WandaVision Episode 5 Theories Explained

This article contains WandaVision spoilers.

It’s very weird and more than a little thrilling to see some of the fan theories that we’ve previously collected actually play out on WandaVision, but of course there are still four episodes of Marvel’s rollercoaster spinoff series left to go, and this week we’re bringing you all the most compelling theories gaining traction online to help pass the time until the sixth episode drops.

At this point, many of the theories surrounding WandaVision’s bigger story are less outlandish. Every week a little more of the puzzle is revealed, and every week we get a little more background on what our central characters have been up to since the climax of Avengers: Endgame, which in turn brings us a lot closer to them.

Not only does this feel fairly organic, it’s also testament to how much we’re genuinely rooting for Wanda’s happiness now. We all want this to turn out well for her, and for her to be allowed to process her grief properly, even as things start to fall apart and the Westview cracks start to show.

Here are some of the biggest theories doing the rounds since episode 5 needle-dropped its MCU-breaking reveal…

Stark Warning

It didn’t take long for Marvel fans to uncover the origin of the ’80s drone tech Monica Rambeau managed to grab so that SWORD could penetrate The Hex in their attempt to reason with Wanda.

After being disabled and dragged outside the mystical forcefield, the drone was exposed as the product of Stark Industries – and if you recall Wanda’s emotional story of how she and Pietro were trapped waiting for a Stark bomb to go off when they were children (as recounted in Avengers: Age of Ultron), it’s no wonder she was so pissed to see a weaponized Stark drone appear in Westview.

It’s not massively surprising that Howard Stark and his team were working on that kinda drone tech in the ’80s, but how was Monica able to get hold of it so quickly? The answer appears clear – SWORD managed to keep a bunch of easily-accessible clout that has either been inherited through SHIELD or lifted from Tony’s warehoused tech. What else do they have access to, and do they also have a new resource on hand inside SWORD – or at Stark Industries – who could end up being essential to the MCU?

The main theory here is that these lingering Stark tech questions could set up Armor Wars, Don Cheadle’s War Machine spinoff. It’s feasible – the Disney+ series is thought to follow James Rhodes as he tries to stop Tony Stark’s old tech falling into the wrong hands.

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 8

Engage Ultron

Is it possible that when Wanda snatched Vision’s body from SWORD and brought him back to life that she accidentally set in motion (or interrupted) a chain of events that would bring back Ultron?

There are a LOT of questions lingering about exactly what SWORD was doing with Vision’s body before Wanda hit the scene and disturbed their work. Were they really about to put him in storage as per his wishes, or were they lowkey doing some pretty dangerous experiments with the original Ultron tech Tony Stark built him with?

This theory is a work in progress for fans who aren’t really sure how Ultron could return without access to the Mind Stone. Still, there’s a solid reason that so many people are checking out James Spader’s IMDb page every week…

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 7

Quicksilvered

You can’t throw an Infinity Stone online without hitting a theory about how notorious Marvel villain Mephisto will ultimately be unveiled as the real brains behind Westview’s manifestations, and many fans are deeply suspicious of Evan Peters’ arrival as Wanda’s twin brother, Pietro.

Peters, who played ‘Peter’ Maximoff in the X-Men franchise, has seemingly been cast in WandaVision instead of the MCU’s original Quicksilver, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, but does this really mean that realities are colliding and mutants are now here to stay?

Though it’s exciting to think that’s exactly what’s going down here, Pietro’s appearance in Westview feels hastily designed to derail both Wanda and Vision, and who might have a more vested interest in keeping this charade going other than Mephisto? He does absolutely love pretending to be dead people to manipulate Marvel superheroes and villains alike, and his Wrong Quicksilver guise might well keep us off the trail.

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 5

For the Children

Vision wants to know why Billy and Tommy are the only children in Westview, but if you’ve watched trailers that show us glimpses of WandaVision‘s upcoming Halloween episode – where Wanda and Vision finally get to wear their comics-accurate costumes – you may have noticed that Vision is surrounded by children trick-or-treating through the town.

It appears the “no children” situation is about to be fixed posthaste, but there are still indications that children are very much a liability inside The Hex. During episode 5, Agnes says that children can’t be controlled, and Wanda appears perplexed and a little infuriated that her own kids are immune to the effects of her powers.

