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Does Monica Have Superpowers Now in WandaVision? What Are Her Powers And How Did She Gain Them?


Credit: Marvel Studios

Monica Rambeau is no stranger when it comes to superpowers. Her history says a lot about her and she gaining superpowers in WandaVision would be a brush on the shoulder as it would be nothing new to her.

Monica in Episode 3
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Credit: Marvel Studios

Teyonah Parris stars Monica Rambeau in the canon series of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in WandaVision which airs weekly every Friday via Disney+ alongside Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff/ Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany's Vision, Kathryn Hann's Agnes, Randall Park's Jimmy Woo, and Kat Denning's Darcy Lewis.

Monica's History In The MCU

Monica in Captain Marvel
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Credit: Marvel Studios

When she got introduced into the MCU, she was just a kid who got a firsthand encounter with Captain Marvel and the Skrulls. As the daughter of the co-pilot of Carol Danvers, Maria Rambeau, she gets a close relationship with Captain Marvel who she calls Aunt Carol.

Her Aunt Carol got exposed to what we know today as the Tesseract or the Space Stone and her body seemed to have absorbed the energy that she took from the blast making her Captain Marvel that we know of today.

It can be recalled that in Captain Marvel, Monica was the one who personally chose the colors of Carol's costume to be. Monica even holds the air force jacket of Carol before she fled to save the world.

Monica also encountered the Skrulls at an early age. The Skrulls are extra-terrestrial creatures who wanted to make the Earth their home by taking on the form of humans as they have the ability to shape-shift. Not all are bad though, some of the Skrulls are their allies. Over dinner with some Skrulls, Monica even made a friend in a Skrull child.

Monica Blip
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Credit: Marvel Studios

Further in WandaVision, we learned that her mother became the Director of S.W.O.R.D. donning the codename of Photon and died of cancer while Monica was blipped by the snap of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.

It was shown that Monica came back to life after Hulk successfully brings back the snapped half of the universe in Avengers: Endgame. We also get to see that Monica was a space pilot while she discussed with Hayward the projects she left before getting snapped by the Mad Titan.

Monica and Her Transformation in WandaVision

Warning! This portion may contain spoilers for WandaVision. Read at your own risk!

Monica as Geraldine
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Credit: Marvel Studios

Monica first got into Westview in the second episode where she introduced herself to Wanda as Geraldine and from then, the two seem to have started on the right foot as they instantaneously became friends, even aiding Wanda to give birth to her twins.

After Wanda discovered that Monica is not what she seems, she literally kicked Monica out of the Hex, exposing her to the barriers twice. In Episode 5, it was discovered that Monica's cells have been altered to their molecular structure and another exposure could make it or break it for her.

Episode 7: Breaking the Fourth Wall, it showed that Wanda is seemingly losing control over her powers as her surroundings seem to glitch, and the revelations at the end of the episode point to who else might be pulling the strings inside of Westview.

Monica in Episode 5
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Credit: Marvel Studios

In the same episode, still believing in the good that Wanda has, Monica is persistent to get back to Westview especially now that Darcy is already inside after Wanda expands the Hex. In Monica's first attempt, he tried to get in with a spacecraft but it cannot go through without being altered.

Knowing that the Hex sucked her in the first time she made contact, she knew herself that she can get back in. Despite her colleagues disapproving of it, she went back into the hex through the barrier to try her luck and it showed how thick the barrier is.

While passing through the barrier, we see Monica struggling to get in while hearing flashbacks of some scenes in Captain Marvel. Her physical phase is tearing apart and coming back up. In the background is Captain Marvel's voice saying that Maria got the strongest kid.

As Monica passed through successfully, we see her eyes glow blue and her vision seems to have been detecting energies along powerlines before getting it back to normal. In her encounter with Wanda, she was able to control her landing after Wanda brings her up in the air.

Convinced that Wanda is not the big bad and that if Wanda is the problem, she would be the best solution as well, Monica tries to get to Wanda's head to take down the barrier until their conversation was interrupted by Agnes.

This could lead to Monica gaining powers through passing the barrier of Westview thrice. She gets exposed to a high amount of energy, gutted it out, and made it through unharmed. To note, three times, she passed through it three times that her molecular composition got altered. This may be the way how she got her powers, from Wanda's barriers.

Monica in Marvel Comics

Monica in the Comics
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Credit: Marvel Studios

In Marvel Comics, Monica Rambeau gained her superpowers after she was bombarded by extra-dimensional energy from an energy disruptor weapon a criminal scientist created but failed. Monica carried the alias of Captain Marvel in her stint where she encountered Peter Parker, Tony Stark and became a part of the Avengers.

She conceded her title of Captain Marvel when Genis-Vell, the son of the original Captain Marvel, arrived, where Monica took the title of Photon, the one Maria Rambeau has in WandaVision. After a misunderstanding with Genis-Vell, she took on the alias of Pulsar. When she joined the Mighty Avengers, she donned the title of Spectrum which she carries until today.

Monica's Powers

Monica's Powers
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Credit: Marvel Studios

So far, in WandaVision, we've seen her vision change as if she can see the energies along the powerlines. This could be tantamount to her comic powers of sensing the gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet radiation, visible light, electricity, infrared radiation, microwaves, and radio waves.

We also saw in her encounter with Wanda how she landed a superhero landing (yes, like how Deadpool calls it) with her blue energy coming out. Wanda struck her, and she seems fine, even being able to land safely. This could be equated to her comic-book power of energy absorption where she can take on the energy form of the right wavelength and absorb it.

So far, this is what we have seen in WandaVision. On top of all these, Monica has the power of the heart, the power of sensing the good in the people she believes in, like how she believes that Wanda is not the antagonist in the narrative.

In the comics, Monica or Spectrum possesses the power of energy from where she can transform herself into any form of energy within the ambit of the electromagnetic spectrum. She can also alter her appearance by modulating light, fly within her wavelengths, superhuman speed when in energy form, and intangibility as she can get through solid matter and energy fields.

Spectrum also has invisibility in her energy form, energy duplication after analyzing the type of energy, energy blasts, and hyper-cosmic awareness where she has heightened senses. Her memory is also photographic meaning she can recall everything she sees.

Whether this is the way of Marvel in introducing Monica Rambeau's Spectrum into the MCU or not, this is definitely just the start of Monica showing her newly gained powers in the whole MCU and this will surely not be the last we'll be seeing her.

Monica Rambeau returns in WandaVision on Disney+.

Related: WandaVision Episode 7 Debunks Major Theory About Monica Rambeau's Aerospace Engineer Friend

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