Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Told Us The Truth About WandaVision's HYDRA Soak Years Ago
Warning: WandaVision spoilers ahead!
The third episode of WandaVision finds the cracks in the happy-go-lucky sitcom reality widening as the real world begins to bleed through. Now in the '70s, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) are pregnant and expecting when Wanda's new friend Geraldine (Teyonah Parris) comes over for a visit. For the first time in the series, Wanda is confronted with something from the Marvel Cinematic Universe when Geraldine talks about her twin brother, Pietro, dying at Ultron's hands. Wanda, confused and confrontational, forces Geraldine out of the reality rather than hear more about it.
Up until this episode, any references to the larger MCU were veiled, indirect, and contained in the show's commercials for a Stark Industries toaster and a Strücker watch. Now, there's more evidence to support the fan theory that Wanda has created this reality to escape her grief from losing Vision in Avengers: Infinity War. Even this episode's commercial for the bath product HYDRA Soak hints at the truth of that theory.
When everything is going wrong for the mom in the advertisement, the voiceover says, "Come with me. Escape to a world all your own where your problems float away," and cuts to her enjoying a lush bubble bath with the product HYDRA Soak. At first glance, the commercial is a nominal reference to the Nazi-aligned organization that the SSR, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers have fought across multiple films, one of which — Avengers: Age of Ultron — tells the story of Wanda and Pietro getting their powers. Plus, the line "Escape to a world all your own" suggests that Wanda has done exactly that. But even beyond that, this blue bath product is a seeming nod to relevant storyline Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
When stuck in a fake reality, Phil Coulson talked about HYDRA's blue soap
WandaVision isn't the first time MCU characters have found themselves unwittingly stuck in an alternate reality. In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fourth season, the team led by Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) is living in a virtual reality called the Framework, in which their biggest regrets have been fixed. However, these alterations have resulted in a world dominated by the fascist regime of HYDRA. Coulson, with no memories of his real life, is working as a high school teacher when his teammate Daisy (Chloe Bennet) comes to bring his mind back to his physical body. She tells him that the world isn't supposed to be controlled by HYDRA and he responds with what certainly sounds like a conspiracy theory.
"I would have figured it out a long time ago if it wasn't for the mind-control soap ... That blue soap everyone uses — HYDRA loads it up with chemicals. It seeps into our bloodstream, implants false memories into our brains. They want us to believe this is a magical place," Coulson says. Now, this mind control soap didn't actually exist in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., considering the HYDRA world is virtual, but it draws a curious connection to WandaVision: What color is HYDRA Soak? Blue, of course!
Wanda, too, has found herself in a world in which her biggest regret — killing Vision — never happened. At first glance, her new reality is a lot nicer than the HYDRA-dominated one, but it's crumbling quickly, as outside forces attempt to contact her. She's become her own blue soap, convincing herself this is a magical place, though it remains to be seen how long that composure will hold.