The MCU is spilling over onto Disney+ in Phase 4, with WandaVision poised to become the first of many live-action series that flesh out this ever-growing universe.
The first WandaVision trailer is jam-packed with plenty of Easter eggs and neat references to Marvel’s comics, but perhaps none cooler than a
subtle nod to House of M, one of the most important X-Men stories of all time.
In the trailer, a noteworthy Easter egg is a bottle of wine with an “M” that is reminiscent of the House of M comics logo. And if we translate the name of the wine, “Maison du Mepris,” it comes out to “House of Mepris” or “House of Contempt.” This seems like a clear reference to House of M!
In the past we’ve explored the many ways Marvel Studios could begin introducing mutants during Phase 4, but this might be our first tangible clue as to how that process will unfold. Is WandaVision’s House of M teaser a herald of things to come? Is it a sign the X-Men already exist in the MCU? Let’s explore the evidence.
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WandaVision: What Is House of M?
House of M is an X-Men/Avengers crossover from 2005, written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Olivier Coipel. Essentially, the series explores what happens when an out-of-control Scarlet Witch is manipulated into changing reality so that mutants, not humans, are the dominant race on Earth. In the House of M reality, Magneto reigns supreme, the Avengers are either reluctant collaborators or underground rebels and Wolverine is the only hero who remembers the world as it ought to be.
As always happens in these cases, reality is eventually restored to normal, but not without some lasting repercussions. Readers eventually learn it was Wanda’s brother Quicksilver, not her father Magneto, who compelled her to create the House of M. Magneto kills Quicksilver in a rage, which causes a distraught Wanda to declare, “No more mutants.”
When the world returns to normal, the X-Men quickly discover Wanda has all but completely erased the mutant gene from existence. Only 198 mutants remain across the entire world, with even heavy-hitters like Magneto and Professor X rendered powerless.
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Did the MCU’s X-Men Vanish?
There’s little reason to assume Marvel Studios is building toward a direct adaptation of the House of M storyline in the MCU. There’s no direct confirmation mutants even exist in the MCU, so what would be the point in building a movie around the mutant race being decimated by Scarlet Witch’s powers? However, the House of M Easter egg does tease the possibility of Wanda’s magical powers being tied to the absence of the X-Men.
Many fans have speculated that mutants already exist in the MCU, but their presence is being masked somehow. Perhaps Professor X used his telepathic powers to make the world forget about mutants? But the House of M tease in the trailer could suggest Wanda was instead the culprit. What if the X-Men were once an active super-team in the MCU? What if they saved the world many times, only to be wiped out of existence in some sort of House of M-inspired clash with an unstable Scarlet Witch? In this version, the mutant gene isn’t just eliminated; every person in the world has now forgotten mutants ever existed in the first place.
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If so, this would be a quick solution for introducing the X-Men into the MCU. If Wanda comes to her senses and remembers the crimes she committed against mutantkind, maybe she can cast a new spell to undo that damage and restore the X-Men. That restoration could come at the end of WandaVision, or perhaps later on when Wanda returns in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She may need the Sorcerer Supreme’s help to hone her abilities and undo this terrible magical crime.
Obviously, Marvel hasn’t introduced the X-Men before now because they didn’t have the rights. Only with Disney’s purchase of 21st Century Fox have the rights returned and the door opened for mutants in the MCU. The advantage of drawing from House of M and revealing the X-Men to be forgotten heroes from an earlier era is that Marvel Studios won’t have to waste time establishing the team and recycling the same origin stories fans already know from the Fox movies. They can simply move forward and begin working the (no doubt recast with new actors) X-Men into the fabric of the post-Endgame MCU.
Making Scarlet Witch the Hero
Another intriguing possibility here is that Scarlet Witch will be positioned as the hero of this House of M-inspired conflict rather than the misguided villain she was in the comics story. What if another spell-caster was responsible for erasing mutants from existence? Perhaps there are other witches in the MCU who viewed mutants and their innate biological powers as a threat and wiped that threat off the board? There are certainly supernatural Marvel villains we could picture being behind a crime like that – Morgan le Fay, Selene, even Doctor Doom. And in the case of Doom, it’s worth remembering he was eventually revealed to be the secret mastermind behind House of M in the comics (and he’s also a Fox character who Disney now has the movie rights to as well).
Many Marvel readers criticized House of M for causing what they viewed as long-term damage to Scarlet Witch by making her the cause of widespread death and suffering. She’s since been redeemed, more or less, but for many mutants the pain of M-Day and their hatred of Wanda still lingers.
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Marvel Studios has already shown a track record of side-stepping the more unsavory qualities of its heroes. For example, Tony Stark’s alcoholism was never a huge issue, and Hank Pym (as far as we know) was never guilty of hitting his wife. This may be another case where the MCU tweaks the source material to avoid damaging a popular hero’s reputation.
Wanda may not turn out to be the cause of the X-Men’s disappearance, but instead the catalyst that brings them back. At this point we don’t know what villain Wanda and Vision will clash with in the Disney+ series, assuming there’s a traditional villain at all. Wanda is probably her own worst enemy at the moment. But some fans have speculated Kathryn Hahn’s “nosy neighbor” character Agnes may be a witch herself, which could make her the show’s main antagonist. (Fans are also speculating “Agnes” may actually be Agatha Harkness, the witch who helped teach Wanda how to master her magical powers in the comics.)
As Wanda learns more about her powers and the history of magic in the MCU, it may fall on her to undo a great crime and bring the X-Men back. Who better than the character who’s always bridged the gap between the X-Men and Avengers?
For more on the future of the MCU, check out every upcoming movie and TV show and find out the latest on Black Widow’s release date.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.