Marvel’s WandaVision trailer is now out, and it cleverly manages to open some big new doors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, within the framework of some classic television sitcoms. WandaVision‘s central mystery is how Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) comes to exist in a retro-reality with her dead love, The Vision (Paul Bettany); however, it’s what’s happening outside that bubble (literally and figuratively) that may reveal some of bigger MCU developments unfolding. For example, the WandaVision trailer happens to provide our first look at the sister agency/successor for Marvel’s SHIELD – the organization known as SWORD!
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WandaVision: SWORD On The Case
There’s one pivotal sequence in the WandaVision trailer that reveals the line between the fantasy world that Wanda Maximoff has created, and what’s transpiring in the “real world” of the MCU. That scene shows Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) being blasted out of what is presumably Wanda’s “bubble” of reality-warping energy. That bubble seems to be the source of the retro-TV “life” she’s living with Vision and is possibly encapsulating an entire small town. That phenomenon has seemingly brought out S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department) to handle Wanda.
Set photos from WandaVision’s production have already confirmed that SWORD is a part of the series and that Monica Rambeau (the now-adult daughter of Captain Marvel’s best friend, Maria Rambeau) is seemingly a SWORD agent (who also has her own set of superpowers). It also seems that SWORD will branch into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Disney+ series as well, hinting at a major MCU Phase 4 arc already taking shape. MCU tie-in books like Cosmic Quest Volume II: Aftermath also hint that Kat Dennings Thor character Darcy will have been recruited by SWORD as well (which would explain her WandaVision appearance).
What Is The MCU’s SWORD?
In the Comics, SWORD is a sub-branch of SHIELD that acts as a counter-terrorism and intelligence agency for extraterrestrial threats. It was led by Special Agent Abigail Brand, and was the first line of (space) defense against alien invasion, as well as keeping watch over alien activity on Earth. After the events of the Avengers Infinity Saga (Loki and Thanos’ alien invasions, The Snap wiping out half of Earth for five years), it would only make sense that Earth would establish SWORD in order to better prepare for alien threats.
The MCU version of SWORD may have already been introduced: Many fans believed that Spider-Man: Far From Home‘s post-credits scene was the true “first appearance of the organization in the MCU. That sequence saw Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) actually residing on a massive ship manned by Skrulls, while Skrull leader Talos and his wife fill-in for Nick Fury and Maria Hill on Earth. The implication is that the MCU version of SWORD could be using an intricate chess game of superpowered people (Monica) alien allies (Skrulls) and former government tech and field agents (Kat Denning’s Darcy, Randall Pak’s Jimmy Woo) to protect Earth from an entire multiverse of threats, now that Endgame opened that door.
…And with Kang The Conqueror on the way, SWORD better get ready fast.
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Image courtesy of Marvel Studios -
Image Credit: Marvel Studios
