WandaVision S1 E5 (Full Reaction)

The divide was mostly between people who believed that Wanda was 100% a villain, had deliberately and maliciously enslaved the people of Westview, and was fully conscious and aware at all times of what she was doing, and those who were pretty well convinced that the situation was a lot less clear cut than that. Pretty sure nobody thought Wanda was "in the right," but at worst, I believe many of us felt that she was, while a threat, not necessarily cognizant or in control of what she was doing. There really was not, by this episode, enough evidence to prove (or even strongly suggest) that she was fully aware of the effects on the people of Westview.

Dezz Connor

It doesn't have the same impact now, but at the time this show came out MCU had just purchased the rights to X-Men. So having Evan Peters play her brother (played the same character in the X-Men universe) was a huge tease at mixing the X-Men universe with the MCU. It was such a huge deal at the time and suggested much more than just recasting. It was an incredible move that sprouted dozens of theories.

Matt Jones

I appreciate that Jax is reflecting on the morality of Wanda's actions at this stage. A lot of people think she's entirely unconscious when taking people hostage but clearly in this episode she knows what she has done and is choosing to go ahead with it. That's malicious intent. If I kidnapped someone whilst sleepwalking and then woke up and kept them prisoner, I'd still be a kidnapper! Wanda is a villain in this story. She's still a sympathetic protagonist but torture is dark even for an antihero

George Baxter

"Cutting to a commercial break about cleaning up messes that you couldn't control" was more about the brand name, Lagos. That was the city at the start of Civil War, where she saved Steve from the explosion, but it went off and took out one of the floors of that building. "An existential grief crisis and a villain moment all in one" is so on point, and its amazing to watch that happen so well in a show. Also I have a theory on accent-vs-no accent. Acting. Role-play. And role-play itself has proven to be so effective in therapy. Its children using puppets to better show complex emotions and difficult situations. Its combat vets sitting down to table-top RPG's. its marriage counselors saying "OK now, husband, in this scene you are your wife, and wife, you are your husband. Act that out." So of course as Wanda uses acting and role-play to process grief, she is playing the character of... someone... somewhere... doing something. Its complicated. Also, I would live in the TV show The Legend of Korra. As anyone. Anywhere.

Richard Flores

hahaha I'm having too much fun, on to the next episode!! By the way I'm watching 2 other reactors who watched this show as the episodes were being released and we can hear a lot of the theories happening in real time from back then. Actually I guess a lot of theorizing is part of watching this show! What a success this show was and is continuing to be...!

Mannygogou

To paraphrase Doctor Strange talking to Tony... "Jax, if I told you what is happening, it won't happen" ☝😊

Mannygogou

I was also going to mention Doctor Strange - he said that there was only one in a few million where they succeed... this means that Starlord in his failings, even that was part of the one path. If Wanda or Captain Marvel (or Starlord) had done more in the fight then something probably would have turned which would have caused failure - it would look like a winning move but ultimately to fail. The two folks who talk like this are Doctor Strange and The Ancient One. Remember The Ancient One was quick to reverse her thinking saying she must have been mistaken. In this sense even Woo saying what he said is accurate to this version of reality where we won the Infinity Stones saga. It is the same, the one reality. It includes Starlord and Woo... and Clint handing over the gauntlet... and includes Strange handing over the green stone.

Mannygogou

No Jax, no answers for you! 😊 The internet was abuzz I heard when this episode ended. I didn't watch it as it came out but there were tons of guesses as to what was happening... Fans were theorizing based on the comics - but I don't like that since this is not the comics, this is the live action version that folks like Kevin Smith had dreamt of all his life... and it's not productive to write your own fan fiction in your head... what do they call it "head canon" ? 🙂 Nothing wrong with fan-fiction but the fan has to decide if they want to continue watching... or stay in their own mind world. I watch a lot of puzzling shows and mind bending storylines so I can safely say that I can continue watching a show that reveals itself slowly - the guy in When Harry Met Sally, he turns to the back of the book and reads the ending first - what a guy right?! Anyway I'm glad you jumped to the next episode already and also the section where you're asking for answers probably will be fine for youtube version because by that point you'd have seen all the episodes. A case can be made that even acknowledging a question will be leaving a trail of breadcrumbs (leading/misleading) and even saying "there's a risk" also may put the reactor on guard and thus alter the course of events other than what the writers had intended how the story should reveal itself. Hahaha...

Mannygogou

ooh I'll play it in the background while I work... with no picture... at 75% speed lol... while I keep working 😋

Mannygogou

I only had a She-Hulk cup. But it broke this year. 😒 She’s my fave superhero💚 I’m like you: I have to look at all perspectives, but knowing my background I’d probably go with SWORD. TV show to be stuck in🤔 I’d have to go with the Cosby Show

TheEbonyElephant

This was pretty much Disney's way of letting people know that the X-Men are coming. If you don't know, Disney has recently reacquired the rights to a lot of properties that were sold off to Netflix and Fox way back before the MCU was even a concept.

