Written by Fawaz Qashat
SDSU Biology Major, 2021
WandaVision — Episode 3, “Now in Color,” dropped January 22, 2021 — was a major turning point in the show. We went from a light-hearted sitcom style episode to a full-on MCU scene towards the end which changed the style of the show in future episodes. Despite this dramatic shift, the references from the comics were still very prevalent in the episode. To start off, Wanda and Vision’s conversation with the doctor about the pregnancy is a reference to the comics when Wanda and Vision spent a majority of their comic series, Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985), by Steve Englehart, discussing the pregnancy. Wanda would talk to Vision about all the changes her body is going through, all the kicks she felt, and anything that had to do with the pregnancy.
Later on, Wanda and Vision’s debate about the name of the twins is a call back to that same comic series in which Wanda and Vision decide on the names of their children. In Vision and the Scarlet Witch #12, however, they name the babies after they are born, not beforehand. Even the names themselves, Billy and Tommy, are accurate to the comics!
The commercial this week was Hydra Soak. A blue soap in a square box which is a nod to the cosmic cube from the earlier movies of the MCU. In addition, it calls to mind Wanda’s origins with Hydra in Age of Ultron (2015). However, for all of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fans, they can recall Coulson discussing a blue Hydra soap that was used to brainwash people (“Identity and Change,” Season 4, Ep. 17, aired 11 April 2017). Could this be a nod to that same soap and possibly a future hint of the two worlds colliding? Only time will tell.
When Wanda is giving birth, she first has Tommy and does not know that there is a second boy on the way. This is directly referencing the comics where Wanda gives birth to Tommy first and Doctor Strange doesn’t realize that another baby is coming because he doesn’t show up in the ultrasound.
In this episode, Wanda experiences all the stages of her pregnancy in one episode. The Vision and the Scarlet Witch comic series was dedicated to having Wanda experience each stage of pregnancy month after month. This serial-format is where the comic medium has a special aspect that allows you to live with the characters in real time and be able to experience their life at the same time as yours. It allows you to develop a connection with the characters. Had you been reading this comic as it came out, you would have had to wait an entire year to see Wanda have the twins. It’s a fun experience to be able to connect with the comics in that way which is something that television shows and movies lack.
