- "It's been fun playing pretend for a while, hasn't it, Wanda? But it's time to look at some real reruns."
- ―Agatha Harkness to Wanda Maximoff
Previously On is the eighth episode of the first season of WandaVision.
Synopsis[]
Wanda embarks on a troubling journey revisiting her past for insight into her present and future.
Plot[]
Agatha Harkness faces her execution
In 1693 Salem, Agatha Harkness is set to be executed by her mother and her coven for practicing dark witchcraft. But as they attempt to drain her life force, she reverses the effect and kills them all before fleeing.
Back in the present day, Wanda Maximoff attacks Harkness, but finds her magic nullified by the presence of protection runes cast in the basement. Harkness taunts her for convincing herself that the impostor Pietro was her real deceased brother in her grief, allowing the witch to get closer to her. She also reveals her fascination with the Westview Anomaly Maximoff had created, which involves simultaneous mass usage of mind control and transmutation over an expansive radius.
Wanda Maximoff revisits her tragic upbringing
Wanting to learn the origin of Maximoff's incredible magical abilities, Harkness opens a door to the past; 1999 Sokovia, when the Maximoff family gather to watch Wanda's favorite sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show. The idyllic suburban life featured in the show was what she enjoyed in contrast to the violence of a war occurring outside. But in the middle of their binge, the Maximoff parents are killed when their house is bombed by weapons made by Stark Industries. One Stark bomb lands in front of Wanda and Pietro, which appears to be defective when it fails to explode after two days. Harkness suggests Wanda had used her latent magic to cast a probability hex and neutralize the weapon.
A view into destiny
Their next stop is in 2014, at a facility where HYDRA was experimenting on various test subjects with the Mind Stone, usually with lethal results. But when the young Maximoff volunteers to enter the test chamber, the Mind Stone is drawn to her presence and explodes. In the blast, she sees an apparition of herself as a mythical being before collapsing; security footage is spliced to omit the explosion. Maximoff became the experiment's first survivor, and the Mind Stone's power amplified her abilities. Then, Harkness and Maximoff visit the Avengers Compound, where the latter and Vision would develop a blossoming romance spawned from their discussions about grief.
Maximoff fails to sense Vision
Finally, the two view Maximoff's arrival at S.W.O.R.D. Headquarters several days after attending Tony Stark's funeral, wanting to recover Vision's remains for a proper burial. She meets Tyler Hayward, who takes her to the operating room where Vision's corpse is being dismantled by S.W.O.R.D. personnel, much to her horror. Hayward also disallows her from retrieving the remains due to the valuation of Vision's vibranium body, leading Maximoff to break into the operating room and attempt to interact with her deceased lover. However, she is unable to feel him there, leading her to leave the facility without further incident. Driving to an empty lot purchased by her and Vision in Westview, Maximoff is overwhelmed with grief as she collapses to the ground in anguish, inadvertently unleashing a colossal amount of magic that manifests the house.
Maximoff unleashes Chaos Magic
Maximoff then releases a second wave of magic, which transforms Westview into a sitcom suburb, form a barrier to isolate the town from the world, and create a new Vision out of thin air. As Maximoff sees herself settling with her Vision in her idyllic paradise, she also finds herself in a studio with Harkness in the audience, who applauds her before vanishing. Soon, Maximoff hears the cries of her children Billy and Tommy outside and discovers that Harkness had taken them hostage. Having deduced Maximoff's abilities as a manifestation of Chaos Magic, Harkness scolds her for using her powers for mundane purposes and informs her that she is the mythical Scarlet Witch.
A new Vision awakens
Back at the S.W.O.R.D. base, Hayward activates White Vision: a successful reconstruction of the original Vision's body using Maximoff's chaos magic siphoned from the drone she had destroyed.
