Why The Toy Helicopter In WandaVision Episode 2 Means More Than You Think
Contains major spoilers for WandaVision episodes 1 and 2
The first two episodes of WandaVision find the super-powered couple Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) awkwardly integrating themselves into their new decade-hopping neighborhood, facing classic sitcom hijinks complicated by their efforts to hide their powers. It's a sweet world where they're perfectly in love and the worst that can happen is not fitting in, but small cracks soon begin to break through the cheery suburbia. The pair of them are missing memories, unable to remember why they moved to Westview or where they came from, and it's starting to bother Wanda.
The second episode of the series finds the couple, now in the 1960s, in their bedroom, with a strange noise waking them up. It appears to be caused by a tree banging against their window, so they don't think any more of it — until the next morning, when Wanda hears a sound again. Upon investigation, she finds a toy helicopter — shockingly bright-colored in her otherwise grayscale world. With a glance to the bedroom window, Wanda realizes this must have been the source of the nighttime noises. She's concerned and confused, not understanding the strangely colorful item in her monochromatic life, but the symbol on its side is a huge clue as to why the helicopter is actually there.
It seems the helicopter is part of S.W.O.R.D.'s attempts to contact Wanda
The biggest clue to the red-and-yellow helicopter's significance is the small logo on its side: a sword piercing through a circle. It's the symbol of the world security agency S.W.O.R.D., known in the Marvel comics for operating in space and defending Earth from extraterrestrials. It might also be where Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is vacationing in the end credits scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home, when he's shown aboard a spaceship. (It's a popular theory among MCU fans.)
Curiously, the S.W.O.R.D. symbol also appears on the back of the mysterious beekeeper's suit at the end of the episode. While it's still unclear what exactly is going on with this TV-land, it seems like S.W.O.R.D. is trying to contact Wanda. The helicopter was evidently their first attempt to break through, followed by the voice on the radio calling her name, and finally the emergence of the beekeeper.
Notably, this isn't even the only helicopter in the series. In the WandaVision trailer, a very real helicopter is seen heading straight toward a shimmering red wall, with what might be the S.W.O.R.D. symbol painted on its side. One theory proposes that this helicopter passes through the red wall and into Wanda's reality, becoming the toy she finds in her roses.
It also doesn't seem like a mere coincidence that the toy helicopter is bright red, as the color continues to pop up throughout the show. Later in episode 2, Dottie's (Emma Caulfield) blood appears a brilliant red against her monochromatic skin, the only other instance of pigment in their black-and-white world until Wanda sparkles her living room into full color. The repeated use of red is likely a reference to Wanda's powers, which manifest as a red energy (hence the name Scarlet Witch), and might be a clue that she created this faux reality herself.
Theories abound for how Wanda and Vision have found themselves in this square life complete with a laugh track, but it might not be until S.W.O.R.D. finally breaks through to her that we get some real answers.