'WandaVision' Fans Explain the Cryptic Meanings Behind Each Episode's Commercials
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Every Friday, Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are left asking a million questions about the newest episode of WandaVision — what is Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) doing to the citizens of Westview? Is she being controlled? Who is her nosy neighbor, Agnes (Kathryn Hahn)?
While more recent episodes have gradually unveiled the truth about Wanda and Vision (Paul Bettany)'s sitcom-like world, there are still many mysteries left to be solved and Easter eggs to uncover. According to what Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told Variety, the commercials are the best places to analyze clues.
"If this is the very first Marvel MCU thing you’re watching, it’s just a strange version of a ’50s commercial or a ’60s commercial that you’ll have to keep watching the series to understand," Kevin said. "If you have been watching the movies, you might be able to start connecting what those things mean to the past."
To gain a better understanding of each commercial's deeper meaning, we did some digging through Marvel fandom to see what theories are floating around out there. Below, you'll find a recap of each commercial and possible explanations for how the ad could relate to Wanda's past, present, or even future.
WandaVision Episode 1 - "ToastMate 2000"
"Is your husband tired of you burning his toast? Try our new and improved ToastMate 2000. It's the go-to for clever housewives," a commercial man states in the first WandaVision ad of season 1. The spokesperson then walks over to a woman and demonstrates how the ToastMate 2000 works while pointing out some of the foods people can reheat with the product. Finally, he reads off the toaster's slogan: "Forget the past, this is your future!"
Upon closer inspection, the commercial is full of MCU clues. First off, the ToastMate 2000 is made by Stark Industries, a.k.a. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). As noted on the MCU fandom Wiki page, the sound the toaster makes during the commercial is similar to the noise of Iron Man's repulsor gauntlets. Others around the internet have noted that the toaster sounds like a ticking time bomb, which could be linked to how Wanda and her brother, Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), lost their parents to an explosion when they were young. Meanwhile, the lights on the toaster temporarily turn red — another possible nod to Iron Man.
The commercial's most telling part, however, is the slogan. It's cryptic and chilling for several reasons given Wanda's traumatic experiences losing her parents, Pietro, and Vision. It also seems to reflect Wanda's life motto in the first episode as she manipulates her reality to cope with her grief.
WandaVision Episode 2 - "Strucker Watch"
The commercial opens with the same man and woman from the previous ad getting dressed up for a formal occasion. "They say a man is never fully dressed without two important accessories — his special lady and his Strucker," a narrating voice states. The ad then zooms in on the watch, which bares the HYDRA name and symbol on its face, and reveals the product's slogan: "Strucker — he'll make time for you."
As MCU fans know, the watch is named after Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann), a dangerous HYDRA operative who performed experiments on both Wanda and Pietro as children which led to them developing superpowers. Though Strucker is later killed by Ultron, the slogan "he'll make time for you" hints that there could be more to the story. The slogan, paired with the watch's rapid ticking noise, could be hints to not only Wanda's past, but perhaps a clue that her "time" with Vision in her make-believe environment may be coming to an end.
WandaVision Episode 3 — "Hydra Soak"
In this '70s-themed commercial, the narrator asks a flustered mom, "Do you need a break?" The mom is then seen lathering up in a bathtub "escaping" to her own world and letting her "problems float away" thanks to a bath powder called Hydra Soak. The slogan? "When you want to get away but you don't want to go anywhere — Hydra Soak, find the goddess within."
Like the last commercial, there's an obvious tie to the MCU criminal organization HYDRA given the bath powder's name and the product's HYDRA symbol-covered packaging. Once again, the slogan seems to either hint at Wanda's past experiences with HYDRA or could be a clue that Wanda may be under some sort of HYDRA influence. After all, you could definitely say that Wanda is "getting away" without "going anywhere" in her Westview bubble and trying to keep Vision in the dark about the truth. As for the slogan "find the goddess within," ComicBook.com predicts that this could be a reference to Wanda perhaps slowly tapping into previously locked away powers.
WandaVision Episode 5 — "Lagos"
After two kids spill a glass of fruit punch on the table in an ad, their mom attempts to clean up the mess with "the next leading brand of paper towel." But what she really needs is Lagos, which, as the narrator points out, also works on her husband's spills. "Lagos. For when you make a mess you didn’t mean to," the slogan reads.
The commercial is a very blatant call out to an event from Wanda's past that we see play out in Captain America: Civil War. While with the rest of the Avengers are on a mission in Lagos, Nigeria, Wanda accidentally killed several people when she diverted an explosion in order to save Captain America (Chris Evans)'s life. This event led to the creation of the Sokovia Accords, which sought to establish supervision over the Avengers. The creation of the accords prompted a serious divide between Captain America and Iron Man.
Clearly, the tragedy in Lagos is still very much on Wanda's mind and the slogan refers to how her attempt to save Captain America created an unintentional "mess" for the rest of the Avengers.
WandaVision Episode 6 — "Yo-Magic"
Shortly after Vision discovers a Westview woman stuck in a loop of hanging up her Halloween decorations, the show cuts to a 90s commercial featuring a claymation boy sitting alone on a deserted island. "I'm so hungry, I'd eat anything," the boy claims just before a talking shark pops out of the water to offer him Yo-Magic yogurt, a.k.a. "the snack for survivors." In a disturbing twist, however, the boy can't manage to open the yogurt container and winds up wasting away.
Unlike every other ad, this one ends on a rather troubling note. It also is one that appears to be speaking more to Wanda's current reality than to past events. Just as Vision is starting to more quickly discover the truth about the reality Wanda has created, the commercials are becoming darker and twisted — an indication that things underneath the bright and bubbly surface aren't at all what they seem.
On Reddit, some fans are speculating that the commercial is hinting at the introduction of a villain to the series — particularly, the Marvel demon Mephisto. Throughout the series, several jokes about the devil are made, but especially in episode 6 when Pietro (Evan Peters) appears and tells Wanda's sons to "unleash hell, demon spawn." Some are predicting that Pietro is "the devil" Mephisto in disguise, and the shark is symbolic of how the villain will seek to use his magic against Wanda or her family.
WandaVision Episode 7 — "Nexus"
The newest commercial to date is for an antidepressant called Nexus. The ad asks viewers to talk their doctors about the drug that "works to anchor you back to your reality or the reality of your choice." The side effects include "feeling your feelings, confronting your truth, seizing your destiny, and possibly more depression." The slogan for the antidepressant is "Nexus: because the world doesn't revolve around you. Or does it?"
The name of the antidepressant is very telling. As Den of Geek points out, it could be a Marvel reference to the Nexus of All Realities, which forms a pathway with access to all sorts of different realities and is a place where all realities intersect. Another option could be that Nexus refers to Wanda as a "Nexus Being," a.k.a. an incredibly powerful person with the ability to channel energies of other universes. Either way, this commercial seems similar to the Hydra Soak ad in that they point out Wanda's inner powers.
What's more, the ad warns that "you should not take Nexus until your doctor clears you to move on with your life." Is this somehow tied to Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)? Hmm, maybe next week we'll know!
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