A Marvel Easter Egg In Netflix's The Electric State Seemingly Teases Avengers: Doomsday

Anthony and Joe Russo's feature adaptation of Simon Stålenhag's critically acclaimed illustrated book "The Electric State" debuted on Netflix last Friday to scathing reviews, which is basically what happens when the Russos make a movie sans Marvel Studios' created-by-committee safety net. Fortunately for them, their next project will restore that net (though, after the critical and commercial stumbles of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," "The Marvels," and "Captain America: Brave New World," Marvel isn't quite the fail-safe fallback it used to be).

We'll have to wait and see how the MCU's next two chapters ("Thunderbolts*" and "The Fantastic Four: First Steps") are received, but it's possible the Russos are going to have their work cut out for them with 2026's "Avengers: Doomsday" as they try to recapture the must-see swagger of the company's historic 2008 to 2019 run. Yes, they've got Robert Downey Jr. back in the fold, but will moviegoers be able to cope with the whiplash of the former Tony Stark playing Victor von Doom? And will they be eager to line up for a roster of superheroes whose movies they didn't exactly flock to over the company's last two phases?

That the Russos are incapable of making a watchable movie outside of Marvel Studios isn't likely to hurt them with the vast majority of the public. But in the meantime, while the brand's legion of fans bide their time until the next king-size superhero movie, it certainly couldn't hurt to prime the pump ever so slightly. This appears to be what the Russos have done with a brief shot in "The Electric State."

If you watched "The Electric State" over the weekend, my condolences. But while you were streaming a Netflix film that currently holds a decidedly bad rating on Rotten Tomatoes, you might've noticed the moment, around midway through the movie, where Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt's characters walk by a robot reading a comic book — and not just any comic book, but "Avengers West Coast" #56.

The cover of this January 1990 issue features a giant Scarlet Witch toying with the Earth's Mightiest Heroes' SoCal representatives alongside the all-caps exclamation "The Witch Is Back!" Did the Russos just drop this cover into their pre-"Avengers: Doomsday" film for the fun of it? That is highly unlikely.

If you're asking, "Hey, didn't Scarlet Witch get offed in 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?'" you must be new to this whole comic book thing, because death is never the end in the Marvel Universe. As for what relevance that issue of the comic could hold for "Avengers: Doomsday," it's worth noting that over a decade after its publication, readers learned that Wanda's heel turn was masterminded by Doctor Doom. So, perhaps Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch will reemerge and break free of his manipulation.

While "Agatha All Along" has made it pretty obvious that Wanda is still kicking around, we still haven't heard any definitive word on where or when the character will return in the MCU. So, feel free to wildly speculate as to what this "Electric State" tease portends for the future.