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Why WandaVision didn't feature Mephisto or Magneto

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The real villain was grief all along

WandaVision episode 9
(Image credit: Marvel/Disney)

Spoilers for WandaVision follow.

Now WandaVision has ended, Marvel is finally opening up about the volley of fan theories that followed every episode of the Disney Plus TV show. Head writer Jac Schaeffer has now responded to a couple of them, explaining that the show's real antagonist was Wanda's grief.

The writer admitted that she was affected by the number of theories doing the rounds, but felt confident this was the right approach to the show.

"But as far as the sum total of the series, I didn't want to break any promises, and I don't feel that we ever promised some big male bad," Schaeffer told THR. "It's baked in that the ultimate antagonist of the show is grief, and that Agatha [Harkness] is the external antagonist.

"So as far as those theories, I got a little nervous, but even at this point, I don't want Mephisto or Magneto. As a viewer, that's not what I would want out of this series."

Whether intentionally or not, the lack of an obvious villain hiding in plain sight in WandaVision opened the door to theories about Mephisto, who is essentially the Marvel Comics version of the devil. X-Men villain Magneto, meanwhile, has been Wanda's father in many of the Marvel comics.

Still, Agatha Harkness felt like the right fit for this sort of show, and introducing the idea of the Scarlet Witch felt like enough Marvel lore for one TV show. 

Fan theories are part of the fun

In these cases, the fan theories were dead wrong – but it sure was fun to go down those rabbit holes as the show released each week. Marvel itself is guilty of setting up a fake mystery in Evan Peters' casting as Pietro / Quicksilver, given he played the character in numerous X-Men films.

Anyway, as has been pointed out numerous times, get ready for loads more of this next week when The Falcon and the Winter Soldier begins. According to one actor on that series, the show will have even "bigger" theories. 

Oh, goodie. 

Samuel Roberts
Samuel Roberts

Samuel is a PR Manager at game developer Frontier. Formerly TechRadar's Senior Entertainment Editor, he's an expert in Marvel, Star Wars, Netflix shows and general streaming stuff. Before his stint at TechRadar, he spent six years at PC Gamer. Samuel is also the co-host of the popular Back Page podcast, in which he details the trials and tribulations of being a games magazine editor – and attempts to justify his impulsive eBay games buying binges.