WandaVision was the first MCU TV series released on Disney+ and, for many fans, it still ranks among the best. The very definition of water cooler television, it got people talking and theories soon started swirling about who the show's real big bad must be.
It was obvious from early on that "Agnes" and Agatha Harkness were one and the same but, along the way, there were hints the demonic Mephisto might be pulling the strings. When the final credits rolled, the Marvel Universe's devil was still nowhere to be seen, though he is expected to appear in Ironheart (played by Sacha Baron Cohen).
Talking to Inverse, WandaVision director Matt Shakman reflected on the experience of making a TV show for Marvel Studios and chimed in on those Mephisto theories.
"Marvel was interested in doing television the way that they did movies," the filmmaker recalls. "We were telling a richer, more character-focused story than the movies can. Almost like those comic runs that I love that go on longer than any movie could ever possibly contain."
"There were some deep readings of the text that led to certain conclusions that were wrong," Shakman adds. "Mephisto was never a part of our plan. So that was a head-scratcher. But hey, he's a great character."
It appears those nods to Mephisto were imagined and while a retcon could somehow tie him to what happened in Westview, it doesn't seem as if that was something Marvel Studios has been planning.
For Shakman, WandaVision is now in his rearview. After Jon Watts departed the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, he stepped in to take charge of the project and is in the midst of pre-production (casting news is expected to head our way before the year ends). Talking about the movie, the director shared some of the comic books which have inspired his approach to Marvel's First Family.
"I’m not so much looking at the other movies. I'm looking at the comics themselves. I'm a huge comic book fan. I’ve been a big fan of the Fantastic Four since I was a kid. So going back to Kirby and Lee and Byrne and following all the way up to what's happening, certainly Hickman and Wade and Ryan North, what he's been doing.|
"I'm trying to figure out who these characters are to me and how to bring them to life in the best possible way, and that's really where I've started and how we've approached it."
It feels like these characters are in safe hands with Shakman. While very little has been revealed about the movie since it was first announced, the prevailing belief online seems to be that the team will battle Galactus.
Fantastic Four is set to be released in theaters on May 2, 2025.