WandaVision: Why Nightmare Should Be the Villain

WandaVision has arrived and with it, a format of storytelling far from anything Marvel Studios has ever done before. Not only is the Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany vehicle the first television series Marvel Studios has produced, but the content within is bizarre and vastly different from the wall-to-wall action blockbusters the studio frequently puts out. On top of that all, an unsettling tone of mystery consumes the show at every corner.

With the property’s first two episodes now out of the way, one major question continues to loom large — who’s the show’s antagonist, exactly? Immediately after the premiere hit Disney+, social media was flooded with speculation suggesting Mephisto could end up being the baddie behind the show. But the series is rated PG, after all — so maybe the show doesn’t want to (or can’t) traverse to Hell.

Enter, Nightmare.

Though it’s pretty convincing Mephisto could have a role in some shape, way, or form — there may be no villain better suited for the tone we’ve seen so far than Nightmare, a mainstay in Doctor Strange’s rogue’s gallery. Sure, Agness’ (Kathryn Hahn) broach depicts something involving the Grim Reaper, and the Mephisto tidbits have started to run amok — but let’s look at the bigger picture here.

We know WandaVision will tie directly into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and between that and Sony’s Spider-Man 3, a spiritual trilogy of sorts will be formed as each property involves the multiverse.

If you’ve read most of Scarlet Witch’s comic book lore, you’ll know there’s been a time (or two) she’s tinkered with reality, and that’s something very apparent in WandaVision. Not only is she messing with reality, but it seems as if someone’s making her do so.

The reason why Nightmare makes the most sense is that he’s not from this realm. In the comic mythos, he’s one of the “Fear Lords” and rules over a Dream Dimension. Comparing him to more popular figures in pop culture, he’s similar to Freddy Kreuger in the sense he terrorizes people in their dreams. The name’s starting to make a little more sense now, right?

Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige himself has said Wanda Maximoff (Olsen) is the strongest character in the MCU, and that’s a good enough reason why Nightmare could make sense. Since he can only terrorize people in their dreams, maybe he’s looking to break out of the Dream Dimension and invade our reality. One of the ways he could do that is by using Wanda’s own powers against her to cause a rift between worlds, allowing him to move right on through.

The first two episodes of WandaVision are now streaming on Disney+.

Who do you think will be the big bad of WandaVision? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!