These retro ads from WandaVision suggest dark things to come

WandaVisionMarvel’s new DisneyPlus show begins in black and white, with boxed laughs as a backdrop and resembling a familiar old couple comedy in the sense of I Love Lucy. It is therefore normal that each episode includes a retro advertisement. And these scam ads aren’t just funny, they play on Marvel history.

Possible WandaVision spoilers ahead.

In the first episode, the commercial runs for roughly 10 minutes and begins with a smoldering burnt toast in a retro toaster. It plays out like an advertisement for the “new and improved ToastMate 2000,” which is supposed to be able to toast even pies and meatloaf. While the toaster is actively working, it emits a strange beep like a bomb, with its red light the only pop of color in the black and white advertisement. It turns out the toaster is a product of Iron Man Tony Stark’s family-owned company, Stark Industries, and it features the ominous slogan “Forget the past, it’s your future.”

But a Stark device that beeps like a bomb has a frightening connection to Wanda. In 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda and her twin brother, Pietro, reveal they were only 10 years old when they lost their parents in a bomb attack and were left terrified for two days watching the word “Stark” on an unexploded shell that landed nearby. .

“We wait two days for Tony Stark to kill us,” Wanda says in the film. It seems clear that an ad for a toaster made by Stark that beeps like a bomb is no coincidence. While most of the episode is light and slapstick and reminiscent of a mellow sitcom, the commercial drops with a reminder: there’s a darker past here, and the series could explore it.

In the second episode, the ad arrives at around 6:40 a.m. and appears to feature the same two actors as the first mock ad. (The CNET reviewer has speculation about who can be the man and the woman.)

The second ad shows an elegant couple heading to a party and peddling the man’s Strücker watch. You are not familiar with Strücker? Baron Wolfgang von Strücker is the Marvel villain who controls the evil organization Hydra in Avengers; Age of Ulton, and it was he who experimented with Wanda and her twin. So it’s especially frightening that the watch says “Hydra” directly on its face, and has a menacing slogan – “Strücker: He’ll take time for you.”

Wanda and Vision may be trying to live the perfect suburban life for a sitcom, but the commercials are a reminder that things can get serious before all nine episodes are over. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige even acknowledges that commercials are important.

“How (are) the other truths in the show that start to leak out?” Feige said, according to SlashFilm. “It’s just a weird version of the 1950s or ’60s commercial … you’ll have to keep watching the show and understand. If you’ve watched all of the movies, you might be able to begin to understand what these are. things mean in the past tense. “

Ads aren’t the only Easter Eggs that reward close observation by Marvel fans. Discover our overview of other highlights, including Vision Gum, and that annoying beekeeper.

A new episode of WandaVision – and likely a new commercial – will premiere on Disney Plus on January 22.