WandaVision’s Finale Echoed The Incredible Hulk’s Ending

Warning: SPOILERS for WandaVision Episode 9 – “The Series Finale”

The post-credits scene of WandaVision‘s finale echoes the final moments of The Incredible Hulk and draws some interesting parallels between Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Bruce Banner (Edward Norton). As the second movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, 2008’s The Incredible Hulk is often forgotten, especially since Banner and Hulk were recast with Mark Ruffalo starting with 2012’s The Avengers. But The Incredible Hulk‘s Marvel legacy will be further touched upon in Disney+’s She-Hulk. Meanwhile, WandaVision‘s ending offers a few nods to Edward Norton’s lone Hulk movie.

In The Incredible Hulk, Bruce Banner was pursued by the U.S. Military headed up by Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt), who later became Secretary of State in Captain America: Civil War and introduced the Sokovia Accords because of Wanda’s fatal mistake in Lagos, Nigeria. In his movie, Banner was chased from South America to Harlem, New York, where he faced Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), who was transformed by gamma radiation into the classic Hulk villain, Abomination, a creature comparable to the Hulk in power and savagery. Hulk and the Abomination tore up Harlem but after defeating the Abomination, Hulk escaped capture once again. The final scene of The Incredible Hulk jumps forward 31 days where Banner is in hiding in a cabin in British Columbia. The last shot of the film is of Banner achieving some mastery of the green goliath within him and his green eyes signify he can now morph into the Hulk at will.

WandaVision’s finale also placed Wanda Maximoff in a cabin in self-chosen, extreme isolation in the post-credits scene. Wanda fully became the Scarlet Witch and left Westview, New Jersey, behind in order to understand the chaos magic she’d unlocked in her battle against Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn). Additionally, like Banner, Wanda chose a remote location far removed from people so she wouldn’t endanger anyone. She also must come to terms with how she tortured 3,000 Westview residents by magically forcing them to play roles in WandaVision, the TV sitcom reality she created for herself and her husband Vision (Paul Bettany). Wanda’s choice to become a recluse as she gets a handle on her powers is a classic Bruce Banner move since he was the MCU’s original practitioner of living off the grid and wanting to be left alone. And, like Banner, bad things happen when someone gets Wanda Maximoff angry.

WandaVision even mirrored The Incredible Hulk in how Wanda’s astral form of the Scarlet Witch floated with her legs crossed as she read from the Darkhold, the MCU’s book of dark magic. It’s not unlike Banner sitting crosslegged on the floor in Zen-like meditation at the end of The Incredible Hulk. Wanda then hears the voices of her twin sons, Billy (Julian Hilliard) and Tommy (Jett Klyne), calling to her from the Multiverse. It’s a lot like how Banner made his own contact with the Hulk within him, which made him smile towards the camera.

When the Scarlet Witch returns to the MCU in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, she should be far more powerful and capable with her chaos magic. Wanda’s evolution is a lot like Banner’s; in The Avengers, he showed that he turns into the Hulk whenever he wants because he’s “always angry”. Hulk kept on evolving and becoming smarter in Thor: Ragnarok before Banner became Smart Hulk, the man and monster combined, in Avengers: Endgame. Wanda is going through her own continual evolution from her debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron and WandaVision has now retconned her into a sorceress who is destined to “destroy the world”, at least according to what Agatha read in the Scarlet Witch’s chapter in the Darkhold.

By the end of their respective stories, Wanda and Banner are, at best, anti-heroes who are wanted for various crimes and mistrusted by the general public. But at heart, they are still genuine heroes, just tragic ones who have made mistakes they likely will never fully atone for. However, at least Banner’s many legal problems were resolved and he was no longer a hunted fugitive when he joined the Avengers. Smart Hulk is now so beloved by people in the MCU he takes selfies with children in diners. Even after the events of WandaVision, it’s possible Wanda’s own crimes and legal issues could also be wiped clean if the Scarlet Witch finally signs the Sokovia Accords and is recruited back into the Avengers.

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