‘WandaVision’: Is Pietro an Imposter? We Add Up the Clues
[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for WandaVision Episodes 5 and 6.]
Those annoyed by how quickly Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) died in Avengers: Age of Ultron have at least been able to see him resurrected in WandaVision. Or have they?
Yes, Wanda’s (Elizabeth Olsen) late brother seems to be back, at least within the invisible walls of Westview. But there’s also been much fan chatter that the new Quicksilver, played by the X-Men cinematic universe’s Evan Peters, is not who he says he is. We pull together the clues that he’s an imposter, and take a guess at who he is.
Wanda Didn’t Know He Was Coming
Throughout the Halloween episode, Wanda is baffled by her brother’s presence. When she asks him how he ended up in Westview, he says he remembers dying (which is weird, but we’ll get to that later), and then nothing, until he heard his sister calling his name. A sweet example of sibling affection? A heartbreaking example of Wanda’s grief? Well, perhaps.
But Pietro’s presence seems to be the most solid indicator that someone other than Wanda is capable of pulling strings in the town, whether that’s Agnes (Kathryn Hahn), who darn well might be Agatha Harkness, or someone else entirely. At the very least, if Wanda’s being honest that she didn’t magic Pietro back to life, then someone else did…or, of course, Pietro’s not Pietro, and he’s lying to his “sister” about who he is and why he’s there.
He Doesn’t Act Like Pietro
For one, Pietro has no Sokovian accent. (Yes, Wanda has been slowly losing hers throughout the movies, but still…)
Pietro also remembers parts of their childhood differently than Wanda, such as how Halloween was spent (he waves this away by saying she’s blocked it because of the trauma). He also misremembers his own death, saying he “got shot in the street like a chump for no reason at all.” While died saving a child and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). That’s definitely a reason.
The evidence continues to mount toward the end of the episode. Pietro, for instance, asks Wanda how she created the Westview Hex and congratulates her on the display of her powers. Think back to the Pietro who appeared in Ultron. Sure, he had a rough past (as did Wanda), but would he have given his sister a pat on the back for magic that caused people to suffer?
Disney+/Marvel
He’s on Top of the Whole Westview Farce
The elder Maximoff (by 12 minutes) seems to know just how off things are in Westview. Vision (Paul Bettany) doesn’t remember dying or his life outside the Hex, but Pietro knows Vision is dead — yet he died long before Vision, so how does he know this?
It seems as if Pietro must be visiting from the “outside,” much like Monica (Teyonah Parris), who remembered Ultron even when she was in the Hex. But in the outside world, Pietro is dead, so that’s…impossible? As for Wanda having “created” him, this would’ve taken away the memory of his death as she it did for Vision’s.
So, Who is He?
One possibility is Mephisto, who’s basically Marvel’s version of the devil. He can shape shift and manipulate memories, among a long, long list of other powers. In the comics, Mephisto plays a key role in Wanda and Vision having twins; turns out, their kids were created using pieces of Mephisto’s soul, which he then absorbs for their power. That connection to Wanda, and this specific story in WandaVision, makes Pietro’s quip about the kids being “demon spawn” a lot more meaningful.
Another possibility is Nightmare, who, in the comics feeds off the energy of (you guessed it!) nightmares. It’s possible Nightmare is looking for a way to harness the power of Wanda’s slowly turning-nightmarish Hex — and that would fit with the commercial in Episode 6, in which the shark survives by “snackin’ on Yo-Magic.”
For now, it’s hard to say just who Pietro might be, but it’s not hard to see that things just aren’t quite right with him. But will Wanda realize something’s wrong with her “brother”?
WandaVision, Fridays, Disney+
