Marvel Phase 4: 'Doctor Stranger 2' and 'WandaVision' May Introduce X-Men

Marvel Studios revealed a ton of Phase Four details at the San Diego Comic-Con presentation last weekend, but one of the biggest surprises came in the form of an unlikely magical team-up between Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch that’ll unfold in spring 2021. Some fans think a crossover between the characters could be key to a universe-altering event that either includes or leads to the crucial comic book story arc: House of M. Such an event could reshape the MCU as we know it — and maybe even introduce mutants like the X-Men.

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Aside from fighting on the same side in the chaotic final battle against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch have had nothing to do with one another. So why is their Phase Four connection so important? Several fans have ideas. On Wednesday and Thursday, a pair of theories were posted to the r/FanTheories subreddit about how WandaVision shows the Scarlet Witch struggling to process her grief over Vision’s death in horrific ways.

“My theory goes that Wandavision will be about Wanda trying to bring Vision back using various methods, and possibly resulting in her fracturing the multiverse, potentially even rewriting the prime MCU reality due to her reality warping powers,” redditor u/nathys12345 wrote in their theory. “This could either be foreshadowed at the end of the series, or introduced as the premise of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

Wanda might break the universe, leaving Doctor Strange to repair it, but in doing so, she might activate latent X genes in mutants around the world.

This could also connect directly to House of M, a 2005 Marvel Comics event written Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Olivier Coipel. In that story, Scarlet Witch grieves over the loss of her children and rewrites reality so that mutants rule the world. Later, with one famous line — “No more mutants.” — Wanda erased the powers of more than 90 percent of all mutants. This had lasting repercussions on the wider Marvel Comics multiverse, and Marvel Studios could use the inverse of this arc to establish mutants in the MCU — or at least to lay the groundwork for it.

Another Reddit theory published by redditor u/hiero_ on Wednesday assumes that all of WandaVision is an illusion similar to the ones Wanda forced others to have in Avengers: Age of Ultron:

Wanda goes to the past with Vision and builds the life she wanted with him from scratch. It’s pitched as a psychological thriller as Wanda slowly descends into insanity throughout the story. In the comics, this story arc ends with the twist that Wanda fabricated an illusion for herself all along and none of it was real.

If Wanda does discover the ability to rewrite reality, then Doctor Strange is the only one equipped to help her or do anything about it. (In the comics, Professor Charles Xavier worked with Doctor Strange to do just this during House of M.)

Could WandaVision take place in an alternate reality that Wanda creates? And will Doctor Stange in the Multiverse of Madness see the sorcerer struggle to correct the multiverse? Based on the facts, it sure seems possible.

The Disney+ WandaVision series starring Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch and Paul Bettany as Vision (who died in Avengers: Infinity War) will be released sometime in the spring of 2021. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a feature film, will be released in theaters May 7, 2021. For those of us keeping track, these two Marvel Studios projects could be released the same week, or at least close enough to one another that they relate directly, especially when you also note that Marvel Studio already confirmed that Elizabeth Olsen also appears in the Doctor Strange sequel.

“The events that you will see Wanda go through in the WandaVision epic series will be reflected and tied directly into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said on stage during SDCC.

Some parts of the WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness connection don’t make sense. Early WandaVision rumors indicated that it took place in the ‘50s, but then at SDCC, Feige confirmed WandaVision takes place after Avengers: Endgame despite Vision being dead. So we really have no idea when or where this Disney+ series takes place.

There’s also the addition of actress Teyonah Parris, who’s joining the MCU in WandaVision as a grown-up version of Monica Rambeau (the little girl from Captain Marvel). That pretty much confirms it’s set in the present of the current MCU timeline

All signs point to some dramatic connection between these two stories, and it seems entirely possible that it could be as earth-shattering as the House of M. Redditor u/hiero_’s theory seems more and more likely:

Wanda loses her mind and changes reality. Doctor Strange is the only one who can stop/save her. Mutants are created as a result.

But if all this speculation has you excited for the X-Men to finally join the MCU, we’re afraid we have some bad news. It’s going to be two long years before either of these Marvel Studios projects actually come out.

WandaVision will be released on Disney+ sometime spring 2021. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be released in theaters May 7, 2021.