WandaVision Episode 7 commercial reveals Marvel's multiverse plans
If you want to escape reality, go to another one!
If you're feeling a little down, maybe a trip to another reality will do the trick. In the seventh episode of WandaVision, "Breaking the Fourth Wall," this week's fake commercial advertises an anti-depressant called "Nexus" that hints at the expansion of the multiverse.
Marvel truly wasn't kidding when, in 2019, it said WandaVision was going to be so important for understanding the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Warning! Spoilers ahead!
In WandaVision Episode 7, streaming now on Disney+, a fake commercial for "Nexus" advertises an anti-depressant. "Feeling depressed? Like the world goes on without you? Do you just want to be left alone?" asks the commercial narrator. "Ask your doctor about Nexus."
Chillingly, the narrator says that Nexus will "anchor you back to your reality, or the reality of your choice." And of course, there are side effects, like:
- Feeling your feelings
- Confronting your truth
- Seizing your destiny
- Possibly more depression
The commercial for Nexus in WandaVision.
Nexus underlines a lot of key themes in WandaVision Episode 7. As the commercial's narrator describes it, the drug itself is a reality hallucinogen, effectively allowing Wanda to ignore the harsh truths of what's real (Vision is dead) and allowing her to live in what isn't (Vision is alive and her husband).
Later, Monica (Teyonah Parris) confronts Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), telling her the death of her mother was traumatic but she accepts it because it's her "truth." It's a plea for Wanda to accept the death of Vision, and that creating a false reality — or many of them, considering the different sitcoms Wanda fabricates — is an unhealthy and destructive way of addressing that grief.
But the Nexus signals bigger things to come for the entire MCU.
What is the "Nexus" in Marvel?
The name "Nexus," as it relates to the Marvel Universe and the multiverse, originates from Marvel's horror comic Adventure Into Fear in 1972. In issue #11, the Nexus of All Realities is introduced as an interdimensional portal guarded in the Florida everglades by the swamp mutant Man-Thing.
The Nexus is basically a cross-dimensional highway. Going through the Nexus of All Realities allows travelers to enter any reality, including realities between realities. The true origin of the Nexus of All Realities remains unknown to this day, and it's unclear if the Nexus was created by something (or someone). But it does have a guardian in Man-Thing, a former human scientist turned monster who is not be confused with Swamp Thing, another scientist turned mutant monster over at DC.
What Nexus means for the Marvel multiverse
The Man-Thing guards the Nexus of All Realities, in Adventure Into Fear #11.
As WandaVision comes closer to its conclusion, it is becoming more clear what role the multiverse is playing in the series. A commercial for "Nexus" is simply an omen of what's to come.
We've now learned Agatha Harkness/Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) brought Pietro (Evan Peters) from his X-Men reality into the MCU, as an emotional disruption to Wanda. And with the full reveal that Agnes is indeed the witch villain Agatha Harkness, we're segueing quite nicely into the 2022 movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a horror-esque exploration of the Marvel multiverse with the Sorcerer Supreme at the helm. (And who knows what will happen with the Darkhold, a supernatural book of power last seen in shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Runaways.)
If that's not enough, consider the rampant rumors that the third, untitled Spider-Man movie from Marvel and Sony will involve characters from past Spider-Man film franchises appearing in the MCU. (Alfred Molina and Jamie Foxx are reported, while actor Tobey Maguire is only heavily rumored and not confirmed.) There's going to be a lot happening in the MCU over the next year, and it's WandaVision that's spilling all the secrets.
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