2020 has had quite a dearth of Marvel Studios releases, with a scheduled gap amplified by the coronavirus pandemic and its associated lockdowns. Fortunately, that is about to change, with Disney confirming WandaVision will stream on Disney+ in December, and Marvel releasing a stunning WandaVision trailer. Happily, the trailer clearly indicates the series is inspired by a classic comics story called House of M - here's how that played out in the comics.

All the evidence suggests Wanda Maximoff is going through some sort of nervous breakdown, creating a bubble reality around the town of Westview. This is apparently confirmed by a clever Easter egg teasing the House of M event, a comic book arc that saw something similar happen, albeit on a far grander scale - and with incredibly tragic consequences.

Related: WandaVision Trailer Breakdown: 23 Story Reveals and Secrets

Actress Elizabeth Olsen has long said she'd love to do a House of M story, literally name-dropping it in an interview back in 2018:

I would love to do... House of M, which is a comic book series of the Vision and Scarlet Witch having a make-believe family... Then they [Vision and her family] have to tell her that she was make-believing the entire time, and she has a very traumatic experience and screams, and kills all the mutants – but that’s an X-Men story so we’d have to adjust the ending.

The Build-Up To House of M

Scarlet Witch Powers Vertical

The story of House of M really begins in 2004, when Marvel decided to give writer Brian Bendis the keys to the Avengers franchise. Bendis intended to relaunch the Avengers, turning them into a team of A-list characters such as Wolverine and Spider-Man, but first he had to clear away the old guard. "I had this great, kick-ass idea about creating the Avengers disaster movie," Bendis recalled later in an interview with CBR, "where we would blow up the mansion and rip up the Vision." He recalled stories from the John Byrne era in which Scarlet Witch's reality manipulating powers had seemed to leave her mentally unstable, and decided to build on that by revealing Wanda Maximoff's mind had fragmented. She had gradually immersed herself in a false reality, rewriting the real world to ensure the deepest longings of her heart were fulfilled, and she lashed out at the Avengers when she felt threatened by them.

This was "Avengers Disassembled," a controversial story that took readers by surprise and led to expressions of outrage and fury. "Basically, I had come onto a book that wasn't my book, and I blew it all up," Bendis observed. "It was nothing different than walking onto a playground, going over to some tinker toy set and kicking it. I thought I was being awesome. I thought, 'Here's some awesome book I'd like to read,' but if you were enjoying the book the way it was, it was upsetting." In truth, Scarlet Witch's madness was just a plot device to disband the Avengers, and Bendis accomplished his purpose. But while on a phone call to Jeph Loeb, he found himself fielding a question he hadn't considered; what does Magneto do about all this? That question ultimately became "House of M," possibly the most important X-Men/Avengers stories of all time.

Related: What Makes Scarlet Witch The Strongest Marvel Hero

Scarlet Witch Unleashes The House Of M

House of M Scarlet Witch

House of M saw Scarlet Witch's insanity escalate to previously unimaginable levels. At the end of "Avengers Disassembled," Magneto had taken Wanda to the ruins of his mutant island Genosha for care. There, she was being treated by Charles Xavier, who was attempting to use his own psychic powers to treat her madness - and failing. Xavier assembled a meeting of the Avengers and the X-Men to discuss her fate, with several advocating putting her down before she did any more harm. Quicksilver, naturally, objected; he rescued his sister, and prompted her to create a new world, one where every hero's deepest desires were fulfilled.

There's only one problem with that idea; people's desires tend to conflict. Wanda focused on her relationship with Magneto, who at the time she believed to be her father. Thus the House of Magnus dominated this new reality, with mutants as the supreme global power. The concept was a fascinating one, because it allowed Marvel to shine a light upon the deepest secrets of their characters - Steve Rogers was allowed to age naturally, Peter Parker was with his true love Gwen Stacey, and Carol Danvers was the world's favorite superhero. But Wanda had enough semblance of control to introduce a flaw into her reality - a new character named Layla Miller, a teenager who was able to restore the memories of some of the world's superheroes. Outraged at the way they'd been manipulated, they confronted the leaders of the House of M, and Scarlet Witch restored reality, with only a handful of heroes - those who had participated in the final battle against Magneto's forces - remembering what had happened. Finally, she unleashed her greatest curse, "No more mutants," an act that depowered 98 percent of the world's mutants and rendered the mutant race almost extinct. She then vanished, and it would be years before Scarlet Witch returned.

Related: Mutants Join The MCU In House of M Movie Fan Poster

The Legacy of House of M

Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch

House of M was another controversial story at the time, but it is easily one of the most important comic book events of the 21st century. It was a best-seller, inspiring Marvel to begin a pattern of summer events that they continue to the present day. And it had a transformative effect on the X-Men line, with Cyclops battling to prevent the mutant race being rendered extinct. There was one problem with all this, though; how could Marvel possibly use Scarlet Witch as a hero again?

In 2010, writer Allan Heinberg was tasked with bringing Scarlet Witch back into play in the Avengers: Children's Crusade series, in which the Young Avengers Speed and Wiccan sought Wanda Maximoff out. He revealed she had been under the influence of a demonic entity during "Avengers Disassembled" and "House of M," a fairly neat way of absolving her of guilt. This has allowed Scarlet Witch to return to the Avengers. even if the X-Men books do still insist she's basically the devil.

It's going to be fascinating to see how the MCU adapts House of M in WandaVision and, most likely, in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is confirmed to feature Scarlet Witch as well. The MCU doesn't yet have any mutants, and many fans have speculated that Wanda may be poised to bring them into continuity. Whatever the answer, WandaVision's version of Scarlet Witch's breakdown will have to do a lot of work to be as influential as House of Mbut that doesn't mean it isn't possible.

Next: Doctor Strange 2 Theory: Scarlet Witch Is The Multiverse Madness

Sources: Metro UK, Comic Book Resources