A new TV spot for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness just dropped, and Wanda fans got their most exciting footage yet: it looks like Wanda’s sons, Billy and Tommy Maximoff, are definitely going to make some kind of appearance! But what’s going on in these new shots? Are the boys actually part of the story, or is it just Wanda’s imagination? Here’s what we know, what we think we know, and what we’re wildly speculating about!
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, coming out on May 6th, will see Stephen and Wanda teaming up (or going head to head?) as Stephen journeys through the multiverse to undo the damage he did in Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, as exciting as Stephen’s story sounds, the continuation of Wanda’s journey through grief and redemption is generating just as much buzz. We already knew that Billy and Tommy would play an integral role in Wanda’s story, and now it looks like their significant involvement in the plot of Doctor Strange 2 is confirmed.
Billy and Tommy’s Origins
We first met Billy and Tommy in WandaVision, the 2021 Disney Plus series that focuses on the post-Blip love story between Wanda and Vision. When Wanda creates a false sitcom reality with Vision in Westview, New Jersey, she becomes pregnant and gives birth to twins. The twins only stay infants for a few minutes, though, as the show quickly establishes that they can age themselves up at will. The infants quickly become preschoolers, and when Wanda tells the boys that they’re not old enough to take care of a stray dog they found (RIP Sparky!), they respond by aging themselves up to age 10. The twins try to age up again to avoid feeling the grief of Sparky’s death (damn you, Agatha!), but Wanda stops them, and they stay 10 years old for the rest of the show.
When Wanda realizes that she’s holding the real citizens of Westview hostage, she shuts down the hex surrounding the town. This means, though, that Billy and Tommy disappear, since they’re part of the spell. Wanda and Vision put them to bed, and Wanda says goodnight to them in maybe the most heartbreaking way possible: “Thank you for choosing me to be your mom.”
But wait! In the post-credit scene after the finale, we see Wanda studying the Darkhold. Suddenly, she hears Billy and Tommy’s voices somewhere in the ether, calling for help. Fans have speculated ever since that the twins must be trapped somewhere in the multiverse, and Wanda’s main objective in Doctor Strange 2 will be finding them.
That New TV Spot
The new TV spot opens with Stephen talking about how he’s been dreaming. Wanda chimes in, saying that “every morning” she has “the same nightmare.” As she speaks, we see her back in Westview, with Billy and Tommy smiling at her. She walks up to them and reaches out to hug them…but then the scene snaps back to reality, with her dressed as the Scarlet Witch, her arms still out.
This shot seems to strongly suggest that Billy and Tommy are appearing to her in a dream—that she dreams of finding them at night, and the nightmare she wakes up to each morning is the reality that they’re still gone.
So does that mean they play an actual role in the movie? Maybe, maybe not. It’s entirely possible that they’ll be relegated to Wanda’s dream sequence. But the odds seem overwhelmingly likely that they’ll show up in the MCU again at some point.
The Twins’ Future in the MCU
First off, let’s talk about Wanda’s grief. Wanda may look like she’s doing okay in her European cottage, but a look under the surface quickly shows that that’s not the case. We know she’s being corrupted by the Darkhold. She knows that her kids still exist somewhere, and not knowing how to find and help them would drive any parent to the breaking point. In order to do justice to Wanda’s character, Marvel will need to bring Billy and Tommy back in some fashion, whether it’s to help Wanda heal, or just give her closure.
Plus, it’s obvious at this point that Marvel is setting up the Young Avengers, a superhero team consisting of Billy (AKA Wiccan), Tommy (AKA Speed), Kate Bishop, America Chavez, and Kid Loki (plus some others who haven’t made their MCU debuts yet). We already saw Billy and Tommy get their superpowers in WandaVision, so it feels inevitable that we’ll see them as Young Avengers at some point.
Excited to see Wanda’s story continue? Have any theories about Billy and Tommy’s roles in Doctor Strange 2? Let us know in the comments!
(image: Marvel)
