WandaVision Theory: SWORD Director's connection with Ultron

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for episode 6

While WandaVision lacks a real big bad, the show has one notable figure actively working against our main character's interests. Acting Director of S.W.O.R.D. Tyler Hayward has made enemies with fellow agents, as well as audience members everywhere. Despite being introduced as an amicable peer, Hayward has quickly shifted his narrative to negative with his shady behavior. From keeping integral information about Vision secretive to attempting to murder Wanda without consulting his full team, the acting director has established himself as an adversary to Monica Rambeau, Jimmy Woo, Darcy Lewis, and Wanda herself. The latest episode of this sinister sitcom further emphasized that Hayward has his own agenda and motive, and a recent theory suggests what that agenda could be.

As pointed out by Twitter user @jayspatrol,the animated series Avengers Assemble's third season saw a strong emphasis on the 'Ultron Revolution.' In that season, an official by the name of Truman Marsh serves as the Avengers' government official. Marsh first appears in the episode U-Foes, and goes on to show face in four of the following episodes.

Marsh certifies himself as a less than cooperative ally with his orders of business. He replaces Hulk with Red Hulk, issues all Inhumans be hunted and bought down and registered, and even creates a rogue team called the Mighty Avengers to work for him after Earth's Mightiest Heroes give Marsh the pink slip. The OGs were jailed, but they were eventually freed when the Mighty Avengers understood what Marsh was up to. Quite to a surprise and behold, Marsh was never who he said he was, and turned out to be Ultron in disguise.

In the Avengers Assemble show, Ultron took a human form as a government official to take out the Avengers

So Hayward could be Ultron in disguise and that’s why he wanted Visions corpse pic.twitter.com/jlk0iwiB3S

— Jay (@jayspatrol) February 11, 2021

 By comparison, Tyler Hayward and Truman Marsh have very similar characteristics. Both have ulterior motives that they keep secret from their surrounding peers. Both consider certain powerful Avengers to being dangerous threats. Both have been placed in positions of power that allow them to control the greater narrative. When we first meet Tyler Hayward in WandaVision, he immediately relegates Monica Rambeau to handle a missing persons case. Once that case becomes much bigger than initially anticipated, Hayward gets his fingerprints all over it. Once S.W.O.R.D. sets up camp around the Hex, Hayward gives the low down on the Westview anomaly situation. He explains how Wanda is the victimizer and should be treated as the threat. When his colleagues disagree with that remark, he reveals nine-day-old footage of Maximoff breaking into a S.W.O.R.D. facility and stealing Vision's body. Monica looks especially offended that Hayward kept this information from her. Hayward continues his shady behavior when he sends an old Stark Industries drone into Westview and authorizes an agent to pull the trigger on Wanda which again comes as a surprise to Monica, who was previously operating the drone and had her controls disabled once a kill shot was available. Not only that, but she was unaware that the drone was armed to begin with.

The latest episode of WandaVision gave strong indications that Hayward's business is with Vision, not Wanda. He has a tracking device following Tony Stark's second superbot around Westview, and looks particularly fascinated by the synthezoid when he attempts to break through the Hex's wall.

In Avengers: Age of Ultron's last moments, Vision is the one responsible for bringing Ultron to his end by blasting away the final bot with his mind stone. Mix a former ally with the son of this evil android, and you have both of our titular characters' origin stories intertwined with Ultron.

In the fight for Sokovia, Ultron took the pilot seat on a quinjet, gunning down a defenseless Pietro Maximoff. Peppered with bullet holes, Quicksilver uttered his famous words to Hawkeye one last time: “You didn't see that coming.”

In Episode 5 of WandaVision, Wanda confronts the S.W.O.R.D. agents on the other side of the Hex. Glaring angrily, Wanda issues one final warning for them to stay out of her home. Monica approaches her former friend, asking her what she wants. After noting that she has all she wants, Wanda redirects her focus to Hayward for the second half of her sinister sentence:

“And no one will ever take it from me again.”

Hayward reacts with a confused look that quickly turns into “oh man, she got me.”

Many interpreted that line to be in reference to Hayward taking Vision from her, but in reality, Hayward is not responsible for Vision's death. What if Wanda knows Hayward's true identity, and is referencing how he once took her brother's life? Wanda showcased just how powerful she can be in this episode. If she can freeze four thousand people at once, she is more than capable of pulling thoughts from someone's mind. If, in that moment, she discovered who Hayward actually is, many would expect an enraged reaction. In all her craziness, Wanda has actually proven to be more stable than perceived.

In all her irrational situations she actually has had very limited freak outs. Aside from excommunicating Monica from Westview and thwacking Pietro after he brought up Vision's death, Wanda has typically reacted to strange circumstances by simply rewinding and moving on. Knowing that she has her perfect life inside the Hex, attacking Hayward/Ultron does her no favors. The best thing to do in that situation is to communicate her authority to Hayward. Lashing out would only prove his point that she is a threat, but subtly hinting that she knows his true motivations gives Hayward a sense of powerlessness.

Out of all the tremendous theories circulating around Marvel's first streaming series, this is one of the strangest out there. That said, this trip down speculation lane gave many reasons to keep tabs on S.W.O.R.D.'s acting director.