What I Heard This Week: ‘WANDAVISION’ and ‘DOCTOR STRANGE: IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS’

Every now and then I come across some information the veracity of which can be confirmed by a second source. What happens FAR more often is that I come across some information that while believable and from trustworthy sources, cannot be confirmed by other sources for various reasons. Typically, when the second scenario occurs, I move on and forget about the information unless, in rare instances, it turns out to be proven true somewhere down the road.

This Thanksgiving week has served up a cornucopia of information that I have not been able to verify but that has come from trustworthy sources (read sources who have given previous information that has been confirmed) and I’ve decided to share some of these. It’s important to understand that, because I can’t verify these with a second source, I myself treat them as rumors which means, for the time being, I don’t believe them myself. It’s also important to understand that in each of these cases, the information provided would be spoilery if did turn out to be true. So please read at your own risk and please make an effort to represent what you’ve read here as nothing more than a rumor. These aren’t “hot scoops”, at least not yet. For now, they are nothing more than some compelling rumors that should generate plenty of great discussion among the MCU fan community. With that having been said, read ahead if you chose.

Things I heard this week: Nightmare has been cast and will be revealed as the villain of WandaVision.

Unlike the other rumors I shared with you, I am not telling you everything I heard in this case, but I am sharing one of the more tantalizing tidbits I heard this week. I know that by sharing this part of the rumor, it’ll fuel speculation and generate some pretty interesting fan theories, but I am not, in this case, at liberty to say anything more.

This is an interesting rumor because, if I’m not mistaken, it’s already a popular fan theory and for good reason. When Kevin Feige revealed that WandaVision and Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness would be related projects, many folks remembered that Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson wanted to use Nightmare in the first film and that writer C. Robert Cargill had indicated that the sequel would probably feature the villain, so they connected some dots. In that way, and others, this rumor makes a lot of sense.

We know that WandaVision will be part-sitcom homage and part MCU spectacle and that it will lead directly into Doctor Strange: Into the Multiverse of Madness, said to be Marvel Studios first true foray into the horror genre. The Disney + feature, Expanding the Universe, along with casting calls seemed to indicate that WandaVision will introduce Wanda and Vision’s twin sons, Tommy and Billy, and that they might grow up awfully fast during the sitcom portion of the show. It seems entirely possible that the reason they exist and grow so fast is that they are part of a sort of dream-like reality in which Wanda has found herself, perhaps even at the mercy of Nightmare. Imagine how unhappy Wanda would be to awaken from reality where she’s been reunited with Vision and has been raising a family. Given everything she’s been through, one might imagine losing all that would be the tipping point for her, launching the MCU spectacle portion of WandaVision and, should that tipping point unleash some sort of large-scale use of her growing power, be reason enough to call Doctor Strange in to help.

Feige has said repeatedly that he is not interested in direct adaptations of the comics, so we shouldn’t limit our imagination of what might happen in the MCU because “it didn’t happen that way in the comics.” This rumor is probably my favorite one of the week because it ties the two projects together and forces me to ask the question of who the true antagonist of Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness will be: Nightmare or the Scarlet Witch?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one and all of its implications. Please chime in below and tell me how you see this unfolding IF it’s true.