The first-ever Marvel Studios television production on Disney+, WandaVision started out as a slow,
occasionally creepy burn.
Episode 1 brought viewers into the black-and-white world of Westview, what appeared to be a picture-perfect
portrait of suburban bliss, with Wanda Maximoff and her synthezoid husband Vision at the center
of it all.
Playing on tropes and aesthetics found in sitcoms through the decades, WandaVision at
first appeared to be an antics-of-the-week show about an unlikely couple, their nosy
neighbor, their community, and their co-workers.
Something clearly wasn't right, though: Vision died back in Avengers: Infinity War; Wanda
wasn't even alive in the '50s, '60s, or '70s; S.W.O.R.D. has started an investigation into
Westview because its residents are real people who've gone missing; and the person closest
to Wanda and Vision in this world isn't who she seems.
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe's newest and strangest production has inched closer
and closer to its endgame, things have become slightly more conventional — though by no
means less impactful. WandaVision episode 8, entitled "Previously On," finally gives
fans some answers, courtesy of recently revealed "magical girl" Agatha Harkness and her quest
to get to the bottom of Wanda's absurd power set.
WandaVision episode 8 also explains to viewers that Wanda is actually an ultra-powerful entity
that Agatha dubs the Scarlet Witch. Oh, and we also find out that Wanda actually never
stole Vision's dead body, contrary to what S.W.O.R.D. Director Tyler Hayward claimed
in a previous episode.
"Nine days ago, Maximoff stormed our facility, stole the Vision's body, and resurrected him."
The version of Vision we've seen so far has been Wanda's own magical creation, which likely
explains why he had trouble leaving the Hex in episode 6.
But episode 8 has another, arguably even more shocking color-coded surprise at the very
end by revealing the mysterious project S.W.O.R.D. has been working on. Director Hayward and
his crew have managed to rebuild the original Vision's corpse, and the episode ends with
this new, eerily white version reactivating.
White Vision has a robust history in the Marvel comics. He's basically a resurrected Vision,
without any of the things that actually make him Vision. Sure, he looks mostly the same,
and has the same powers. However, much like his color, his emotions and innate goodness
are ... gone. Essentially, he's what Director Hayward claims Vision is and what he thinks
the synthezoid should be: a weapon.
Comic book readers first saw Vision in white in the 1989 "Vision Quest" storyline of Avengers
West Coast.
In the comic run, Hank Pym is the one who rebuilds Vision after Mockingbird betrays
Vision and the Avengers by aiding in the abduction of Vision. Once Vision is captured, his body
is dismantled. Scarlet Witch ends up seeing Vision all broken apart and splayed out before
Pym rebuilds him.
The caveats that crop up during the reassembling process are twofold: Vision's red exterior
was too damaged to be restored, so he's now ghostly white; and his mind, originally crafted
in the comics by using brainwaves from Wonder Man, has been wiped, leaving him without the
same mind or memories that he once possessed.
The new Vision that boots up isn't the same one that his fellow heroes know and love.
He's all android, no humanity. This causes Scarlet Witch, who's Vision's wife at this
point just like in WandaVision, to plummet into a state of deep, dark sadness. At the
same time, Scarlet Witch also comes to find out "shocking revelations about her children"
— twin sons Billy and Tommy, who are part of WandaVision as well.
How White Vision comes to be in WandaVision is quite different, but the end result is
evidently the same. Director Hayward and his S.W.O.R.D. team have been rebuilding Vision
as part of "Project Cataract." In medical terms, a cataract occurs when proteins in
the lens of one's eye begin to break down, causing clouding that can make the affected
area of the lens look white. This results in blurred, foggy, or otherwise distorted
vision. Pretty on-the-nose for what's happening with the character Vision in the show, right?
Considering that the whole driving force of WandaVision is Wanda's deep love for Vision
and her even deeper grief after losing him, one can probably assume that encountering
her lost love's emotionless, reanimated monochrome corpse will be a bad time for everyone involved.
It remains to be seen how the show plans to deal with this, but considering how good WandaVision
is at pulling the viewers' heartstrings, it's probably safe to assume that episode 9 will
be a massive emotional gut punch.
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