Avengers: Endgame Almost Featured A Post-Credits Scene That Would've Set Up WandaVision
WandaVision, the latest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, occupies an interesting, almost liminal space. The Disney+ series dropped it's first two episodes on January 15, 2021, diving right into Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision's (Paul Bettany) new world. It was clear from the start that said world isn't quite the one we're used to — the aesthetic is designed to be reminiscent of early sixties sitcoms complete with black and white visuals, a full-frame aspect ratio, and a live-studio audience.
But in addition to all the whys and hows of Wanda and Vision's circumstance, there was a much larger question looming: How can Vision be alive at all?
If you recall, the last time we saw Vision prior to the new Disney+ show he was, so far as we could tell, dead. Regardless of which version of reality you cling to from Avengers: Infinity War, Vision either died when Scarlett Witch destroyed the Mind Stone embedded in his head, or he died when the stone was ripped from his body by Thanos (Josh Brolin). And while Avengers: Endgame may have concluded with the resurrection of all the people who died due to Thanos' snap, it would seem that anyone who died in events unrelated to the "snappening" remain dead. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), for example, sacrifices herself to get the Soul Stone in the past, and her death remains permanent. Likewise, during the final battle against Thanos, Vision is very notably absent.
So, how can Vision be alive on WandaVision? Well, it turns out that we very nearly got a closer glimpse at this conundrum all the way back to the end of Avengers: Endgame.
Why was Vision's Avengers: Endgame scene cut?
Recently, Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany were asked to interview one another for IMDB, and Olsen's first question for her co-star was about how likely he thought Vision's chances were of returning after his death in Infinity War. Surprisingly, Bettany felt there was only a 10-15% chance at the time. Far more interesting is the reason why Bettany thought his chances were so low.
Quite famously, after the MCU had set a precedent of always having at least one post-credits sequence, Avengers: Endgame had no such stinger to speak of. Endgame ends with an almost jarring finality. However, it turns out that there very nearly was a post-credits scene filmed — involving Vision. According to Bettany, the would-be sequence involved Vision's mechanical corpse. "At one point I was going to be in a tag, where you opened a sort of body bag drawer and there was the Vision," he said.
What's even more interesting is that it was Kevin Feige himself who decided, apparently at the last minute, to pull the scene. Feige now has creative oversight of both the MCU movies and TV shows, so it seems likely that he felt the Endgame teaser would have, for some reason, given away too much of WandaVision's story.
Even though it was never actually shot, it's fun to speculate: Did that scene still happen in the minds of WandaVision's writers? And could we see some form of that scene, perhaps, later in the season?
WandaVision releases new episodes to Disney+ every Friday.