Marvel’s WandaVision is finally here, with a two-episode premiere now streaming on Disney+. One thing is for sure, after watching the first two episodes of this new series, fans are going to have a lot of questions. And most likely at the top of that list will be, “what is that weird logo that keeps showing up?”
WARNING – WandaVision “Episode 1 and 2” spoilers to follow
On multiple occasions throughout the first two episodes, we see a new logo pop up. We first see it at the end of “Episode 1” as we pan away from the television in which Wanda and Vision’s sitcom life was taking place. The logo pops up on a computer screen and on a notebook. We also see it twice in “Episode 2,” first on a mysteriously colorful helicopter that crashes into Wanda’s rose bushes and second on the back of the strange beekeeper’s uniform.
While a lot of other clues throughout these first two episode point to involvement for Hydra or even Stark Industries, the logo very clearly belongs to another classic Marvel organization known as S.W.O.R.D., or the Sentient World Observation and Response Department.
Yes, that’s right. There’s a S.H.I.E.L.D. and a S.W.O.R.D. While the purpose of the organization, and the acronym for that matter, might be altered for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in the comics, S.W.O.R.D. was Earth’s first line of defense in dealing with spacebound threats.
So, while S.H.I.E.L.D. would deal with things like Hydra and A.I.M., S.W.O.R.D. would be the first ones to step up against threats like Skrulls, Kree and any other invading alien races. Seems like the MCU could have use S.W.O.R.D. a long time ago.
S.W.O.R.D. first appeared in “Astonishing X-Men #6” in 2004, when Abigail Brand revealed herself to be the head of the organization to the X-Men. Since then, S.W.O.R.D. has served as Earth’s first response to alien threats, playing a big role in major crossover events like “Secret Invasion,” an event that will eventually make its way to the MCU in its own Disney+ series.
Interestingly, S.W.O.R.D. has had a long history of connection to the X-Men and Mutants in general, with some of its key members including Beast, Lockheed and Henry Peter Gyrich. Brand has also had a lot of connection to Captain Marvel in the comics, hence the presence of Monica Rambeau in WandaVision. While I wouldn’t expect to see any X-Men popping up in WandaVision, it seems likely we’ll see some version of Brand.
S.W.O.R.D. was also teased a bit in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., with part fo the team ending up in space. However, with that series wrapping up, it never really got the chance to introduce us to the new space-focused organization.
S.W.O.R.D. is still going strong now, with a brand new comic series launching just last month. While this new iteration of S.W.O.R.D. has even deeper ties to the X-Men and the new island home to all mutants known as Krakoa, they are still based in space and still serving the same purpose for which the organization was originally created.
While it looks like we’re going to be seeing S.W.O.R.D. in the MCU, it seems very likely we’ll be seeing a very different version of the organization. For instance, if the main objective of S.W.O.R.D. is to handle extraterrestrial threats, why are they involved in Wanda’s delusion? And if the purpose of the organization is to be changed, the name will have to be edited to fit the acronym because “Sentient World Observation and Response Department” will no longer be entirely accurate. And finally, it seems unlikely we’ll be seeing The Peak, S.W.O.R.D.’s space station base of operations, in WandaVision, with their main focus seemingly being here on Earth.
Still, any version of S.W.O.R.D. that makes it to the MCU could mean big things for the future. Perhaps the organization will play a big role in the aforementioned Secret Invasion series. It could even eventually bridge the gap to the introduction of mutants to the MCU. A lot of doors open by throwing S.W.O.R.D. into the mix.
Of course, we are only two episodes into this new series and a lot can change over the course of the next several weeks. Perhaps everything we think we know now will turn out to be something completely different. But for now at least, it seems safe to assume we are seeing the introduction of S.W.O.R.D. to the MCU.