WARNING: The following contains spoilers for WandaVision Episode 8, "Previously On," streaming now on Disney+.
WandaVision took a trip down memory lane in its last episode as Wanda sorted through the trauma of her life, starting with the happy moments of her childhood shortly before its destruction. With those memories, the episode explained not only core pieces of Wanda's character but also that the sitcom aesthetic of the entire show comes from her time in Sokovia watching old TV collections with her parents and brother.
However, while the show Wanda chooses to watch may just be a neat reference, it's also possible it's a major portent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's next massive event.
The flashbacks in "Previously On" see Wanda pick the TV show her family watches on a family night during her childhood. She knows exactly which show and exactly which episode to watch, selecting "It May Look Like A Walnut" from The Dick Van Dyke Show. However, it's during the viewing of this episode, which Wanda is already familiar with, that their apartment explodes, killing her parents and trapping her and her brother.
The episode Wanda chooses could have been from any of a number of sitcoms WandaVision uses as an aesthetic reference, but "It May Look Like A Walnut" was the one. The reason why could be because the entry is not only one of the sitcom's most fondly-remembered episodes, ranking on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes lists multiple times, but its plot is particularly germane to the future of the MCU, as it centers entirely around an alien invasion replacing the humans of the planet.
At the start of the episode, Rob enjoys a scary sci-fi flick on TV as Laura cowers under the covers. He teases her with the details of the movie to scare her, only to wake up the next morning and find himself immersed in the world of the show. Alien imposters from the planet Twilo replace his friends and family until he is the last remaining human on Earth. In the end, as Wanda herself notes in WandaVision, it all turns out to be a bad dream and everything returns to normal -- but for the MCU, it's no dream at all.
The comic event "Secret Invasion" has already seen itself being set up in the MCU during Spider-Man: Far From Home, where it was established that familiar human characters Nick Fury and Maria Hill were replaced by shape-shifting Skrulls. To kick things up a notch, Marvel Studios announced late last year that a series based on the comic was in the works at Disney+. In looking back on the memory, Wanda may not just be recalling a random favorite episode from her favorite show, but also subconsciously alerting herself to one of the biggest threats currently facing the planet.
Fans quickly learned in WandaVision how seldom coincidences are possible parallels or just meaningless hints. There was already ample foreshadowing of Agatha's true nature and Wanda's lack of control over her domain, and at this point, every iota of information about the show has been scrutinized for its possible impact. While speculation leading up to the finale still runs rampant about the introduction of mutants or shifting realities, viewers may be missing the most obvious parallel of all. Secret Invasion is coming, and WandaVision may be showing that the Scarlet Witch knows it was on its way.
Written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, WandaVision stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes. New episodes air Fridays on Disney+.