Quicksilver: We Didn’t See That Coming!

Spoiler Alert: If anyone reading this has not seen the latest episode of WandaVision and do not want to be spoiled then click away!

With that out of the way, it’s time to go over the latest WTF moment in the Disney+ TV show WandaVision, which is the kickoff to Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The show stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany as the Avengers Wanda Maximoff and Vision. Unlike previous MCU incarnations the show was in a sitcom format but recent developments have revealed WandaVision to be much more than a comedy.

Apparently, Wanda has experienced some kind of emotional breakdown and used her powers to create an alternate reality in a New Jersey town called Westview where she lives a sitcom existence with her husband, Vision, complete with a laugh track. However, cracks have manifested in her reality as we are fed clues as to what is actually happening. Each question answered led to new questions including the shock reveal at the end of episode five of WandaVision called “On a Very Special Episode…”, which was a true head spinner.

In the MCU, Wanda’s superpowered brother Pietro aka Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) died during Avengers: Age of Ultron and Wanda is still mourning his death. But at the end of the episode Quicksilver shows up in her front door as her long-lost brother (complete with audience cheers at the revelation of the special guest star). The true shocker was that Quicksilver was not portrayed by Taylor-Johnson but by Evan Peters who played the same character in the Fox X-Men films, a completely different film universe unrelated to the MCU.

Needless to say, fans online are geeking out over Peters’ reprisal of Quicksilver because it now creates a link between the two film universes and is just a taste of what is to come with the MCU films. The next Spider-Man film will bring back several actors from the Sony Spider-Man films to reprise their roles and the sequel to Doctor Strange tells us that the sorcerer will be up to his ears with alternate realities by the sequel’s title, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, the crossing over of film universes actually began in the most recent Spider-Man film (Spider-Man: Far From Home), which showed J.K. Simmons reprising his role of J. Jonah Jameson from the Sony Spider-Man films.

Quicksilver’s appearance in WandaVision raised many questions such as is that actually the Quicksilver from the Fox X-Men films? He acted differently than the speedster featured in the last X-Men films. Or is that his personality has been supplanted by Wanda’s powers? In “On a Very Special Episode…” it was revealed that the townspeople in Westview had their true personalities supplanted by fictional characters to serve the comedic hijinks in Wanda’s sitcom reality.

Also, if this is the Fox X-Men Quicksilver then he is replacing the MCU version of Quicksilver because he is dead and Wanda clearly makes a point in the episode five that she cannot resurrect the dead. That contradicts the fact that Vision is alive in the Westview reality and she is aware that her husband is dead in the MCU. then again Vision is an artificial being so she may have been able to bring him back to “life” with her powers. Also, since the episode takes place in the 1980s, Quicksilver in the Fox X-Men films was alive during this time period and it would have been easier to transport him to the 80s setting of the Westview reality.

The special guest appearance of Quicksilver gives us hope that other Fox X-Men characters portrayed by the original actors may appear in the MCU. Olsen has said WandaVision will feature a surprise cameo on the level of Luke Skywalker/Mark Hamill appearing in The Mandalorian. Who could that be? Patrick Stewart as Professor X? Hugh Jackman as Wolverine? There were reports a year or so ago that those actors met with Marvel Studios for undisclosed reasons. Maybe it was to negotiate them returning? On the other hand, both actors made it clear they were done with their roles. Perhaps Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) will be the surprise. His breaking of the fourth wall would fit in well with the meta nature of WandaVision, if one thinks about it.

Of course, there could be another explanation and Quicksilver could be Mephisto in disguise or another hapless townsperson whose personality was altered to becoming Pietro, but not his appearance. In other words, Peters is playing a Westview resident forced to assume the Quicksilver personna and the fact that Peters is playing the person is just a nod and wink to viewers and fans. Still, the casting was a bonafide treat not just for MCU fans but for those fans of the Fox X-Men films who can take heart that those films have not been forgotten.