EXCLUSIVE: The Witches Of Westview & A Guy Named Herb

Simultaneous enchantments from two opposing magicians is rare. When considering the enigmatic Disney+ series, WandaVision we have now learned that distinction has been cast on only one of the characters in the story. Not even the “typecasted” Ralph Bohner ended up having more than one witch controlling him at a time; or did he? These types of far out theories, water cooler convos & barbershop debates have captured pop culture’s imagination and gone viral ever since the Emmy Award winning series debuted on the Disney+ streaming service in January. 

During our “Marvel Heads” interview with WandaVision cast member, David Payton, the conversation about his experience portraying the character “Herb” (later revealed to be named John Collins) depicted his unique point of view. Appearing in 7 of the 9 episodes (via performance or image) and now having had time to reflect on the masterful script from showrunner, Jac Schaeffer, direction from Matt Shakman and nudging from fans like us, an interesting detail has been revealed. 

Everyone Loves A Good Story: I have never geeked over a Marvel Studios production more than I did for WandaVision! I created a viral theory for Mephisto to appear through my articles at The Illuminerdi and your character was part of that wave because I allowed myself to believe that the easter eggs you planted were leading up to you being Herbert Wyndham, The High Evolutionary, who is integral to the origin & stories of Wanda & Pietro Maximoff, Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman, Werewolf By Night, The Darkhold and so much more! Were you in on the tricks at all? How much did you know about the character that Herb was the red herring for?

David Payton: …As far as me knowing everything that was going on, that’s how good Marvel kept it a secret. When I was getting my scripts, the writing was so good, I didn’t even know what was gonna happen next. I would get my script for the specified scene and “(be like), Cool like me knock this out”…as an actor, for me, I wanna know the beginning, the middle and the end. I was in the middle. This is where Matt Shakman would come in with his direction, which was phenomenal because I trusted it…for example with Agatha, I didn’t know she had me under her spell….”

This revelation adds more fuel to the fire for the fodder that made the WandaVision theories burn bright and thereby ignited the Mephisto memes that went viral. Many fans took the bait that Herb was secretly the one and only Herbert Wyndham, The High Evolutionary. The writers used these types of possibilities & expectations to throw the viewer off and take the plot into all sorts of unexpected directions. As brilliantly crafted as it was, the fact that Herb was under Agatha’s control left plot holes that can (and should) be explored in the future. Was Ralph Bohner under Wanda’s hex in Westview? We never confirmed if he was the informant that Agent Jimmy Woo was searching for. Once released from the Crystalium possession by Monica Rambeau, Ralph was free of Agatha, but we have no indication that he was ever under Wanda’s influence which could logically (as if logic counts here) mean he had powers we know nothing about; just like Monica. Monica seemed to have been able to withstand Wanda’s hex enchantment once she forcefully re-entered Westview and acquired her newly founded control over energy and the electromagnetic spectrum.

We now know that Herb was another exception. We saw that he was in Westview (the fictional town in NJ, USA where the show is mainly based) prior to Wanda’s mental breakdown at the land plot that The Vision procured for his future home with Wanda before Thanos ripped The Mind Stone out of his head (Avengers: Endgame). Before David’s statement above, we all assumed that he was rolled into Wanda’s spell over the whole town like all the other characters; besides Ralph. The scene in question (during WandaVision S1, Episode 3: Now In Color at 23:48) shows Herb suffering from some kind of mental glitch where instead of trimming the hedges, he is cutting through a yellow brick wall between properties. Knowing now that he was under Agatha’s spell at the time, we can understand that he was struggling to tell Vision the truth about Monica, and maybe even Wanda against either of their wishes…but how and why? What was the purpose of Agatha’s spell? And why was Herb in Town Square with the rest of the townspeople pleading with Wanda for her to release them from her enchantment over the whole town in the season finale?

The strings to this part of the puppet show have yet to be revealed which gives Marvel Studios an opportunity to delve into the kooky aspects of magic with Agatha Harkness as one of, if not thee main character in a follow up story to the ever-successful initial series for Marvel Studios. Where Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness will delve into the horror side, it would be nice to have a lighter note. I already have postulated how Weirdworld could be used as a spinoff that could tie-in to the obvious & incoming “Secret Wars” story. Something completely original could be used as well. The idea that not only Agatha Harkness, but Ralph Bohner and now the enigmatic “Herb” have more story to tell is exciting and gives me hope for a continuance to “The Westview story”, the fallout from Wanda’s breakdown and the connection of these characters (and town) in Marvel Studios’ universe. Did Agatha have a backup plan to free herself from the spell Wanda put on her in the Season Finale? We saw her act as if she was losing a battle only to come back stronger more than once in the first season. One thing is for sure…We should all watch WandaVision again and enjoy seeing it with a new perspective!

What did you think of WandaVision? Does Herb being under spells by both Agatha Harkness & Wanda Maximoff leave you with more questions? Do you want a spin-off and/or Season 2 to WandaVision? Please subscribe, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, leave a comment and share. Manchild out.