VisionQuest post-credit scene: is Doom building an evil Avengers?

The post-credit scene attached to the end of the VisionQuest finale ties directly into Avengers: Doomsday, and it brings back a character insiders have teased for more than a year: Scarlet Witch. It shows Doctor Doom collecting powerful heroes, and it may be setting up an evil version of the Avengers.

That connection was not a given. An industry insider had reported that the VisionQuest post-credit scene wouldn't connect to Avengers: Doomsday. Not only did it connect, it revealed Wanda Maximoff's return, with big implications for what Doom is up to. Spoilers follow for the VisionQuest finale.

The VisionQuest post-credit scene shows Doctor Doom reviving Wanda Maximoff

The scene opens by replaying Scarlet Witch's death on Wundagore Mountain, which collapsed on her at the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Marvel shows it to us again, presumably for newer fans who missed that movie or don't remember exactly what happened to her.

Then the view switches to Scarlet Witch's point of view as Doctor Doom raises the rubble. We hear Doom say, "Scarlet Witch, awaken. Your power will be mine." Then Wanda Maximoff opens her eyes.

Why the Scarlet Witch tease beats the Avengers: Endgame Encore scene

As a fan, I have a few surface level reactions. First, this was a better post-credit scene than the one attached to Avengers: Endgame Encore. Second, I'm glad the insider report was wrong and that Marvel used VisionQuest to set up a major tease for Avengers: Doomsday.

Third, I've been teasing Scarlet Witch's return for a while, but insiders have been teasing it for at least a year. I'm glad to see they were onto something and that we weren't all led astray. Credit where credit is due: DanielRPK was one of the main and first sources reporting that Scarlet Witch would return as one of the witches in Doom's coven, and that she was added to the recent reshoots.

Doctor Doom is collecting powerful characters, but Scarlet Witch is not Hulk

This is the second post-credit scene where Marvel Studios has chosen to show Doctor Doom collecting powerful characters, after Hulk. Scarlet Witch may be different from Hulk, though. I can't see a world where Doom harnesses Hulk's power, turns into the Hulk, or uses his blood to make a Doom Hulk variant. That belongs in an offshoot comic book or an alternate world. It's not what's going to happen in the main storyline.

Doom and his runes are a different story. My original theory was that Doctor Doom would rule Battleworld using something first revealed in WandaVision: how runes affect those within them. A witch wielding runes in a circle stops another witch or sorcerer from using their power. In the very first image we saw, a green stained glass window set in a circle, there are runes around it. Doom also wears an arch rune on his gloves that has made him very powerful.

My theory on how Doctor Doom built his witches' coven

I said Doom may have been going across the multiverse gathering the most powerful witches and sorcerers: Scarlet Witches, Sorcerer Supremes like Doctor Strange, and those who used the Darkhold to obtain their magic. He would learn their ways and become just as powerful as each of them.

That's why they're part of his coven. They're willing to impart their magic, and he has crafted an ultimate magic out of it.

An Avengers: Doomsday third act against Hulk and Scarlet Witch

I think it goes one step deeper. A recent rumor said we may not see Hulk until the end of Avengers: Doomsday. Now Doom has collected Hulk and Scarlet Witch. I think we're in for an insane third act battle. Whichever heroes from the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and the X-Men make it through the Sentinel fight will march on Doom at the end of the film. They'll find they're not facing only Doom, Doombots or Sentinels, but the most powerful of their own allies.

It may go a step further. We've heard we won't see a face reveal for Robert Downey Jr.'s Doom. But beyond fighting fellow Avengers they've fought beside before, the heroes would be fighting against Doom, the biggest hero of them all, the one who sacrificed himself to save them. Suddenly he's on the opposite side. So I wonder if this teases some sort of face reveal as well.

Why VisionQuest needed an Avengers: Doomsday connection

VisionQuest was an incredible series, and I'm glad Marvel used this chance to tie it into what's coming in a bigger way. When the news broke that there wouldn't be a Doomsday post-credit scene, I was shocked. "How can you run out a show that's this good with a character as big as Vision, an undeniable Avenger, and then not tie it in to Avengers Doomsday?"

That's especially true because Vision's counterpart, and the whole kickoff for this trilogy on TV, was Wanda in the first place.

Scarlet Witch's return confirms a bigger Doctor Doom theory

I'm so glad she's back in the MCU, and I know that will make many people happy. There are many storylines she could be part of with the X-Men. There was no reason for her to stay gone.

This scene most certainly confirms her as one of the witches in Doctor Doom's coven, whom we'll see mainly toward the end of the second act and in the third act. On a different level, I think it also confirms the bigger theory: Doom is collecting an evil version of the Avengers to follow him, a team the other heroes will have to fight. I can't wait to see who's lined up against them on the evil side. Wanda, welcome back to the MCU.