The Mind-Blowing WandaVision Theory About A Possible Vision Clone
Sure, the weekly wait for each new episode of WandaVision is a killer, but it lets the series breathe and lets Marvel fans analyze every last detail. Half the fun of watching the series week-by-week is catching all the WandaVision Easter eggs and fan theories about WandaVision and where it's taking Scarlet Witch and Vision. But one of the most interesting ideas about the future of everyone's favorite synthezoid comes from Reddit and suggests that the Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division (S.W.O.R.D.) may have a sentient weapon of its own.
Although acting S.W.O.R.D. director Tyler Hayward (Josh Stamberg) seemed like a friendly ally when audiences first met him — as Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) returned to work — his increasingly hostile attitude clearly suggests he's up to no good. The most popular theory is that he's secretly a Skrull — one of those green shape-shifters from Captain Marvel — and that WandaVision is quietly setting the stage for Nick Fury's Secret Invasion series on Disney+. And as we saw WandaVision episode 6, Hayward clearly has some nefarious contingency plans up his sleeve for situations just like the one unfolding in Westview. One such plan was uncovered by Darcy Lewis (A.K.A. the best thing about Thor: The Dark World) as she broke into a S.W.O.R.D. database. As she discovers, Project Cataract is apparently "classified weapons intel" which is based on the remains of Vision's body, and some viewers think this means a clone of the hero will be S.W.O.R.D.'s secret weapon.
Is S.W.O.R.D. on a Vision quest?
Longtime comic readers might have already picked up on the way WandaVision has riffed on the second volume of Steve Englebert's 1985 series, The Vision and the Scarlet Witch, with the introduction of the duo's children, Billy and Tommy. But it's also leaning into another classic storyline, Vision Quest. That arc by John Byrne saw Scarlet Witch steal Vision's dead body from a government facility to bring him back to life. Sound familiar? Wanda ends up rebuilding her synthezoid husband and reviving him, but he's devoid of his personality and instead of his typical red, green and yellow look, he's completely white. One fan theory suggests this might be where project Cataract is heading.
As Reddit user c_is_for_classified explained "a cataract is a defect in the lens of the eye that leads to double vision." As we've seen from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, every detail is meticulously placed, so the name Cataract will have been chosen for a reason. Since S.W.O.R.D. was working on the remains of Vision's body before Wanda broke in and took them back, it's entirely possible they've figured out a way to bring him back, albeit without his original personality, which stemmed from Tony Stark's artificial-intelligence friend J.A.R.V.I.S. and the (now-destroyed) Mind Stone.
Additionally, user SpyX370 pointed out that a symptom of cataracts is that it "makes your vision go white," which, honestly, feels a little on the nose, but it's still a very valid point. Our only problem with the theory, is that it seems like a waste to have a charismatic actor like Paul Bettany play a completely soulless character. So if Marvel is introducing a white Vision, there has to be a specific reason. We'll just have to wait for the next few episodes to find out more.