Disney Plus original WandaVision has lent itself to intense theorising, with all sorts of people trying to predict who the ultimate villain of the story was going to be. In the end, those who picked Agatha Harkness were proven right, but plenty of people were still hoping that classic Marvel villain Mephisto could still make an appearance.

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However, those hopes have now been dashed – and frankly, killed – by WandaVision episode 8, which reveals how Wanda herself (Elizabeth Olsen) created the Hex illusion around Westview while Agatha was responsible for other weird goings-on.

And more specifically, Mephisto himself was killed – well, sort of. You see, last week’s episode had fans still wondering whether the extra-dimensional demon could secretly turn up, with plenty of fans noting the presence of a fly (or maybe a cicada) in Agatha’s house that could represent him.

After all, in the comics Mephisto did first appear as a fly and he has a close connection to Wanda (whose children were formed from broken pieces of his soul, leading to conflict between them) – so what if this fly was a hint at the puppeteer behind Agatha?

It was a nice theory. But it apparently wasn’t true.

You see, in this week’s episode Agatha grabs hold of that very same fly, using it to demonstrate her magical powers. In quick succession she shows off mind control, transformation (she turns it into a bird) and then demonstrates her own vicious nature by grabbing said bird from the air, closing the show by throwing the bird-turned-fly again to her rabbit, Senõr Scratchy (who noisily eats it).

WandaVision
(L-R): Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff and Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness in Marvel Studios' WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Really, there couldn’t be a clearer debunking of the fly-is-Mephisto theory. Not only is Agatha not being controlled by Mephisto, she literally controls and destroys the thing fans thought could be him in front of Wanda.

It’s almost like a real-time debunking of the Mephisto theory onscreen – any maybe it is! Maybe the creators of WandaVision knew that Mephisto would be on fans’ minds, and planted the fly with the intention of viewers drawing the connection. Once the connection was drawn, bam, it’s ruled out. A neat way to tell fans to stop looking for surprise villain cameos.

Or alternatively, maybe the fly was just a fly, Mephisto was never supposed to be noticed or theorised about in WandaVision and we should all just move on. After all, with just one episode left it seems unlikely that the series would introduce another major villain right now, right?

…right?

Want more WandaVision content? Check out our guide to the WandaVision cast, the WandaVision release schedule, Agatha Harkness, the Darkhold and the creepy WandaVision commercials. Plus, we ask: When is WandaVision set, how did Vision survive, and can we expect a WandaVision series 2?

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WandaVision releases new episodes on Disney Plus on Fridays. You can sign up to Disney Plus for £79.90 for a year or £7.99 a month. Want something else to watch? Check out our full TV Guide.

Authors

Huw FullertonCommissioning Editor

Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.

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