WandaVision: Wanda's Chaos Magic Explained
Contains spoilers for WandaVision episode 8
Every week, viewers tune in to WandaVision, secure in the knowledge that whatever happens this time can't possibly be as weird and heartbreaking as what went on in the previous episode. And every week, WandaVision proves them wrong. This is no mean feat for a show that started as a cheery 1950s sitcom about a reality-bending super-heroine and her dead android husband.
The eighth episode of WandaVision, entitled "Previously On," is only vaguely aware of the concept of brakes, and that's just so it can avoid accidentally using them. Despite this attitude, the episode is light on bombastic action scenes and eschews most of its characters in favor of a laser-like focus on Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn). As Agatha takes the two "magical girls" on a memory quest to uncover the secret of Wanda's powers, poor Wanda has to relive some of her best and worst memories, and experience her most traumatic losses all over again. This allows the viewers to finally find out how the reality-twisting Hex bubble over Westview came to be, and offers Agatha the chance to determine that Wanda is actually a highly dangerous, mythical Chaos Magic user known as the Scarlet Witch.
That's far from the only whammy "Previously On" has in store. Still, Agatha's backstory and costume are cool, and the White Vision (Paul Bettany) post-credits scene is shocking, but Wanda's Chaos Magic reveal is almost certainly the thing that'll have the most impact on the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But what, exactly, does her "Chaos Magic" entail?
Wanda's Chaos Magic is a potentially cosmic-level threat
In the Marvel comics, Wanda has been known as the Scarlet Witch all along, and much like she appears to be in the MCU, she's a natural vessel for Chaos Magic. Agatha seems to be genuinely worried when she realizes this in WandaVision, which is quite understandable if the show's version of Chaos Magic is anywhere near the comics' version. The comics depict Chaos Magic as stemming from an ancient, demonic chaos god, and those who wield it can reshape and manipulate reality on a potentially universe-ending scale. Wanda, of course, uses Chaos Magic to construct and live within Westview, but she's also able to exit the Hex surrounding the rebuilt town and exist in the real world. It's indeed very dangerous, as Agatha tells Wanda.
The events of Westview make it perfectly clear that even if the MCU version of Chaos Magic isn't quite as powerful as its comic-book counterpart, this version of Wanda is definitely no pushover. WandaVision has specifically pointed out that she came very close to defeating Thanos (Josh Brolin) by herself in Avengers: Endgame, which took place before the events of WandaVision unlocked her full powers.
Strangely enough, the seemingly villainous Agatha may yet turn out to be Wanda's best ally. After all, in the comics, it's Agatha herself who trains Wanda to use her magic (more or less) safely. It's kind of hard to see this happening in the show, seeing as the pair seem to be in an unavoidable collision course, but then again, WandaVision is famous for its surprising plot developments. For all we know, Wanda and Agatha might have a musical number together by the end of the season finale. A Marvel fan can dream.