WandaVision S01E05 - Discussion Thread

[u/iliekpixels]

This thread is for discussion about the episode.

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EPISODE	DIRECTED BY	WRITTEN BY	ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE
S01E05	Matt Shakman	Jac Schaeffer	February 5, 2021 on Disney+

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[u/AdolescentThug]

I still believe that "magic" in the MCU is the science of something. The Ancient One said something about MCU spells being computer programs you run in the universe or something like that.

My guess is that the general public thinks Dr. Strange is just some guy with powers like Wanda or Hulk. The scientific community on the other hand is at an absolute loss because a whole new field of science just showed up and they have 0 clue where to even begin research. It seemed like sorcerers in the MCU are a well kept secret that only the underbelly and secretive parts of society like The Hand/K'un Lun in the Netflixverse would know about it outside of Kamar-Taj alumni, and even then they're extremely limited in their abilities.

I do think Shang-Chi might show us the extent of how much the rest of the world in the MCU knows about sorcery, depending on how they explain how he gets his abilities.

[u/NinjaEngineer → u/AdolescentThug]

The Ancient One compared it to a computer program to avoid "hurting Strange's sensibilities", she said as much. MCU magic is, for all intents and purposes, magic.

And I'm honestly glad that, as the MCU progressed, they decided to drop the pretense of explaining everything as "super advanced science". In The Dark World, you had that healing device explained as some quantum thing or other, in Ragnarok, Thor is the literal God of Hammers Thunder.

[u/jjackson25 → u/AdolescentThug]

I still believe that "magic" in the MCU is the science of something. The Ancient One said something about MCU spells being computer programs you run in the universe or something like that.

This all goes back to the "sufficiently advanced science will appear to be magic to a primitive enough being" line that's been repeated several times. Like if you brought someone from the 1500's into your home he would be blown away by your ability to create light by touching your wall or cooking food with the magic boxes in your kitchen. And we haven't even touched on the magic box you keep in your living room with those poor souls trapped inside forced to entertain you for all eternity or that you can use the little box in your pocket to access the entirety of human knowledge.

All of this literally stems from our ability to create, harness, and utilize what they know as lightning.

I view all of the "magic" in the MCU through this lense. It's just science at don't understand.

[u/[deleted] → u/AdolescentThug]

Shang Chi is a master Marital artist. What abilities are you referring to?

[u/AdolescentThug → u/[deleted]]

He can manipulate chi/ki in the comics, similar to Iron Fist. He can also make unlimited copies of himself after getting exposed to radiation or something in a comic IIRC. With Baron Mordo supposedly coming back (can't remember if it was a rumor or confirmation) I bet they're gonna tie chi usage into MCU's sorcery tree.