Putting that aside, where have the children of Westview gone? And why have they been removed from the equation? Are they being held captive because they would see straight through Wanda’s perfect white picket fence life and be utterly terrified that their parents are acting weird as hell?

Some fans are wondering if there’s an even more nefarious reason for their disappearance – perhaps someone or something is using their lifeforce to grow powerful inside the womb of The Hex. A certain red-faced demon? Mmmaybe not, but there is some worrying Age of Ultron foreshadowing for Billy and Tommy’s sudden existence…

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 5

Recap Rewind

Are the “previously on WandaVision” recaps actually all part of the illusion? This meta theory began in earnest after episode 5’s recap when we saw a new version of Wanda explaining to Vision why Monica Rambeau had vanished.

When this scene played out at the end of episode 4, Wanda expelled Monica from The Hex and told her special red popsicle that ‘Geraldine’ was simply no longer around because “she had to rush home”, but in episode 5’s opening recap Wanda’s words had changed to “she doesn’t belong here.”

It’s worth noting that the show’s recaps are always introduced in Elizabeth Olsen’s voice, and this particular alteration is certainly very curious.

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 5

Hail Hayward

As soon as we clapped eyes on new SWORD director Tyler Hayward, we instinctively knew he was going to turn out to be a wrongun, and our fears were justified when he immediately hijacked Monica’s plan to reason with Wanda using an old Stark drone.

Yes, that git really strapped a missile to it and ordered his men to take the shot. He must have been snacking on the wrong local mushrooms when he came up with that plan – sir, Wanda Maximoff almost took down Thanos, are you for real?

So, is Hayward just a misguided military man with absolutely no concept of how powerful Wanda is or how quick her reflexes are, or was he deliberately trying to make her mad to destabilize the situation? Is he just another in a long line of confident, strong-jawed men who have risen to the top of government oversight organizations in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who later turn out to be working for HYDRA?

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 4

Get Stoned

The theory that all of this comes back to the Mind Stone has been around since the very first episode of WandaVision started streaming, but it’s only grown in popularity every time Vision has done something extraordinary in the show. It’s hard to argue with the notion that Vision’s head bling isn’t just for decoration here – he’s able to use the powers of the Mind Stone in Westview to expose the town’s secrets when Wanda isn’t around, ergo the stone itself might be a very real presence.

But if the Infinity Stone is there, how has it returned? As revealed in Avengers: Endgame, Thanos reduced his version of it down to the atomic level far away from Earth, and Cap took the stolen Scepter containing the Mind Stone to its rightful place in 2012, presumably to deliver it back into the hands of HYDRA, who would go on to perform experiments with it that enhanced Wanda and Pietro Maximoff before it was used to create Ultron and Vision. But did all go as planned or did the Mind Stone fall into the grasp of someone else, creating a branch reality that Wanda (or someone else) was able to exploit?

Another theory also posits that since destroying it at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Wanda has become the living embodiment of the Mind Stone, which is why her powers seem to have increased exponentially. Hmm.

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 2

Watch Next

The first time an episode of WandaVision finished and Disney+ suggested we watch Avengers: Age of Ultron, no one paid it too much attention. After the second, third, fourth, and fifth time it happened, it became an amusing meme on social media. But what if there’s a very good reason that Marvel is so keen for us to re-watch the film again 5+ years after its release?

Tons of people caught up in the intriguing events of the spinoff series are now choosing to go back and mine the Marvel blockbuster for clues, wondering if everything we really need to know about the truth of the story is right there for the taking.

We re-watched Age of Ultron ourselves, once in preparation for WandaVision and again halfway through to see if it changed the way we viewed the events of the movie. It definitely seems to have taken on a new depth, and the Avengers’ chatter about humanity’s doomed future rings clearer.

Thor’s random vision quest, where he skipped out on the plot to go take an underwater peek into the future, also feels more essential. Okay, yes, there’s Heimdall’s assertion that Thor would lead them all “into Hell” – another possible hint that Mephisto is on the horizon – but there’s also that dire warning from Thor upon his return.

He says he saw “a whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its center, the Mind Stone.” Was this really a reflection of Ultron’s plans for it, or was it setting the stage for WandaVision‘s finale?

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 1

Have you heard any juicy new theories about WandaVision after last week’s episode? Let us know in the comments.