Now that WandaVision has come to an end, viewers are coming up with all types of theories and interpretations of the events from the series, and among those is one that suggests the show is secret FBI propaganda. With the end of the Infinity Saga, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is ready to move forward with its highly-anticipated Phase 4, which will not only cover the movie side of this universe but also TV/streaming, with TV shows exclusive to Disney+ that will have a direct impact on the movies, unlike what happened with Netflix’s Marvel shows.
First in line in this new era in the MCU is WandaVision, a TV series focused on Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany). Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision follows Wanda and Vision as they live an idyllic suburban life in the town of Westview, New Jersey, but it was all an illusion created by a heart-broken Wanda, who was still coming to terms with the death of Vision in Avengers: Infinity War. WandaVision also saw the introduction of new characters like Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) and the return of others like Thor’s Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) and Ant-Man the Wasp’s Jimmy Woo (Randall Park).
The latter’s appearance in WandaVision was made possible thanks to the FBI’s intervention in the investigation of a missing witness and Westview in general, and thanks to the combined efforts of Jimmy, Darcy, and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), S.W.O.R.D.’s acting director Tyler Hayward (Josh Stamberg) was arrested and the FBI took over. While many viewers were happy to see Jimmy Woo again and in a more relevant role than in Ant-Man and the Wasp, others feel his appearance was a bit suspicious, coming up with a theory on how Wandavision is actually secret FBI propaganda, as suggested by The Guardian. It all starts with the use of the FBI logo, which The Guardian explains requires approval from the agency, and WandaVision had Jimmy and other agents wearing their FBI jackets.
Another piece of evidence they provide is the special thanks to the Department of Defense in WandaVision’s end credits, which make them believe Marvel and Disney had a sort-of collaboration with the US government in which they would create propaganda in exchange for military equipment, location access, and consultation. Through Jimmy Woo, then, Marvel would be giving the FBI and the US government a friendlier image instead of yet another negative portrayal as often happens in movies and TV shows (not necessarily from the MCU). The Guardian goes on to explain that this isn’t the first time Marvel and the US government work together, as they did so in Iron Man, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Captain Marvel, and in order for the collaboration to happen, they have to give the Pentagon “total script approval rights”, so having a “special thanks” to the Pentagon in the end credits of WandaVision would point at the government having a final say on the script, thus validating the theory of the show being FBI propaganda.
Of course, the MCU’s examples are not the first collaborations between Hollywood and the US government in film history. The biggest example, as also pointed out by The Guardian, is Top Gun, which according to them gave the navy the chance to rewrite some parts of the script in exchange for access to fighter jets and aircraft barriers, and it was a successful collaboration as the navy say 500% increase in enlistments the year the movie was released. Another case that shows how much the government likes to be involved in the making of some movies is The Silence of the Lambs, as according to producer Ed Saxon, the FBI tried to turn the movie into propaganda for the recruitment of female agents.
While the involvement of the FBI and the US government in WandaVision wouldn’t be surprising, it seems unlikely that the series, through the addition of Jimmy Woo, is secret FBI propaganda. Jimmy Woo’s appearance was necessary as he’s the link between the FBI, S.W.O.R.D., and the rest of the MCU, and is a character that viewers were left wanting more of after his brief but fun debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
