“WandaVision: Episode 9 – The  Series Finale” was written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman. Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) fight for their home when Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) and S.W.O.R.D. threaten the town of Westview.

With all of the teases, references, and build ups from previous episodes, I never would’ve expected such a simple finale. While I was hoping for something spectacular to happen, I have accepted that the conclusion to “WandaVision” is the conclusion to the exact same story we’ve been following for the past two months, nothing more, nothing less. The finale left doors open for future projects, but for the most part, this show has been a character-driven love story, and it is without a doubt the best superhero romance executed on screen.

The weekly release strategy is crucial for these types of shows to succeed. Although getting the whole season at once is nice, it gets rid of the fun of talking about the show over a longer period of time. With their first show, Marvel made a fool out of all of us by practically disproving every single absurd theory thrown out on the topic of “WandaVision.” I’m sure many will let it slide for now, but I hope redundancy of “the easiest way out” is not what the future has in store for us. One thing that has been evident is Marvel clearly never expected “WandaVision” to be as popular as it was. 

The cast and crew did a little fan trolling for this show and I don’t blame them. With all the spoilers leaking for many episodes, I understand why they would want to throw everyone off. Some examples of this include Director Matt Shakman not confirming episode nine as the final episode, Paul Bettany trying to be funny by saying there was a secret cameo, only turning out to be himself as White Vision all along, Emma Caulfield tweeting “Where is Dottie?” Perhaps having the fans hype everything up was not the way to go. The finale has only just been released, and fights are already brewing. The misdirects within the show were insane, as well as all of the references to Mephisto and Hell and Monica (Teyonah Parris) talking about her contact in two blatant lines in two separate episodes. Personally, I thought Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be different. 

The biggest mistake that was made was the eventual identity reveal of Evan Peters’ character. Why cast the person who played a Marvel character from a different universe in a project that ties into a story about the Multiverse? Furthermore, why have him impersonate that exact character, and it turns out to be a random person who owned the lot of land next to Wanda’s? Peters is actually Agatha’s “husband,” Ralph. I would say this is just as bad, if not worse, than what they did to Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin reveal in “Iron Man 3. ” At least we know that that character is coming back in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” It was all made out to be a throwaway, horrible and distasteful joke by giving him the last name Bohner, and that’s literally the end of Evan Peters in the MCU. Kevin Feige rarely makes mistakes, but after noticing the backlash in 2013, he should’ve thought twice about this.

Once Agatha freed everyone in town of Wanda’s control, Wanda started to get rid of the barrier. Not only did this start to delete Vision, but Billy and Tommy as well. Billy (Julian Hilliard), Tommy (Jett Klyne) and Vision all ended up getting “deleted” from reality by the end of the episode, and while they’re all clearly coming back, I’m glad they avoided two of the worst possible endings I had in mind: it was all a dream, or everyone lives happily ever after. The Wiccan and Speed characters are too big to get rid of soon. But after Wanda opens the barrier, S.W.O.R.D. manages to get through and joins the fight in the town square. Billy and Tommy manage to incapacitate the soldiers as Wanda is fighting Agatha and the two Visions are fighting each other. This makes Hayward (Josh Stamberg) the only one left, and no matter how much of a jerk he’s been over the past few episodes, I thought it was extremely out of character that he would attempt to shoot the kids. 

The questions about the book in Agatha’s basement were answered, and it turned out to be The Darkhold. I believe this officially decanonized “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” but in the end credits scene Wanda appears to be messing with the book trying to get her children back, making me think that she will turn out to be an indirect villain of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” while the Mephisto theory could still be in play as he may be the main villain of that film. One huge question I still have is how the multiverse will be ripped open. At this point, it has to be at the beginning of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” because of all the cast members returning from Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” trilogy, as well as “The Amazing Spider-Man” movies. This was a much slower and softer start to the multiverse than I originally thought.

I loved seeing Wanda in her new suit, which looks absolutely stunning, and this television series format overall worked out wonderfully. It gave us some of the best character development ever to comic book characters brought to screen. Wanda is undoubtedly the most powerful Avenger, and I’d consider her the most popular Marvel Cinematic Universe female character as well, outshining Black Widow. They mention the name of the Sorcerer Supreme as Agatha certifies that Scarlet Witch is even more powerful than him, although Doctor Strange does not appear. Rightfully so, because I believe Benedict Cumberbatch’s appearance may have overshadowed the finale.

I’m glad Agatha Harkness wasn’t killed off, as I said last week. There’s so much of her character to mess with, she can be the new “Loki” and act as an anti-hero who is super fun to be around. Although I’m not sure how long it will be before she returns, because Wanda left her trapped in Westview as the role she cast for her as “Agnes, the nosy neighbor.” White Vision’s future is also to be determined after he zoomed out of the episode when Vision kicked his memories back into place. If he becomes the new standard Vision as if nothing had happened, that would be a very lame way to wrap up that subplot.

In the end credits scenes, we see a Skrull reveal that Monica is wanted up in space, presumably the base that Nick Fury was on at the end of “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” and setting up “Captain Marvel 2” which won’t release for another twenty months. The next is Wanda in some sort of exile with The Darkhold, a precursor to “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” which also won’t be released for over a year.