SPOILER ALERT: This blog post has spoilers! If you haven’t
finished watching WandaVision yet, you may want to do that and then come back
to this post if you are interested.
Together with my wife and our 22 year old daughter, I eagerly
watched the final vision of WandaVision Friday night. We all enjoyed it.
The special effects, the acting, and the story telling were all up
to the normal high standards of Marvel. But when I watch a story, I also care
deeply about how it connects with God’s truth. Marvel is not a Christian
organization, so I don’t expect direct and explicit connections. But if a story
is moving and meaningful in any good way, it almost certainly has some relation
to the real story we experience in God’s real world. Our family likes to talk
about these spiritual connections and reflect on them. In WandaVision, many of
these connections are related to the loss, tragedy, and trauma that Wanda has
suffered.
Wanda’s life has been filled with a lot of terrible tragedy, loss,
trauma, and evil. She has seen a lot of death. Her parents were killed by a bomb
in front of her as a child and her brother died in a battle they were fighting
in. But these losses were not what hurt her the most. In a valiant attempt to
save half of humanity, and at his own earnest request, she herself had to kill her
closest friend and deep love: Vision. And then she is denied the opportunity to
even give him a decent burial. It’s not surprising that Wanda experiences a
type of severe breakdown. I’m actually glad that Marvel shows some of the
damage to their characters and even some of their wrong responses to the evil
they face and experience (for example, Thor wrongly responds to lots of loss
with substance abuse). It isn’t healthy to pretend that people (even superheroes)
could lose so much and not be affected by it. Some of the connections to Christian
truth that I see in WandaVision are related to our responses to loss and evil.
Do people in real life suffer as much loss and face as much evil
as Wanda does in Marvel’s world? Sadly, sometimes we do. Around the world
people are bombed and slaughtered in many places. And even in relatively
peaceful spots, loved ones die from cancer, accidents, and murder. I’ve been in
pastoral ministry for many years and as a result I’m often graciously used by
God to help comfort and encourage people who have faced all types of loss. Wanda’s
story is of course fiction, and yet her loss and suffering are things that
people in our real world can relate to far too often.
With that long introduction, I would like to share seven ways in which
WandaVision connects to Christian truths (whether or not anyone at Marvel
intended this, I do not know).
#1 Wanda’s Desire to be with Vision Again
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a
shout, with the archangel's voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in
Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught
up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will
always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 CSB17)
I have preached at many funerals and have visited with families
during the days leading up to the funeral and afterwards. They miss their loved
ones. Wanda misses Vision. She wants to see him again. She uses magic to create
a new Vision. Christians have something better. Based on God’s Word that never
fails, we can be confident that one day we will be with our loved ones who died
in Christ. Unlike Wanda and Vision, once we are reunited with loved ones at the
resurrection, we will never be separated by death again. And what of those who
lose loved ones who were not (as far as we can tell) saved? This is a painful
loss, but it will be made up for by a vast multitude of brothers and sisters in
Christ in eternity whom we will grow to love more deeply than even the closest
ties on earth allow.
We mourn the temporary loss of Christian loved ones, but we “. . .
do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians
4:13, NIV). Our grieving is mixed with glorious hope, and this helps us to
grieve in more healthy ways. Which brings us to the second connection . . .
#2 Wanda’s desire to control her shattered world
7 My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock.
My refuge is in God.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people; pour
out your hearts before him. God is our refuge.Selah
(Ps. 62:7-8
CSB17)
A common response to a shattered world is to try to create a safe
place where we control everyone and everything so that we cannot be hurt
anymore. Due to her powers, Wanda is able to take this to an extreme. Even in
real life, some people do use whatever power they have to try to control others
in unhealthy ways. I’m glad that WandaVision did not shrink back from showing
how harmful this can be to the people being controlled and manipulated. What Wanda
was doing was wrong, and at one point Vision points this out to her. She finally
comes to see it herself.
