***Spoilers Ahead for “WandaVision” Episode 9***
The finale of “WandaVision” had one of the loftiest tasks of any finale. This show became so popular among diehard fans and casual fans alike, and as a result, theories and speculation swarmed over the course of the show.
While this is great for the show in terms of excitement and fan engagement, it resulted in inevitable disappointment in the final episode.
This episode was by no means my favorite of the series. In fact, I would put this episode toward the bottom of the series. That being said, it still had a lot of aspects which were enjoyable, and it piqued the excitement for the future of the MCU.
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I do not want this to be too negative of a review, so I figured I would start with some of this episode’s high points. The first being the fight and subsequent resolution between the two Visions. A point of contention among fans of “WandaVision” has been the lack of action in the series. The fight between Wanda’s Vision and the White Vision did a decent enough job of scratching that itch, but I was pleased when it did not end with one of them simply destroying the other.
I’m sure many people will find their discussion of the ship of Theseus to be corny or lazy, but I actually found it quite engaging. Vision has always been a character who enjoys a thought-provoking discussion. Think back to his discussion of the Avengers’ effects on the world in “Captain America: Civil War.” So, for this conflict to be resolved intellectually felt appropriate and effective. We do not see White Vision after this scene, but I am sure we will see him in the MCU in the not-too-distant future.
Another pro of this episode was Scarlet Witch’s true comic book costume making an appearance. There had been nods to it throughout the films — mostly Wanda just wearing red — but to see a true adaptation of her costume capped off the show’s exploration of her character in a striking, physical manner.
The biggest positive from the show’s ending was the manner in which Wanda imprisoned Agatha. Marvel has been plagued by the “Villain Problem.” More often than not, a villain shows up with a less than stellar motivation and is killed off by the film’s end. Notable exceptions include Loki, Vulture and Thanos (for a time).
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But Agatha is kept detained in Westview. This leaves an opportunity for her to return in future magical installments of the MCU and possibly train Wanda, as her comic book counterpart is known to do. Perhaps we will see her in just over a year when “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” comes to theaters March 25th, 2022.
Now, to the aspects of the finale I found less than ideal. The first is its absolutely uninspired final conflict. This show has been undoubtedly the most original project Marvel has released in recent memory. It stood apart from the MCU and still managed to become incredibly successful.
But the final battle between Agatha and Wanda was dreadfully dull. The best part about magic is it can be so visually exciting, and that was not the case here.
Doctor Strange’s fight against Thanos in “Avengers: Infinity War” is one of the best and most visually spectacular fight scenes in the MCU, but in the finale of “WandaVision”, when we see a master of witchcraft fight a mythological sorcerer made out of chaos magic, all they did was throw little balls of red and purple energy at each other. Hopefully, the post-credits scene showing her studying the mystic arts is indicative of more interesting magic down the line.
The biggest mistake of this series was the inclusion of Evan Peters. I am sure the producers thought it would be a great misdirect to have him play the fake Pietro, and it definitely was. No one expected him to be entirely inconsequential to the finale of this series and to be played off as a boner joke. What a twist.
I know fan service is not the point of these movies, but bringing a beloved character from the X-Men movies into a series about magic which was confirmed to lead into a movie about the multiverse and not having him be said character might be the biggest missed opportunity in Marvel history.
I truly hope they find a way to resolve or retcon this in the future, but I was absolutely dumbfounded when this episode ended without so much as a hint of Ralph’s significance to the story.
So, was this my favorite episode? No. Not by a long shot. But I think it was a satisfying enough conclusion for an otherwise outstanding series. Let’s hope Marvel Studios and Disney Plus can keep up the same level of quality for “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “Loki.“
Season 1 of “WandaVision” is streaming exclusively on Disney Plus.
