WandaVision May Bring Us Some Young Avengers!
WandaVision is the show that, apparently, just keeps on giving. In the world of the comics, Wanda Maximoff is a bit different from the Wanda that we see onscreen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it seems as if WandaVision might be bridging that gap a bit.
As reported by Illuminerdi, Teddy Altman, a.k.a. Hulkling, a Kree-Skrull hybrid, is rumored to make an appearance on the show. Rumors started to circulate that Marvel is looking for a Teddy and, given his direct history with Wanda, it opens the door for a lot of other connections to the Young Avengers.
Teddy Altman, who takes to Earth for refuge and needs help from S.W.O.R.D. (a counter-terrorism unit) to remain here, knows Wanda Maximoff very well because he’s dating her son, Billy Kaplan. Also known as Wiccan, Billy is a reincarnated version of Wanda’s son (along with Tommy Shepherd) and sees Wanda Maximoff as his mother.
What’s important about Hulkling being rumored to be in the series, though, is that it almost confirms that Billy (and maybe even Tommy) is going to be a part of this. Not only would the Hulkling/Wiccan relationship be a big step we’ve been begging Marvel to take for so long, but it would be great to get deeper into Wanda’s story after it had to stray from her comics past because of her mutant origins.
Wanda Maximoff and her brother Pietro were the children of Magneto in the X-Men world. Since Fox had the rights to that franchise (and used Quiksilver in the X-Men films), the Marvel Cinematic Universe briefly got to have Pietro in Age of Ultron until his untimely death, and gave the Avengers their Scarlet Witch.
But that also meant that much of her mutant background was left by the wayside, and we really never got an explanation of her powers or the extent of her abilities. To this day, she’s labeled as one of the most powerful Avengers, but we barely know the extent of it. What we do know is that she could have easily taken on Thanos and his army, but was, instead, stuck protecting Vision.
Bringing in Teddy and Billy, though, gives her the ability to talk more about her own powers, her own past, and how she came to be. With Wanda, so much of her is still a mystery because, no offense to the MCU, but they haven’t included their “strongest” Avenger that much, and that’s completely on them.
What’s scary about the idea of bringing in Teddy and Billy to me is the fact that they’re together in the comics. And, the MCU doesn’t have a great track record with LGBT representation. If Billy and Teddy were one of their first couples together then that’d be incredible but I’m currently a little skeptical.
I’m excited about WandaVision because I’ve loved Wanda for a long time. One of my favorite tidbits in a movie is Wanda Maximoff having chipped nails in Captain America: Civil War, because it weirdly fit in her character and was one of the first times I ever saw a woman not have perfectly manicured fingernails in a movie. She’s so interesting and has so much to give to the MCU overall, and I hope we get to explore Wanda and her abilities in WandaVision, as well as Hulking and Wiccan and their connection to Wanda’s history.
(image: Marvel Entertainment)
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