“WandaVision” Showrunner Talks Episode 5’s Big Cameo

Marvel’s WandaVision got off to a bit of a slow start with general audiences, but that all changed with the last two episodes, which provided some much needed context for the show, as well as settling in more firmly within the established canon of the universe. However, the thing that really got people talking was the surprise cameo of Wanda’s deceased brother, Pietro, but this time the character was played by Evan Peters, who played the role in FOX’s X-Men films.

While his involvement had long been rumored, no one was quite sure how the character would appear, specifically whether he’d actually be a part of the action, or some kind of hallucination or magical trick. Speaking with Marvel.com today, the series showrunner, Jac Schaeffer, opened up about the episode and the introduction of Evan Peters’ version of Quicksilver:

We loved the idea of [bringing him back], and then we were like, how in the world are we going to make this make logical sense? Like, how do we justify this? Because that’s the thing, you can hatch a million great ideas, but to make them land, to make them be grounded, to make them feel organic to the larger story. We thought like, how do we give him this entrance, and then enjoy that, and then make it crazy? And we had long had the idea of the trope of the brother, or the relative, or whoever comes to town and like, stirs things up with the family – that sitcom trope. Everybody was really excited. I think Kevin [Feige, Marvel Studios president] wanted to make sure that there was a reason for it, that it made sense. And I hope that’s what we did.

It is interesting that his appearance isn’t a simple recasting, with Kat Dennings’ Darcy Lewis commenting that Wanda had “recast” her brother. What this means for the MCU overall is still up in the air, but most agree that it seems to be the first step in integrating the FOX-era X-Men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. WandaVision has four episodes left, with episode six to air this coming Friday.