WandaVision episode 4: Monica Rambeau and SWORD theories

WandaVision episode 4 flipped the script on the show. After episode 3 ended with Monica Rambeau being thrown out of Westview, this entry rewound to answer the questions we'd had about the series so far. I thought it was incredible, and at the time I called it easily the strongest of the episodes. I love it when a story does this, like The Two Towers opening with a perspective of Gandalf or Lost showing the plane crash from the view of the Others. It adds context.

WandaVision (2021), starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, still had five episodes to go when I broke this one down. Everything below is what I noticed, theorized and expected then, before the series finale aired on March 5, 2021.

Monica Rambeau's MCU history and her Photon powers from the comics

Monica's MCU debut came all the way back in the 1990s setting of Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson, where we saw her as a kid. Nick Fury clearly had his eye on her mother. This episode tells us that her mother was a founder of SWORD, and Monica got her job through knowing her, though she probably had some qualifications too.

In the comics, under the name Photon, Monica can modulate her own energy to change her appearance and look like anyone she wants. She can fly, fire energy blasts and absorb the energy of things around her. She also has superhuman speed, can turn invisible and can phase through solid matter. We knew at the time that she would feature alongside Ms. Marvel and Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel 2, so I expected to see much more of her.

Jimmy Woo, the beekeeper and why SWORD and not SHIELD

Alongside Monica is FBI agent Jimmy Woo, last seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp, where he was fascinated by magic. In that film he was assigned to look after Scott because Scott broke the Sokovia Accords. Wanda did too, and I thought it was possible Woo was shifted to her after Lang. It turns out he was the voice on the other end of the radio, desperately trying to save Monica and the townsfolk.

We also learn more about the beekeeper. There were theories that he'd turn into Swarm, and that could still have been the case, but for now he stood more as a demonstration of how the bubble works. I love seeing things from SWORD's perspective, and though the episode never says so, the choice of SWORD over SHIELD could hint at what's going on.

Because of the in-show commercials, it had long been speculated that Hydra had something to do with Wanda being trapped, perhaps along with Agnes and Mephisto. The Strücker watch and another of the commercials were the hints. The last time we saw Hydra in the MCU was Mitchell Carson running off with Darren Cross's Pym Particles, and the trailer for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier showed they were making a comeback. As The Winter Soldier taught us, Hydra infiltrated SHIELD, so it makes sense that SWORD would be chosen instead.

Nick Fury's trip through space in the Far From Home post credits scene is the type of mission SWORD typically goes on, though that could be me reaching. Potentially, Hydra wanted to weaponize Wanda and may have been using her own powers to create a simulation she's trapped in. Going back through the MCU, I noticed that the end of Avengers: Endgame had a similar aesthetic, with Steve traveling back to a 1950s life to be with the one he loves. I thought they could possibly use that notion to make her do their evil bidding.

Paul Bettany's cut Avengers: Endgame scene with Vision in a body bag

Speaking of Endgame, Paul Bettany revealed something that could have sealed Vision's fate. In IMDb's Ask Each Other Anything, he said there was a post credits scene at the end of the movie that had Wanda unzipping a body bag with Vision in it.

The scene was cut, as we now know. But that didn't mean it wouldn't pop up again down the line, perhaps showing one of the heartbreaking reasons that led to the events of the season.

Monica's return from the blip is one of the best MCU openings

The episode opens with Monica waking up in a hospital after the blip. We later learn her mother Maria died two years after the snap, never truly knowing what happened to her daughter, though she held out hope. From Monica's perspective, she was sitting by her mother's bed as she was about to be discharged, and in the next second she was gone.

The opening is amazing and brings the full weight of what someone would feel if this really happened. So far we'd only seen the good side of the blip, but the panic and confusion here is astounding, and I called it "one of the best openings in an MCU property ever." I loved watching her realize her mother had passed away and that she now had to attempt a normal life, though it would be impossible.

