WandaVision episode 5 review: “Marvel has blown the bloody doors off”

Warning: This WandaVision episode 5 review contains spoilers. If you have not watched the Disney Plus show yet, then bookmark this page and come back when you're all caught up...

WandaVision has finally had its Baby Yoda moment. There’s no denying that, despite the Marvel show being incredibly charming, the general response has been somewhat muted and lacking the same general fervor that erupted after the launch of The Mandalorian on Disney Plus. That’s not because WandaVision doesn’t lend itself to theories, and it certainly takes place with the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s just that the show has been lacking a singular big moment that suddenly rockets it into the social consciousness. Now it does.

We were expecting Wanda’s brother to reveal himself at some stage, with general consensus being that we see Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Quicksilver in a flashback. Nope. Marvel has blown the bloody doors off, bringing back Evan Peters from the X-Men movies. It’s a shocking, bold move that completely changes the fundamentals of the Marvel universe. 

“She’s recast Pietro?” asks Kat Dennings’ Darcy, but we know better. This is the moment when 21 years of Fox’s X-Men movies and over a decade of the MCU finally clash. And it’s entirely underplayed. Peters’ struts into the scene as a cliche American jock, making wise-cracks at a frozen Vision (“Who’s the popsicle?”) and acting like everything’s fine. It’s not fine. Not only are our collective minds blown by this gigantic crossover, but Wanda and Vision’s world has started imploding. 

The episode begins with the leading duo looking after their new-born children, with audience laughter over the top as they make funny asides. So far, so sitcom. Enter Kathryn Hahn’s nosey neighbor Agnes, who innocently (so it seems) wants to help with William and Billy. The broadcast is quickly interrupted as Agnes asks whether they should retake the scene following Vision’s fluffed lines. He looks bamboozled and Wanda, effectively gaslighting him, pretends nothing has happened.

Vision goes on to explore the possibility that things are not OK in WestView. He begins questioning everything – his home, his work, his wife – and the walls gradually begin to fall down. WandaVision has done an excellent job playing with television tropes, and seeing the credits come rolling down when Wanda wants the argument to end is a fun detail that exemplifies just how strange this show is.

Meanwhile, outside of Westview, the SWORD team are trying their hardest to get into the New Jersey town. There’s a lot of exposition, catching up non-Marvel aficionados with everything that’s happened so far to Wanda – though, to properly understand the avalanche of information, you need to have watched at least the main Avengers movies. Rambeau, Jimmy Woo, and Darcy make for a fun team, even though the storyline unfurling in the real world – that the head of SWORD is actually an ass and it’s up to Rambeau’s scooby squad to save the day – leaves me yearning to get back to Westview.

There is, however, one major interaction between the two worlds that’s worth talking about. Wanda emerges from Westview wearing her Avengers costume, looking intimidating and broken. SWORD’s acting director is right to be afraid, but the show’s writers are so obviously wanting us to side with Wanda – there’s no way she can be the real villain… right? Agnes and her mysterious husband, Ralph, certainly seem to have other intentions, and it can’t be a coincidence that Agnes is so interested in the Maximoff children and Vision’s so skeptical of her.

Of course, you can forget all that. For the next week, there’s only one thing that Marvel fans will be talking and talking (and talking) about, and that’s Evan Peters appearing as Quicksilver. Are we about to enter the multiverse? Are we about to get a House of M moment? Is the Marvel universe about to change forever? It’s an excellent cliffhanger, and certifies WandaVision as appointment television.

Episodes of WandaVision are being released weekly by Disney Plus. Check out the full WandaVision release schedule for when to expect the next episode. For more Marvel coverage, check out our primer on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.