WandaVision Finale Q&A: White Vision, Doctor Strange's Absence and Ralph's Powers

The WandaVision series finale left plenty of questions about White Vision, Doctor Strange's absence, Ralph and Señor Scratchy. Erik Voss and Jessica Clemons answered listener questions the morning the finale arrived, and the conclusion was that the show muddled some of its fan service but kept its heart intact. Spoilers for the season finale follow.

Vision may have run out of time, or chosen to let White Vision go

The first question was why Vision did not tell Wanda he had uploaded his memories into White Vision. Jessica's answer was that he probably did not have time. The Hex wall was rushing in, his kids were asleep and about to vanish, and he had seconds to tell his wife how he felt. Realistically, she said, he probably should have told her that another Vision was out there with his memories.

Erik took it further. Giving White Vision the memories felt like a callback to Age of Ultron, when Vision grabbed Ultron's head and his mind glowed from blue to orange. Erik thinks Vision kept quiet because he didn't want to interfere with this new Vision's journey. He understood that White Vision needed to move forward without being held back by the Scarlet Witch.

Jessica also thinks White Vision still has questions about himself as a robot. She suggested he probably went back to S.W.O.R.D. to learn why he was a corpse used as an asset, or perhaps to Stark Industries. He cannot jump through realities the way Wanda can, so he is stuck on Earth. She does not think loving Wanda is still an emotion for him: he got the memories, not the feelings.

The ship of Theseus and Wanda's "I can't feel you" point to two separate Visions

Erik pointed to Wanda's line telling Vision he is the part of the Mind Stone that exists in her. White Vision doesn't have that link. He is the physical form of Vision's corpse, and when Wanda put her hand over him at S.W.O.R.D. headquarters she said she couldn't feel him. That, Erik thinks, is why Vision let White Vision go on his own path.

The two Visions also discussed the ship of Theseus, the philosophical argument presented by ancient Greek philosophers about whether something is still what it was once its pieces are swapped out. Underneath it, Erik said, is a question of where identity and the soul sit: in the head, the heart, or throughout the body, especially for someone who has been taken apart the way Vision has. The answer the show seems to land on is that both Visions carry the essence, and Vision himself pointed to memory.

Jessica found the idea sad. If Wanda ever meets White Vision again and tells him she still loves him, he may not share those feelings.

White Vision could become the MCU's philosopher

Erik thinks White Vision's destiny might be to serve as a mentor figure to the Young Avengers. He might disappear for a while, or pop up at the very end of something as a cameo. Either way, Erik believes the MCU is getting back to the version of Vision seen at the end of Age of Ultron, a being of pure philosophy.

Erik loved Vision's debate with Ultron in that film, especially the line about something not being great just because it lasts. The ship of Theseus conversation reminded him of it. He said he can't wait to see Vision as the philosopher in chief of the MCU, because "paul bettany does it so well."

Doctor Strange's absence was a story choice that does not fully add up

The next listener asked, in stronger language, why Doctor Strange never showed up. One answer offered was that Strange is busy with something much bigger, a problem that could swallow the world, while Wanda was only swallowing a small New Jersey town. There was also a joke that Strange simply hates New Jersey.

The other answer was budget: Marvel perhaps didn't want to pay Benedict Cumberbatch to appear. The question extends to every Avenger, including Hulk. The thinking is that bringing in other heroes would overshadow Wanda and Vision's story. It's a story choice, but it was acknowledged that it doesn't make sense for a threat this big. The Hex only covered Westview, a town far smaller than New York, which was described as not a good excuse.

Hayward made it sound as though he covered the whole thing up, but Agatha sensed the Hex and floated right over. As Sorcerer Supreme, Strange should have sensed it too, and Wong should at least have checked in. That led to a debate over whether Strange could beat Agatha. Jessica argued that Agatha has street knowledge from living with magic for hundreds of years, while Strange is a surgeon who learned from books. She made the same argument earlier about Wanda, who was born with her power, beating Strange.

Ralph is probably just Ralph, and the FBI setup was thin

Asked whether Ralph was the missing person and whether that was even his real name, Erik said he had to put Mephisto to bed for now. The show could not have been clearer about how uninterested it was in Ralph and Evan Peters going forward. He doesn't think Ralph is a missing person, because the show would have spelled that out.

Erik also finds it weird for a young actor to be in federal witness protection. People in that program are told to avoid media and even sporting events in case they end up on the jumbotron, so they wouldn't be printing headshots. His read is that Agatha invaded Ralph's home and made him her husband, and there is nothing more to it.

