he never leaves a friend behind. He breaks his allies out of the Raft and goes off the grid…
Mind Games and Avengers: Infinity War
The next time we see Wanda and Vision is in Avengers: Infinity War, and then Avengers: Endgame for Wanda anyway. Uh oh…
The two continue their witch-android romance in secret over the next couple of years, seeing each other when they can. It’s during one of their nights together that Vision’s stone starts hurting. That’s down to the impending arrival of Thanos, armed with an Infinity Gauntlet real hungry for Infinity Stones like the one in Viz’s noggin. Thanos’ fan club, the Children of Thanos, ambush Wanda and Viz to dig the Mind Stone out of the android’s forehead before Cap, Black Widow, and Falcon swoop in to fend off the Mad Titan’s angry tykes.
Vision surmises that having Wanda destroy the Mind Stone is the surest way to deprive Thanos of having a complete set of Infinity Stones with which to wipe out half of all creation. The whole team’s pretty down on the whole idea of having her blow the thing out of his head being plan A though, and decide to call on Black Panther for aid.
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T’Challa receives the Avengers and his tech genius sister Shuri sets to work making a backup copy of Vision’s consciousness. But Thanos has finally been able to pick up some speed when it comes to wrangling these Infinity Stones and, after defeating Tony and his team of heroes on Titan, he just needs that one out of Vision’s forehead. So he lays siege to Wakanda to get it. Shuri continues to copy Vision’s mind as Wanda steps onto the battlefield to lend a hand. Thanos’ forces eventually break through the defenses and put an end to Vision’s backup before it can be completed… or was it? Vision brings the fight into the jungle but eventually, knowing this is their last chance, convinces Wanda that it’s time to go to plan B.
Yes, that’s Plan B-low Vision’s head up. With Thanos advancing, Wanda says goodbye and destroys the Mind Stone, killing Vision. But Thanos just uses the Time Stone to undo Vision’s sacrifice and pluck the Mind Stone out of his forehead, killing Vision in the process. With his Infinity Gauntlet finally complete, Thanos delivers on his apocalyptic threat to will half of all life out of existence (you know, the Snap!). Wanda Maximoff is on the wrong side of that coin flip, just like many of the Avengers’ roster.
Does WandaVision Take Place After Avengers: Endgame?
Five years later, in Avengers: Endgame, the surviving heroes pull off one hell of a time heist to recover the Infinity Stones and undo the Snap. Unfortunately, this only applies to those killed in the Snap, so while Wanda gets to come back from the great beyond, Vision remains in the Recycle Bin.
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So now that WandaVision has arrived on Disney+, the mysterious setting of the show is leading fans to ask many questions. But it seems clear that despite the throwback nature of the series – exploring old sitcom formats from decades past – WandaVision is set after Avengers: Endgame. How Vision is still alive of course is a major question then. If he’s even alive, that is. But what happens when Vision starts remembering the fact that he died? As for what’s got him back on his feet, that’s still unclear, but seeing Wanda is one of the most powerful psychics in the MCU and she’s in mourning, we can en-vision her powers being involved somehow.
What do you think is really going on in WandaVision? Let’s discuss in the comments!