As Christians, we have a better option. We can trust God to
control our world and all the things we can’t control, or shouldn’t try to
control. We can believe His promises that He uses all things for the good of
those who love Him. We know that even if He allows us to suffer harm, in the end
it will turn out for our good if we keep trusting Him:
For I consider
that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory
that is going to be revealed to us. (Rom. 8:18 CSB17)
Even with this knowledge, Christians can be tempted to try to
control others in unhealthy ways. WandaVision can serve as a type of warning
tale against this behavior.
#3 Our sense of control is an illusion: there are hidden evil
forces at work
Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is
prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. (1 Pet.
5:8 CSB17)
Wanda thinks she is in control, and in some ways she certainly is,
but there is another force at work. Agatha has seen Wanda’s wrong response to
pain and moves in to try to take advantage of the situation with evil motives. Likewise,
when people misuse power to control others, it may seem like they are getting
their way. But the devil will use their sin to harm them and others. Unlike
Agatha, Satan is real. And we can’t defeat him by being clever. We can only
defeat the devil by submitting to Christ and depending on the power of God.
#4 Wanda’s sacrifice for the good of her neighbors
and walk in love,
as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant
offering to God. (Eph. 5:2 CSB17)
When Wanda realizes the harm that her magical control of her
neighbors is doing to them, she releases them all from her control even at
great cost to herself. This is an act of Christ-like love. We are called to
love others in the same way.
#5 Lots of courageous characters
Be strong and courageous; don't be terrified or afraid of
them. For the LORD your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave
you or abandon you. (Deut. 31:6 CSB17)
A consistent theme in Marvel stories is that there are characters
who show great courage in the face of terrible danger and evil. This isn’t as
easy as they make it look! Not only Wanda and Vision, but also characters like
Monica Rambeau, Darcy Lewis, and Jimmy Woo all willingly face danger to help
others.
Does God ask Christians today to face danger to help save others? Yes!
God calls Christians to go to dark and dangerous places in order to tell His
good news and share His love. Christians often go to the darkest and most
difficult spots in the world in obedience to His call.
#6 Vision’s question about his identity
See what great
love the Father has given us that we should be called God's children-- and we
are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn't know him. (1 Jn.
3:1 CSB17)
Vision asks Wanda who he is. A deep part of his identity is based
on her love for him. As Christians, our deepest identity is based on the Father’s
love for us. We are His children. Created by Him. Saved by Him. Hallelujah!
#7 Witchcraft in Marvel’s fiction world vs. our real world
No one among you
is to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire, practice divination, tell
fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery, (Deuteronomy 18:10 CSB17)
In Marvel’s fictional world, witchcraft and sorcery can be used
for either good or evil. We have seen this with Dr. Strange, and now we see it
with Wanda and Agatha. But in the real world we live in witchcraft and related
occult activity is contrary to God’s will. The Bible treats it as a serious and
dangerous sin, and so should we. We should not dabble in or play with things
like Ouija boards, Tarot cards, fortune telling, horoscopes, magic talismans,
or anything at all like that. I think it is ok to watch things like WandaVision
as long as we do not feel tempted by occult like power. Many of us might laugh
at the thought that anyone would actually get involved in such things. But many
do.
Conclusion
Wanda suffered terrible loss and severe trauma. She responds in a
way that is understandable, but still sinful. It hurts other people. But in the
end, she does what is right. Thankfully, when we experience terrible loss and
severe trauma in the real world, God gives us resources that are stronger than
the Hulk and more powerful than Thor’s hammer to deal with it. We have the mighty
promises of God. He Himself is with us. Wanda did not know of these wonderful
promises and in the fictional Marvel world there is no evidence of what we need
most to face terrible evil: namely, a God who is both good and also more
powerful than all evil, a God who loves us. Praise God, for those who know
Christ, the real world is much better than anything Wanda can imagine or
conjure up.
Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .
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