Jason Pike

Fantastic reaction! I love it when first timers get to this episode, it kicks the X-Men conversation into high gear and I can’t wait for Jax to meet those characters! I know she will get to them eventually, I am just excited, especially given her reaction to Wanda’s shenanigans😆 Marvel has quite a pantheon of morally grey characters, and the MCU has barely scratched the surface! Who doesn’t love a good antihero?! I love that you are conflicted, we have all been there. For most of us it’s a constant state of mind when it comes to our favorite characters 😜 I like that you pointed out that it could be difficult for Wanda to maintain certain levels of control while in her current trauma and grief stricken mental state. While it is not an all is forgiven, no harm done excuse, grief and trauma can and do make people behave in ways they wouldn’t normally and for someone with that amount of power, it stands to reason that she wouldn’t be in full control 💯 of the time. I sympathize on so many levels with Wanda, but figuring out how to stop what she is doing should be her first priority, and at this point it isn’t. While this isn’t my favorite MCU show, it is currently in my top 5.

CheshireKat528

Also, my comment came off as "mansplaining"... but my reply was truly in the sense of the upcoming stories that may or may not happen. There's a reason I said it in that way without giving away any spoilers.

Preferred User

I believe you need to rethink the concept of the chance of winning. In the 14 million different possibilities, there's a chance that wanda did defeat thanos but killing him isn't winning... as we did see in end game. Also, one version could possibly be that every time Wanda attempted to kill him, she was stopped in one way or another. Wanda most definitely could kill Thanos... but in the timeline, something would happen each time... or Dr Strange didn't watch enough versions.

Preferred User

That is true. But no body in-universe knows that. Only we as the audience know that. So they’re talking more from a power level perspective. Like without dr strange’s vision, she could’ve killed him. Either way. Great reaction!

Connor Vide

It's a bit of an issue whether Wanda is a villain. Really, along those lines, you should stop at Hawkeye, and never know the bitter cup of disappointment that we've known this last two or so years.

Ian Rastall

I can't wait for you to get to Falcon and The Winter Soldier. It's a good show, not a great one, but you like both the main characters so much that I think you'll be a fan.

Horace Cocroft

I understand what you're saying about cheap lines of dialogue after the fact. but I think Monica is right. in Endgame during the big battle scene when Wanda confronted him, she was whooping his Be-hind until he had his ship start firing aimlessly upon everyone. it was the ships gunfire that saved him, not Thanos himself. she had him!

Rondo

I think the reason I didn't like them saying she could have defeated Thanos was because Doctor Strange said there was only one way to win. We know Wanda couldn't have done it on her own. It had to play out the way it did. But, I get she's very powerful and could have beaten him if it was a one on one fight. Also, I agree that Elizabeth's Olsen's acting skills are wonderful! The X-Men crossover is so cool. I wouldn't have noticed that, since I haven't seen those movies!

Jacqueline

That is SO COOL! I didn't realize that was an X-men crossover!

Jacqueline

Yes they did!

Jacqueline

That makes sense.

Jacqueline

That's a very good point! I never really thought about the technical definition of the term terrorist. I guess Wanda would just be considered a threat then. A very magical, powerful threat.

Jacqueline

What I really love about Wanda is how complex she really is. It shows how power really can be dangerous. I'm so excited for you to see the next few episodes!

Kristine

Oooh! I hadn't even thought of that!

Jacqueline

It's so weird that they brought in a new actor for Pietro!

Jacqueline

The context for the recast Pietro is that the "new" actor for Pietro is Evan Peters, who also played a separate incarnation of the same character (Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver) in the X-Men franchise alongside Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, Professor X, Magneto etc. At the time this episode released, it was unclear what this means, but still kind of a wow moment for the audience because the "wrong" version of her brother appeared.

Frenzy

The remark that she could've defeated Thanos on her own isn't just a flippant remark. During the battle in Endgame she was killing Thanos. He was going to die until he ordered his ship to "rain fire" on the battlefield causing her to get hit by one of the blasts. Keep up the theories. At this point I was still confused in some areas, but still very intrigued. Honestly the biggest strengths of this show are the performances of Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany. Paul is great as Vision in everything, but this series really showcased Elizabeth's acting skills. The fight between them at the end was so good! I got chills multiple times. As others have mentioned, the guy she "recast" as Pietro is the same actor who played Pietro/Quicksilver in the X-Men movies. Is there some significance? Is it merely an Easter Egg? Stay tuned!

Marty McGee

Wanda is a morally complex character, that's what makes her character so interesting. People are so prone to snap judgements because moral ambiguity makes us uncomfortable. It's simpler to think of someone as completely good or bad, when it is often much more complicated than that. It really seems that what Wanda is "doing" is very bad but the show will add a lot more context that hopefully adds nuance to how you feel about it.

Cameron

Dearest Jax, the original ‘actor’ wasn’t available, within the framework of the show, because he was dead and “death can’t be undone.” The actor portraying ‘Pietro/Quicksilver’ is the same actor that portrays him in the X-men timeline.

Lamar Smith

To be fair, 80s and 90s sitcoms had excessively long intro songs 😅

Triene (Katie)

Monica mentioned it in passing and a lot of people forget that being a Terrorist requires political motivations behind your actions. If your actions aren't fuelled by politics, no matter how terrible, you aren't a Terrorist. As far as we know to this point in the story Wanda's actions (what ever they are, that's still a bit hazy IMO at this stage) are not motivated by politics. She may prove to be a Terrorist eventually, but at this stage we can't really call her one.

Danny Roberts

Monica's problem with Captain Marvel is that Captain Marvel sort of left and never came back when Monica was a little girl.

Gideon Zahler

^ when this episode originally aired there was soo much speculation on what this meant as that quicksilver is from an alternate universe.

Qtr

Marvel Fan

You should probably add that Quicksilver in the comics is Pietro Maximoff. Essentially, this is the Pietro from the X-Men universe.

tmazon

Marvel Fan