At SWORD, the Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division, Monica finds her ID has expired. A news report shows a mother and daughter hugging under the headline that the blip brings back loved ones. That's a slap in the face to Monica, who was cheated of a last goodbye by Thanos. If Maria had been taken instead of or along with Monica, they would have had time to say farewell. It feels completely depressing in a show that's already slightly depressing.

Tyler Hayward, Maria's plaque and the hexagon clues at SWORD

Here we meet acting director Tyler Hayward, the authoritative figure these fed dramas are full of. He plays slightly into one fan theory: that everyone other than Wanda is acting, cemented by Vision saying the whole world is a stage. Monica calls him director, and he corrects her to acting director, perhaps a cute nod to what's going on in the show.

A plaque for Maria shows her nickname was Photon, hinting at where her daughter could go. Maria is the Peggy Carter of her organization: like Peggy, she met a captain who inspired her to build a law enforcement agency. Monica is the first to report in, with others likely taking a break to be with family. SWORD used to investigate space travel, but with half the staff blipped, it turned to Earth. There's some awkwardness between the pair over Maria's replacement, which the snap got in the way of, perhaps meaning bad blood later. Maria's guidelines keep the returned on Earth and hold Monica back, probably her mother looking after her from beyond the grave.

Behind Tyler is a circular map, which contrasts with the hexagonal ones we see in Westview, subtly showing the difference between the realities. Hexagons have appeared throughout the season, and Wanda's powers in the comics are called hex. So Monica saying Wanda is the one doing it makes sense, though I suspected that might be a misdirect.

Westview's sign, the police from East View and Jimmy's missing person

Monica's missing person case turns into a missing town, and we get a proper look at Westview from outside. We'd already noted the sign's W and V, for Wanda and Vision, and the TV in the middle. The slogan also reads "Home, it's where you make it," which ties into how Wanda has made her home in the fake reality. Monica wears a SWORD ID badge, so I assumed items are transformed on entry: just as the hazmat suit became a beekeeper outfit, her badge became the SWORD necklace from episode 3.

She meets Jimmy, showing off the tricks he learned from Ant-Man, and two police officers who claim they come from East View and don't seem to know what's going on. To me, that highlighted a force on the outside controlling what they perceive, which Wanda wouldn't be able to do. In Stephen King's It, Pennywise mentally influenced the adults so they didn't look too deeply into the missing children. The police here are similarly nonchalant, as if mind controlled.

Jimmy is looking after a missing man from witness protection. We don't learn who, but I thought it could be Ralph, who'd been missing from the show, or maybe Norm, who was called a communist and seemed suspicious. I got plenty of X-Files vibes, and if the show was aping other series, that was the closest thing this episode pulled from. Monica sends in a drone, and as we predicted in episode 2, the helicopter was one of these. When it disappears, she puts her hand in the membrane, which anyone who has seen Alien knows is the last thing you want to do.

Darcy Lewis, the TV signal and the clues about Dottie and Agnes

We're reintroduced to Darcy, played by Kat Dennings. Because of her experience in Thor and astrophysics, she's brought in to help, and the ending of The Dark World dealt with multiple realities and dimensions. She was the person at the TV at the end of episode 1, scanning for clues. While SWORD's plan seems to be losing drones, she hooks up an old scope made by Lexington Instruments, which could be a nod to a Marvel mutant of that name, to tune into the show's frequencies.

As they piece together the townsfolk's identities, Dottie isn't in the lineup, perhaps suggesting she isn't a member of the town and is one of the big bads: potentially the Grim Reaper, Mephisto or Nightmare. With the latter two, the villains could be using the twins to take physical form and enter the MCU reality, having existed solely in their own planes. That could be a red herring, though, as Dottie didn't appear until episode 2 and the photos come from episode 1.

Agnes, unlike the rest, has no ID, and I thought the theory that she's Agatha Harkness gained much more weight. If SWORD couldn't track her, it's likely she wanted to lie low because of her immortality. Agatha has lived for centuries, and it is possible she met Wanda and showed her how to boost her powers. In the first episode, Agnes said her anniversary with Ralph was June 2, the day the first Salem witch trials took place. It is possible she pledged her allegiance to Mephisto as these began. She also said Ralph looks better in the dark.

