Who WandaVision's Real Villain? Mephisto Or Agatha?

While WandaVision has been careful to establish so far that Scarlet Witch is in control of Westview, the question of who the show's real villain urgently pressed right up until episode 7's huge reveal. Before that, on top of theories of who WandaVision's big cameo might be beyond Evan Peters' Quicksilver - and if it will be the real big bad - there was a significant amount of evidence suggesting that there's another presence manipulating things beyond Wanda's influence. The most compelling and persistent theory was that the hidden character could be Mephisto. In the end, it was revealed that Agnes was, as teased very early, Agatha Harkness all along.

Peters' appearance as the X-Men movie version of Quicksilver at the end of WandaVision episode 5 was a hugely shocking moment, particularly because of the possible ramifications with the MCU multiverse. While it didn't confirm the X-Men movies as canon in the MCU, there was a confirmation in the show's audio description that this Pietro is the same one from the Fox universe. How he got to Westview is the big question, and that was finally revealed - at least in part - by Agatha's twist reveal: he is a trick of her doing, designed to trick Wanda into believing he was her real brother. Quite who he was before that and whether he even exists is the real question.

Strangely, it was always clear that Quicksilver was not within Wanda's control. When he rang the doorbell to her and Vision's home, she was shocked and confirmed it was nothing to do with her. She's confused by Pietro's appearance, but she embraces him, seemingly recognizing him despite Vision not, which suggests that there is still a link between the two. Crucially, it also suggests that whatever enchantment has brought Pietro to Westview also involves duping Wanda into accepting Peters' version of the character as her brother, rather than Aaron Taylor-Johnson. This seemingly makes Wanda a target of some magical manipulation and not just the controller of Westview's altered reality and which in turn suggests the presence of another factor in this dynamic. Whether that's genuinely the multiverse Quicksilver, Mephisto, Nightmare or another supremely powerful MCU magical villain remains to be seen, for now.

Agatha Harkness Is The Real Villain... But What Is She Doing?

Kathryn Hahn as Agnes Agatha Harkness Agatha All Along WandaVision

WandaVision episode 7 revealed that Agnes had been Agatha Harkness all along. She was behind many of the moments designed to control both Wanda and Vision and brought Evan Peters' Pietro into the MCU too. The thinking behind that move is more difficult to follow as it destabilized Wanda's grasp on reality to the point that she began to question everything. That also led to Vision's attempted escape from Westview, which was presumably Agatha's plan all along, in order to get Wanda to expand the Hex. More fundamentally, Agatha's plan seems to be tied to making Wanda expand her powers but surrender her control of them, which the MCU has shown is the key to more powerful magical events.

The very end of the episode showed Monica discovering Agnes' basement and its strange purple vines, which appeared to be draining the magic from Westview. Could that be the key to explaining what Agatha is up to? In the comics, Agatha Harkness consumed her own familiar, Ebony, in order to boost her magical abilities and that could well tie into Agatha's plans for Wanda. The set-up of her basement suggested a magical ritual is on the cards in the next episode of WandaVision intended to either boost Agatha's powers even more or to open the doorways glimpsed briefly in her basement. The question now, of course, is where - or who - those doorways potentially lead to and what Agatha's plan beyond Westview looks like. And while Agatha is clearly the big bad of WandaVision at this point, there could be more to her plan that brings in another villain for elsewhere in the MCU's Phase Four.

Could Mephisto Still Be Behind WandaVision?

Mephisto smiles and bares his fangs in Marvel Comics.

While Agatha is clearly powerful, she is not entirely infallible. WandaVision has already established that Wanda is able to break Agatha's spell when she needs to, which doesn't seem to fit with Agatha's plan. She can leave the Westview bubble, after all, which would seem to be wildly at odds with Agatha's apparent plan to feed off her magic. Until it's clarified that Agatha intended for this to be possible - and why, more importantly - there will be questions over how far Agatha's powers extend. There's also the question of Vision's reanimation, which was presented as the result of Wanda's magic, but the fact that she cannot entirely control his free-will or his inquisitive nature is problematic. So too are the twins, who were shown to be able to operate outside of her influence and seemingly outside of Agatha's magic and control. Agatha allowing that to happen is odd and so too is the confirmation that Wanda cannot undo death, despite Vision's revival. Could there be a suggestion here that Agatha is working on behalf of someone else and isn't necessarily the god-like power she's presented as.

If that is the case, then the other malevolent influence could be Mephisto, who has been the source of lots of fan speculation throughout the series. In fact, the show has leaned into the idea that the MCU devil is behind everything secretly, which of course could be no more than a series of red herrings designed to hide Agatha's twist more cunningly. It would be uncharacteristic for Marvel to present so much leading evidence of Mephisto's involvement and then not to deliver on it, and there could still be an opportunity for the final episodes of WandaVision to tie Agatha's involvement to Mephisto in a similar way to how Kaecilius' villain plan in Doctor Strange was ultimately a gateway to Dormammu's involvement. Yes, it might devalue Agatha's reveal, but the playfulness of the series absolutely works as precedent to suggest Marvel don't mind that sort of unexpected pay-off. And if there is to be another major cameo in WandaVision, an actor of sufficient standing to play the MCU's take on the devil would definitely fit the billing.

Next: MCU Theory: Mephisto Is The Main Villain Of Phase 4