Why the Music in WandaVision has been Screaming it was Agatha All Along
Breaking down the music chosen for WandaVision
If you are anything like me, you have been following the Marvel Cinematic Universe(MCU) for years and have been accustomed to scouring every detail of the movies and now Tv shows for easter eggs, references, and any and all possible clues as to where the next adventure will lead. And by now we have all liked to think we are as clever as Mr. Stark himself. Although Tony Stark may have ended the game, Wanda Maximoff is about to change it forever! Marvel’s new Disney+ series WandaVision has been jam packed with more hints and easter eggs than we can seem to keep up with, and with all the theories flying at us lately i still feel there are some details that go over our heads. From name drops, to furniture everything in the show is purposeful and feels like it will have greater meaning in the future, engaging fans like never before. But what if I told you that the show’s biggest clue to the show’s biggest question is given to us during the credits! No, I’m not talking about the Pietro, Rambaue post credit scene from episode 7. I am talking about a clue everyone missed as early as Episode 3, and let me tell you it might rock your world!
Who is the Villain?! A question plaguing watchers of the show since episode 1. Is it Dotti? Maybe as far as Sunday Brunches go. Is it Director Hayward? Well kinda, but for now he is as surface level as it gets, I mean who isn’t trying to develop weapons based on technology created directly or indirectly by the Avengers and their actions, fueled by the false perception that they were the only ones to lose something important to them, to try to use it against them only to fail? Lets see… oh Wanda! What a twist, the Magically Misunderstood “Little Sister” of the Avengers turned bad creating a villain that we hate to love, paralleling Loki a villain we love to hate. That’s what the show is about after all right? Wanda and Vision have always represented innocence on the Avengers team and with everything they have been forced to go through they are losing it creating a much darker universe. That is the hard truth fans of the Scarlet Witch were starting to come to terms with until “Pietro Maximoff” Wanda’s thought to be the deceased twin brother shows up at the end of Episode 5. This reveals that Wanda is NOT in full control of what goes on in Westview as she is just as confused as Vision when he arrives. In this 80’s themed episode it is becoming more clear that stranger things are afoot and in the 90’s themed episode to follow Pietro is turning out to have a more sinister motivation for paying his sis a visit, constantly undermining her parenting and provoking her emotionally almost every chance he gets. Things are leaning toward this person not being the real Pietro which also means we have finally found our Villain of the show. But if it isn’t Pietro then who is it? The very next episode answers that question as blatantly as possible complete with the reveal’s own theme song. Wanda and Vision’s seemingly helpful and jolly neighbor Agnus is actually named Agatha Harkness, and she tells Wanda that it has been her all along, proving that she isn’t the only magical being in Westview. But if you have been listening carefully, you might have already be on to that.
Despite Agatha’s theme song claiming that we didn’t see this coming, many casual fans have done their homework and have been suspecting Agnus’ true identity for a while now. The most popular theory pointing to her being Agatha Harkness all along, a 16th Century Witch who survived the Salem Witch trials, obsessed with the supernaturally powered children of Wanda and Vision. The show has yet to reveal Agatha’s true intentions but she has admitted to deceiving Wanda and her family as well as hiding her children from her. Making her a villain in burning red eyes of Wanda. All of the information the show offers us about Agatha comes in the form of song, and if you have been paying attention, it isn’t the only song in the show that has pointed directly to the presence of Agatha Harkness. While ranting and reeling from the end of every episode most fans paid no mind to Jimmy Hendrix “Voodoo Child” blaring through their Tv as the Credits rolled in episode 3. It is important to note that both Agatha’s song and Voodoo Child are the only two songs to come at the end of an episode. They are meant to leave a lasting impression.
Fans, who did however, most likely deduced a surface level interpretation of it’s lyrics, voodoo being a means to control people and Wanda controlling people in Westview. And while this interpretation does make sense, digging deeper into its meaning reveals so much more. Firstly, Voodoo is old, in fact one of the most ancient forms of magic known to date, originating in Africa and surfacing in America in the 17th century, after the Salem Witch Trials. Second, Voodoo is far from passive, it is torture, mental yes, but more traditionally physical. This doesn’t fit at all with Wanda’s character. She actively avoids harming people like a true Hero, and there are many examples of this throughout her time in the MCU and plenty specifically in WandaVision. When she does hurt people it is accidental and is met with remorse ,guilt and grief. And if it is done purposeful it is with damn good reason *cough* Thanos *cough*. She may be a crazy witch but Voodoo isn’t her style in the slightest. But to Agatha, a more archaic witch who has survived being burned at the stake, voodoo seems like second nature. Lastly, in the comic books, Agatha isn’t necessarily a Villain at all, in reality she cares for the Child or Reid Richards and Sue Storm or the Fantastic 4, and later becomes the mentor and Teacher of Wanda Maximoff, showing her how to control and even master more powerful forms of magic. Parenting her in a way her father Magneto never could. When it comes to the MCU, Wanda as of now has no parents, there are no X-Men or Mutants, the parents she had are dead and she has lost that very crucial guidance she so desperately needs in her life. Right now, Wanda sees Agatha as the villain but I believe in time Wanda and the audience will see that Agatha is here to help, making Wanda the Child of Voodoo, teach her to master her abilities and become the Scarlet Witch. A witch that many people in the MCU already see her as and fear, wishing to burn at the stake as they once tried to do to Agatha Harkness centuries ago. Everything in these movies and now shows are meaningful and when you understand the true meaning of the 70’s song they chose, much more of the plot becomes clear making Marvel’s vision more focused.
