Warning — This article contains major spoilers for WandaVision .
One of the major highlights of WandaVision ’s seventh episode - “ Breaking the Fourth Wall ” - was seeing Monica Rambeau break into Westview for a second time and gain superpowers in the process. Viewers who are well-versed in the comics side of Marvel may have picked up on the signs this was coming , seeing as how Monica is a superhero on the comic page and how the show has dropped hints about this possibility in previous episodes .
FORESHADOWING AND PAYOFF
The biggest instance of this kind of hinting was Darcy Lewis telling Monica, “The energy inside has re-written your cells on a molecular level twice. It’s changing you,” when they were discussing how Monica had passed through the Westview barrier twice: first when she was sucked in , and later when Wanda blasted her out. After having X-rays taken upon being evicted from Westview, the images indicate that Monica’s body is radiating a very high amount of energy; so much, in fact, that it wasn’t possible for a proper image to be captured.
It seems that when Wanda expanded Westview’s borders at the end of "Episode 6", she also made the barrier more difficult to penetrate. Not even a specially made, state-of-the-art capsule can do the job of getting Monica back into the Hex. She ultimately did make it back to Westview similar to how she did the first time she entered. Instead of being sucked in unwillingly this time, though, the barrier is the one resisting Monica.
It takes a tremendous amount of strength and willpower for her to make it through, but Monica ultimately succeeds. However, the episode gave viewers a look at just how much power traveling through the barrier can have on a person, especially with someone being exposed to it a third time like Monica . Being pulled apart and hearing voices in her head clues us in that something big is about to happen, and that it did when Monica’s newfound superpowers made themselves known.
A NEW SUPERHERO EMERGES
Upon arriving back in Westview, Monica sees things differently - in a literal sense. Her eyes turn a shade of aqua blue and shots shown from her point of view demonstrate her new ability to see where various energies are radiating from inside the Hex.
There isn’t too much time to explore this power set, though, as Monica has a mission to warn Wanda of Hayward’s sinister intentions with Vision’s body. It’s during this scene that we see another power of Monica’s: the ability to resist strong, even magical, forces (in this case, Wanda using her own powers to smash Monica into the ground ). When she lands safely on the ground, her eyes once again glow teal.
That’s all the show reveals about Monica’s power set this week until the episode’s mid-credits scene. Monica heads over to Agnes’s house to check things out, opening a door leading to the basement. Her eyes glow once again upon seeing the magical elements on the staircase, but this, time, they’re purple.
COMIC CONNECTIONS
Many fans had been anticipating Monica’s superhero origin story in the MCU as she has been superpowered in the comics for many decades. The powers she is shown to possess in this episode are similar to some of the ones her comic counterpart has, though it is unknown if all the abilities she possesses on Marvel’s pages will translate to her onscreen iteration. These include skills like appearance alteration, invisibility, energy absorption and blasts, super speed, photographic memory, and the ability to pass through objects similar to the way MCU fans are used to seeing Vision do.
In addition to having an eclectic set of powers in the comics, Monica has also gone by several superhero names over the years. She was notably the second character to hold the mantle of Captain Marvel, years before the character given the title in the MCU Carol Danvers first did, and has also gone by other names like Photon and Pulsar.
The most likely superhero title Monica will end up going by in the MCU, however, is Spectrum. Not only is this her current name in the comics, but it is a fitting alias for a hero with powers tied to the electromagnetic spectrum.
Now all Monica needs (once she has her alias) is her very own superhero suit! It’s worth noting that the style of the S.W.O.R.D.-labeled suit she wears in the Hex after taking off the white, astronaut-esque outfit in "Episode 7" is similar to her comics costume, and perhaps she’ll take some inspiration from how Wanda altered the material of her clothing when she entered the Hex the first time.
New episodes of WandaVision hit Disney+ Fridays until March 5.
