How WandaVision's Finale Sets Up Nightmare As The MCU Phase 4's Villain
WandaVision’s finale sets up a lot of potential plotlines for the future of the MCU, including a tease at Nightmare possibly being a main villain in Phase 4. The series’ climax brought a lot of Marvel’s more fantastical elements to the MCU by properly introducing witches and magic, and it hinted at even more coming in the future. With Scarlet Witch confirmed and Nightmare suspected to appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the WandaVision finale could be foreshadowing the Dream Dimension.
In the wake of Thanos’s defeat at the end of Avengers: Endgame, the MCU has lacked a major antagonist. Spider-Man: Far from Home and WandaVision both dealt with more personal stories, and that trend will likely continue in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Future projects, however, like Spider-Man: No Way Home and the Doctor Strange sequel, will see larger crossovers and therefore, in all likelihood, bigger threats. In the pantheon of Marvel villains who could feature heavily in Phase 4, Nightmare currently looks like a probable pick.
MCU Phase 4’s heightened focus on both the multiverse and the more occult storylines of Marvel comics points to some ancient evils rising soon, which WandaVision has hinted at several times over the course of its run. Though nothing is firmly established by the end of the finale, there are several hints that both Nightmare and the Dream Dimension are about to come into play. Here’s how the WandaVision finale teases both and potentially sets up one of Phase 4’s main conflicts.
In the Marvel comics, a mystical realm called the Dream Dimension exists, essentially formed by the collected subconscious of humanity. This realm is ruled by an ancient, dark being called Nightmare, who can capture and torture people’s astral forms while they sleep, feeding off of their fear. Nightmare is a primary villain to Doctor Strange and has featured in many of Marvel’s major storylines, including Secret Invasion, which is slated for an upcoming adaptation in the MCU.
The Dream Dimension itself is one of many ethereal realms that exist in the Marvel universe. It’s been said to border both the Realm of Madness – an equally terrifying place – and the Astral Plane, and it can be voluntarily reached via focused astral projection. Magic has also been used as a means of reaching the Dream Dimension, as the powers of sorcery and astral projection are often intertwined, like in the cases of Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch. Though the more frightening corners of Marvel’s multiverse haven’t been shown much in the MCU, the Astral Plane has been pivotal in films like Doctor Strange and Black Panther, and other intangible dimensions like the Quantum Realm have made appearances as well. That, combined with the events of WandaVision, sets the stage for the Dream Dimension to feature in Phase 4.
A lot of new lore is thrown around in the WandaVision finale. Agatha Harkness invokes the Darkhold – an ancient text of witchcraft and sorcery created by the primordial god of chaos, Chthon – amid her other references to Chaos Magic, witchcraft, and the Sorcerer Supreme. In the episode’s second and final post-credits scene, Wanda is seen in a remote cabin, going about her daily business while appearing to read the Darkhold in her astral form. As she studies the ancient text, she hears the voices of her sons cry out for help, jolting her out of her trance before the screen cuts to black. It’s a great cliffhanger that can be interpreted a few different ways, but there’s a strong argument that the scene is actually teasing the Dream Dimension.
Because Wanda conjured Billy and Tommy from her own power, they don’t occupy the same space as normal people. When the Hex around Westview disappears, the twins don’t die so much as they simply cease to be, as the magic that created them has dissipated. One way to interpret the creation of the twins and the entire Westview illusion is as a sort of dream – a technicality Nightmare has utilized in the comics on multiple occasions. This is particularly likely as the actual spell Wanda cast over the town was largely subconscious, feeding into an extended fantasy that she wasn't fully in control of.
Through that interpretation, it would make sense that if Billy and Tommy still exist anywhere, they exist in the Dream Dimension, and could be trapped by Nightmare. There are a number of other hints throughout the WandaVision finale that play into this theory, such as the Westview residents’ claim that they were living in Wanda’s nightmares the whole time her spell was active, and the fact that Wanda’s own signature power – first shown in Age of Ultron and performed again in WandaVision episode 9 on Agatha – is the ability to send people back to their own worst nightmares. That’s a lot of centralized, fear-centric subconscious energy for a small New Jersey town, and it likely would have gotten the attention of Nightmare. Since Scarlet Witch is costarring in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and the film’s own title references the Realm of Madness, which borders the Dream Dimension, it’s possible that Wanda joins up with Strange to save her children from the clutches of Nightmare.
From everything seen so far, MCU Phase 4 seems to be much more internal and emotional in its narrative focus. The new stories deal with the aftermath of the Infinity Saga from different characters’ perspectives, like Wanda dealing with Vision’s death, and Bucky and Sam grappling with carrying on Captain America’s legacy. Phase 4 is also exploring the multiverse much more thoroughly and opening up connections to Marvel’s more mystical plotlines.
Nightmare as a villain has always dealt with the fears, insecurities, ambitions, and personal weaknesses of characters – themes heavily at play in Phase 4. He’s also been a direct foe to Doctor Strange and Loki, both of whom are playing big roles in this chapter of the saga. Nightmare exists at the intersection of the mystical and the personal, and he could be a perfect villain for Phase 4 after being potentially set up at the end of WandaVision.