New Jersey, Todd Davis, the colorized drone and the beekeeper's fate

The board asks the questions we'd been asking all along, a nice touch showing Marvel knew the main talking points. The driving licenses and Monica's drive in confirm Westview is in New Jersey, as long theorized, close to the base from Avengers: Endgame. Text on everyone's name asks whether Wanda controls the whole town. It seems to get an answer at the end, but I didn't think she fully is. Mr. Hart is named Todd Davis, the name of an extra from Iron Man 3, though I couldn't find anything else.

The colorization of the drone perhaps shows that Wanda sometimes loses control of the reality. The blood on Dottie's hand showed the same: when she's distracted it's possible to beat her, though she can always reset things. In the sewers, the beekeeper's fate remained unknown. He wasn't sent outside the bubble, and his time inside was erased, so perhaps he'd been transformed. If the Swarm theories were true, that would be an amazing origin, since the villain mostly exists as a swarm of bees. Later Darcy and Woo share chips, and I hoped they'd hook up at some point.

My theory that Wanda's hex gave Monica her Photon powers

We'd wondered why we never saw the trailer clip of Monica being thrown out. Here it is, as the perspective switches back to Wanda, who erases time and sends Monica flying out of the dome. Monica's octagon earrings contrast with the hexagons, hammering home that she opposed the pocket dimension in some way.

My theory was that when Monica was hit with Wanda's powers and thrown out of the membrane, she gained her Photon abilities and would keep them. Much of Photon's power set, including changing appearance, had been demonstrated in this pocket dimension with the shifting time periods. It could be possible that Wanda's power and the reality merged into her, bringing her closer to her comic counterpart.

Why I saw Wanda as a victim rather than the villain

Outside, Monica says it's Wanda, but I thought that was a misdirect. Many things had been forced on Wanda, such as the sped up pregnancy and major plot points. After she throws Monica out, we see giraffe statues. Giraffes are born able to stand, unlike many animals, which hints at the hastiness of the twins' cycle and suggested to me that someone or something is subliminally influencing her.

She also sees Vision as he was when he died, which to me painted her as a victim of her own trauma rather than the big bad many people thought. In general, I feel villains have to be evil, whereas Wanda isn't; she's struggling with the despair of grief and has likely been manipulated. With five episodes left, I couldn't see the big reveal coming this early. The episode closes on Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix, hinting she may be running the show for a while. As it plays she picks up one of her kids, which to me symbolized the theory that Mephisto wants to take over their bodies.

The Wonder Man leak and the theory that Vision was Simon Williams

Disney itself posted an image from making the series, and Wonder Man is clearly in the background. Fans of the Vision and Scarlet Witch comic know he plays a pivotal part in that book, a story that was somewhat inspiring the events of the show. The Grim Reaper was featuring, and his brother is Simon Williams, Wonder Man. I'd heard many theories that the Vision we see might be Wonder Man, brought back by the Grim Reaper through his brother's body without knowing it. In the comics, Vision's mind was a duplicate of Wonder Man's brain, and this could be carried across, though we wouldn't know until it was revealed.

After investigating, I thought it lined up. Wonder Man has much of Vision's skill set but has super speed. Before this series Vision never moved that fast, and it seemed odd he suddenly could, when it would have been useful against Thanos's forces. Marvel may have been misleading us on purpose, though. We've all seen their fake trailer shots, and of the Hulk at the end of Infinity War I said, "you won't fool me again."

There were also leaked Young Avengers Funkos that seemed to show the team, including Wiccan and Speed in full costume, though I wasn't sure whether they were fan made. I'd long thought that when this reality collapsed, Vision would go with it, but the Wonder Man idea could be a way of keeping him around. Maybe he really was in Wonder Man's body and just didn't realize it yet.