Cast[]
Main Cast:
- Paul Bettany as Vision / Vision / White Vision
- Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff
- Debra Jo Rupp as Sharon Davis
- Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness
Guest Stars:
- Julian Hilliard as Billy Maximoff
- Jett Klyne as Tommy Maximoff
- Josh Stamberg as Director Tyler Hayward
- David Payton as John Collins
- David Lengel as Harold Proctor
- Amos Glick as Pizza Delivery Guy
- Selena Anduze as Agent Rodriguez
- Kate Forbes as Evanora Harkness
- Ilana Kohanchi as Iryna Maximoff
- Daniyar as Olek Maximoff
- Michaela Russell as Young Wanda Maximoff
- Gabriel Gurevich as Young Pietro Maximoff
- Hans Obma as HYDRA Scientist
- Stephen Goldbach as HYDRA Tech
- Aaron Gillespie as Security Guard
- Bobby James as DeMarco (uncredited)
- Stacey Carino Marcus as Witch (uncredited)
- Jessica Medina as Witch (uncredited)
- Elizabeth Davidovich as Witch (uncredited)
- Nicole Reddinger as Witch (uncredited)
- Nadia Lorencz as Witch (uncredited)
- Jennifer Badger as Witch (uncredited)
- Rachel Hoffpauir as Witch (uncredited)
- Karin Justman as S.W.O.R.D. Technician (uncredited)
- Shauna Galligan as S.W.O.R.D. Technician (uncredited)
- Rick Marcus as S.W.O.R.D. Technician (uncredited)
- Mike Endoso as S.W.O.R.D. Technician (uncredited)
- Rob Mars as S.W.O.R.D. Technician / Soldier (uncredited)
- Alvin Chon as S.W.O.R.D. Technician (uncredited)
- Brian Collins as Soldier (uncredited)
- Matt Baker as Soldier (uncredited)
- Brian Avery as Soldier (uncredited)
- Vladimir Tevlovski as Soldier (uncredited)
- Anthony Molinari as Soldier (uncredited)
- Shane Berengue as Tactical S.W.O.R.D. Agent (uncredited)
- Adaeze C. Anane as Deceased Vision Scientist (uncredited)
Appearances[]
Locations[]
- Westview, New Jersey
- Agatha Harkness' House
- Vision Residence (vision)
- Hudson Diner (vision)
- Coronet (vision)
- New Jersey
- Salem, Massachusetts (flashback)
- Novi Grad, Sokovia (vision)
- Maximoff Residence (vision)
- HYDRA Research Base, Sokovia (vision)
- Avengers Compound, New York (vision)
- S.W.O.R.D. Headquarters, Florida (vision)
Events[]
- Westview Anomaly
- Trial of Agatha Harkness (flashback)
- Novi Grad Bombings (vision)
- Cold War (mentioned)
Items[]
- Vibranium
- Infinity Stones
- Mind Stone
- Scepter (vision)
- Mind Stone
- S.W.O.R.D. Drone
- Agatha Harkness' Locket
- Stark Industries Mortar Shell (vision)
- Fresh-O (poster; vision)
- Westview Dairy Milk (poster; vision)
- Lagos (poster; vision)
- Squeaky Shine (poster; vision)
- Who's the Boss?
- The Addams Family
- I Love Lucy
- I Dream of Jeannie
- Bewitched
- Malcolm in the Middle
- The Dick Van Dyke Show
- The Brady Bunch
- Big Red
- Kidnapped
Vehicles[]
Sentient Species[]
Creatures[]
Organizations[]
- S.W.O.R.D.
- Salemites (flashback)
- Sokovian Armed Forces (vision)
- Stark Industries (logo)
- HYDRA (vision)
- Avengers (vision)
- WHiH World News (vision)
- NY1 (vision)
- CUV (vision)
Mentioned[]
Music[]
| Song title | Artist | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|
| The Dick Van Dyke Show Theme | The Calvada Orchestra |
|
| The Nightmare Begins | APM Music | |
| The Avengers Theme | Alan Silvestri |
|
| Mermaid XXX | David Ralicke | Malcolm In The Middle on TV. (background)
|
| Duckie | Charles Sydnor | |
| I'm In | Charles Sydnor | |
| Dad's Under There | Charles Sydnor | |
| Be Right Back | Charles Sydnor | |
| Wanda's Theme | Christophe Beck |
|
Trivia[]
- The title of the episode is in reference to the statement said in recap sections of show, like "Previously on WandaVision".
- During the flashback to the day Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff lost their parents, one of the DVDs Olek had in his case was Malcolm in the Middle. But the flashback takes place in 1999, and Malcolm in the Middle did not start airing until January 9, 2000, so the series would not have been out on DVD yet. In addition, they also had DVD box sets of The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Love Lucy, The Addams Family, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Who's the Boss?, and The Brady Bunch. All of which were not yet released until throughout the 2000s so they should not have any of them at all.
- The episode retcons Avengers: Age of Ultron's description of the Novi Grad Bombings. According to the film, the Maximoffs were having dinner when the first shell hit making a hole on the floor, and that the whole building started coming apart; their parents died going into the hole for a failed rescue effort. In the episode, they were watching sitcoms when the first shell hit the ceiling and the twins' parents were buried under the rubble, dying instantly.
- The scene of Wanda coming across the disassembled remnants of Vision's body in the S.W.O.R.D. lab is taken from West Coast Avengers #43 into #44.
- In addition, the scene of Vision being dissected with his body stretched out across multiple tables is a direct nod to a panel from those comics.
- Vision being reactivated in a pure white body seen in the mid-credits scene is in reference to the comics, where Vision had a white form upon being resurrected.
