'WandaVision' Episode 9 spoilers: Prepare to be "disappointed"

"I hope folks enjoy the ride.” That's not exactly what you want to hear from the director of a show like WandaVision, which has spent eight weeks dropping clues and Easter eggs about the fate of its characters and the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But in a last-ditch publicity tour, Matt Shakman seems to be lowering our expectations ahead of the WandaVision finale

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Speaking to TVLine, Shakman, who directed 43 episodes of the beloved, crass sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia before being absorbed into the MCU, warned fans that he expects plenty of Marvel devotees will be upset after the finale airs.

“And I know there will be a lot of disappointed people with some theories and some who will feel very smart," Shakman said, "but you can’t please everybody, obviously."

Shakman was specifically responding to the plethora of fan theories that have sprouted around WandaVision. Since the show's premiere, people have wondered whether Marvel comic villains like Mephisto or Nightmare will show up, while also speculating that Doctor Strange or some other members of the Avengers would eventually swoop in to save the day. With just one episode left, Shakman seems to be hinting that none of that is going to happen.

Monica Rambeau's "aerospace engineer"

A few simple words sparked endless theories that WandaVision could introduce Richard Reeds of the Fantastic Four or the Blue Marvel into the MCU. Instead, Monica's friend turned out to be a brand new character who's an alien in disguise at best and a no-name military middleman at worst.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. The single tear down every fan's cheek, I know, aerospace engineers and the like," Shakman told ComicBook in another recent interview. "There's a lot of wonderful response to it and for those who get a little bit disappointed week to week. Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa."

If you were holding out hope that Monica's aerospace engineer had yet to show up, there's your answer.

How will WandaVision end?

Beyond delivering on some epic finale cameo, which series stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany also teased in earlier interviews (turns out Bettany was just referring to himself as White Vision), there's also the question of whether WandaVision can provide a satisfying conclusion at all.

Of course, this is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where every ending has to set up three new beginnings, but if WandaVision doesn't provide some closure to the story of Wanda and Vision it's going to be a letdown — especially if we don't get those answers until Doctor Strange 2 is released over a year from now in March 2022.

Again, here's Shakman speaking to TVLine:

“We were trying to tell a complete story in terms of the narrative around Westview, N.J., and we hope that there’s some resolution to that story and that it is satisfying and also surprising for the fans. But Wanda will continue into Doctor Strange [in the Multiverse of Madness], and there’s a lot more to her story to be told, so this is only one part of a very complicated and very rich life.”

So what should you expect in WandaVision Episode 9? Probably a bit of closure — but a lot more questions — and, if we're lucky, a Doctor Strange cameo in the post-credits scene. Beyond that, we're probably asking for too much from a highly enjoyable sitcom parody that was never even intended to kick off an entire new era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Follow all of Inverse's WandaVision coverage at our WandaVision hub.