We’re officially four episodes into WandaVision, and the genre-bending series has already brought some profound new additions to the canon of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As more and more characters have been brought into the show’s orbit, there have been some eclectic connections to Marvel Comics canon, and that was definitely the case for the series’ most recent episode, “We Interrupt This Program.” While filling in the gaps of Monica Rambeau’s (Teyonah Parris) story since the 1990s, WandaVision might have laid the groundwork for one of the most emotional Captain Marvel stories in the comics. Spoilers for Episode 4 of WandaVision, “We Interrupt This Program”, below! Only look if you want to know!
The episode began in a pretty shocking fashion, breaking from the sitcom-inspired world that Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and The Vision (Paul Bettany) have been living and returning to the “real world” of the MCU. In particular, the episode flashed back to “The Blip” — the moments when half of humanity was brought back to life thanks to Bruce Banner/The Hulk’s (Mark Ruffalo) snap in Avengers: Endgame. For Monica, that meant waking up next to an empty bed in a hospital, a bed that — as the audience soon learns — belonged to her mother, Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch). After asking for answers from the hospital’s staff, Monica learns that Maria succumbed to her cancer three years prior, something that Monica missed entirely after being snapped away from existence.
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On its own, the notion that Maria died of cancer — much less without her daughter by her side — is heartbreaking enough. But for those familiar with the Captain Marvel mythos, that detail might have brought up memories of the 1990s storyline The Death of Captain Marvel. In that storyline, Mar-Vellsuccumbed to lung cancer, something that was complicated both by his bond with his Nega-Bands and his standing within the Kree empire, who had regarded him as a traitor at that time. Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Henry McCoy/Beast, and Hank Pym/Ant-Man all tried to find ways to treat Mar-Vell’s condition, to no avail. Mar-Vell ultimately spent his final days on Titan, and died with various Avengers and other friends by his side.
Considering the canon that has already been established about Mar-Vell in the MCU — that she hid on Earth as the Air Force pilot Helen Lawson, and died in the fiery crash that led to Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) getting her superpowers — there wouldn’t really be a way to easily adapt The Death of Captain Marvel in canon. But giving a similar sort of storyline to Maria, who went on to have a uniquely cosmic standing in the MCU as one of the founders of SWORD, definitely feels fitting. The fact that Maria’s death happened offscreen at some point in 2020 also allows for an opportunity to potentially flash back to her final moments, either in Captain Marvel 2 or some other MCU installment.
WandaVision debuts new episodes on Disney+ every Friday. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.
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