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The final episode of WandaVision explains how Wanda acquired her powers, teasing that she may have always been a mutant.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for WandaVision Episode 8, “Previously Activated,” now streaming on Disney +.
A show as skillful at telling stories as WandaVision is just as good at its large, showy settings as with its subtle nods to the public. Throughout the series, fans lose their minds after every Easter egg and oblique reference that could possibly turn into something bigger, and in the final episode, Agatha Harkness dropped one detail that could potentially change everything. the Marvel Cinematic Universe by proving mutants already exist.
Much of the episode revolves around a deep dive into Wanda’s backstory as Agatha seeks to understand the source of her immense power. Amazed by Wanda’s ability to perform magic on such a colossal scale, Agatha scours Wanda’s memories in an attempt to find out where this power came from. The tour includes tours of Wanda’s childhood, her experimentation at the hands of Hydra, and her relationship with Vision, from her flourishing to the death of the android. There is so much going on that it might be difficult to comprehend the subtle nod to mutants that Agatha drops.
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Since the origin of Wanda in Age of Ultron, it was clear that her initial anti-Avenger motivations stemmed from the near-death experience she and her brother had in Sokovia. Trapped under the rubble watching a Stark Industries missile that could explode at any moment, Wanda considered herself lucky that the weapon was a dud. After her radicalization, she submitted to Hydra’s experiments with the Mind Stone, which was originally believed to be the source of her and her brother’s powers. However, it turned out that a deeper story was unfolding.
Visiting Wanda’s childhood, Agatha points out the immensity of the coincidence that implied that the Stark weapon never detonated. She reframed Wanda’s powers not as resulting from the Mind Stone, but as a natural aptitude for “hexagonal magic” that would have “withered on the vine” if the Mind Stone did not strengthen them. That’s a very slight clue, but it doesn’t take much to tie the innate powers identified by Agatha to the X-Gene that serves as a precursor to mutant abilities in the comics.
According to such an interpretation, mutants could have existed for generations, their powers being so light and subtle that they are rarely recognized. Significant trauma or exposure to sufficient energy sources like an Infinity Stone can catalyze the X-Gene, activating it into a recognizable superhuman ability. This would not only link Wanda and Pietro’s origins to their mutant history from the comics, but also create a simple method by which mutants exist in the MCU without requiring a massive change in reality.
For Wanda, her origins clearly go beyond mere mutant powers. Agatha identifies her as the “Scarlet Witch” and ties her to the greater magical elements of the MCU, but to her brother Pietro, the explanation may be as simple as an activated mutant gene. Separated from all the reality-changing antics of Wanda, Pietro is simply a speedster whose powers are activated upon exposure to the Mind Stone. Under similar circumstances, a mass event, perhaps spurred on by Wanda herself, could awaken the genes of the rest of the mutant population. The X-Men finally have a clear path to the MCU, and they WandaVision to thank for that.
Written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, WandaVision stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Kathryn Hahn in Agnes. New episodes air Fridays on Disney +.
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