The missing witness Jimmy Woo was looking for, in this view, was only a way to get the FBI involved, since the bureau handles missing persons. Erik said the writing on the show overall has been amazing, but he thinks this was poorly thought out, because it would have been easy to address in the finale and it wasn't. The mystery of who Jimmy was calling seems to be just an FBI friend. There was some lingering wondering about Dennis the mailman, who got so many lines, since the post office is a federal agency, but neither expects there to be more to it.

What we want from Wanda next: mutants and empathy

When asked what they want most from Wanda in the future, Erik said he wants her to be the one who establishes mutants, ideally through a House of M style event. He noted a speculative report that Marvel might be working on a title called The Mutants. It came from one of the scoopers, who, he said, conveniently post things hours before a big Marvel title arrives, when it will blow up most on social media. That's why he doesn't trust most of them.

On an emotional level, Erik wants Wanda not to be an outright villain but a figure who teaches the MCU how to feel. He thinks WandaVision was "so good at that," embracing empathy and emotional grief, and he wants Wanda to lead more of it.

Jessica agreed in part, but she wants the "no more mutants" line, or something close to it. In her mind, Wanda can't be a villain without getting rid of something in order to say it. She also wants the X-Men badly but worried it now seems less likely, or that Marvel will shove them in all at once. She suspects Kevin Feige will slide them in once something is green lit.

Mutants should arrive one at a time

Erik said he could be totally wrong and doesn't know what sources the scoopers claim to have, but he would be surprised if Marvel made a title called The Mutants. He thinks Marvel would go one character at a time, starting with Cyclops, Wolverine or Professor X, giving them solo time before bringing them together as a team.

Jessica agreed: treat them like the Avengers and give each their own story, without worrying about taking attention from Falcon, Bucky, Shuri or Spider-Man. She wants new X-Men too, and pleaded for Darwin to finally get a storyline of his own.

Erik's fallback theory, which he admits people hate, is that the easiest route narratively is to suggest mutants have been there the whole time. Jessica agreed Marvel can't go in all guns blazing and will need to trickle it in slowly.

Señor Scratchy was a loose thread that got too much screen time

Our theory about the rabbit went out the window, since it never showed up in the finale. The best answer offered was that Señor Scratchy is the MCU's version of Agatha's comics cat, Ebony, made into a rabbit perhaps to throw fans off the scent.

The frustration is that the show brought the rabbit back again and again, including a close-up in Agatha's origin story in episode eight, and then did nothing with it. Jessica said it's exactly how she feels about the mailman. As a media studies kid, she reads too many close-ups and lines as a sign that something matters.

Not every detail is an Easter egg, and this is nothing like Game of Thrones

Erik explained that he calls his finds details because not all of them are Easter eggs. Some are filmmaking choices, like the episode six effects shot of a woman putting up decorations, where a split screen with her husband changed the syncing of time to create unease. The ship of Theseus and a red lighting filter fit the same category: signs of craft, not pointers to a character's arrival.

Erik admitted that we connect dots the writers never intended, and that's on us. Still, he said, there is a responsibility for the director and writer to understand how an audience will interpret things, and casting Evan Peters invited a reaction from Marvel fans.

That doesn't make this a Game of Thrones situation. That show forgot who Daenerys, Jon Snow and Tyrion were, even if Erik doesn't mind Bran ending up king. WandaVision kept Wanda's character journey as a priority. In Erik's view, the show stuck the landing on that front, and muddling some fan service is forgivable because it kept its heart true.

Ralph's necklace powers were weirdly underwritten

The final question was how Ralph used Quicksilver's powers. The inference is that Agatha's necklace gave them to him. Erik finds that interesting because it implies she can give her minions powers, which raises the question of why she didn't give Herb invisibility or lasers, or arm all of Westview against Wanda. The speedster gimmick seemed meant to convince Wanda this was Pietro, who was played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

Erik called Ralph's rules one of the weirdly underwritten parts of the show. Even if the role had gone to another sitcom actor like Zach Woods, viewers would still be confused about how the necklace works. The casting was a nod to fans and the Fox universe, and it was intended as a joke.

Erik thinks WandaVision was never intended to be the first Phase Four title. Coming after the longest gap between projects since Phase One, he doesn't think Marvel could have understood how ravenously fans would devour it, though he would argue they should have expected more, given how long fans have waited to see Feige reboot the X-Men. Even so, he doesn't think it was disastrous for the MCU by any means. He still loves the show, and he thinks it gave far more to the MCU than it took.