Marvel Cinematic Universe Tarot: Minor Acana Edition: The Wands

After much ado, the minors have materialized and are coming out in four parts, by suit. First up, the fiery fury of the wands.. SPOILERS for all things Marvel (including WandaVision) below.

Share your agreements, disagreements, and hot takes in the comments!

THE WANDS

Ace of Wands - Monica Rambeau aka Photon

You’re mom’s lucky. When they were handing out kids, they gave her the toughest one.” 

— Carol Danvers

Fired up and ready to rumble, Monica Rambeau’s tenacity, specifically passing through the Hex three times, grants her spectral vision, energy absorption, intangibility, and accelerated perception. Her bravery granted her a powerful gift, which is exactly what the Aces all are. With Wands, we’re talking fire and energy we direct outward, like the way Monica can manipulate and redirect any energy thrown her way. Aces are also the very start, so I’m stoked to see where our super-powered fire Ace is headed.

2 of Wands - Luis

We can handle it. We’re professionals.

Luis exemplifies peak 2 of Wands energy through his ride or die attitude. The entrepreneurial best friend ever always has Scott’s back regardless of the risk to him and needs little to no preparation to dive into the next job. Plus, he’s fast talking and entrepreneurial as hell. Luis is the spark plug you want in your corner any day.

3 of Wands - Hank Pym aka OG Ant-Man

I realized you can’t destroy power. All you can do is make sure it’s in the right hands.

A card that invites us to dream big as we gaze at future horizons, our quantum science genius, Hank Pym exemplifies the qualities of this card. Not only did he invent the Ant Man & Wasp suits, but he’s the mastermind behind the ultimate End Game MacGuffin: the Pym Particles. He also had the foresight to know there were few people he could trust with his research and tech, which made him a very selective recluse, especially after losing his wife. Despite that trauma, he eventually figured out a way to bring her back thanks to Scott surviving his visit to the quantum realm. 

4 of Wands - Darcy Lewis

It can’t be purely for my enjoyment, can it?

That’s Dr. Lewis to you. Our girl, Darcy knows how to have a good time, all the time. Always the one to bring levity to a situation, even when she’s knee deep data diving, you can expect the best one-liners and come backs from this uninterested intern turned PhD genius. It helps that we get Kat Dennings to deliver these jokes, too.

5 of Wands - N’Jobu / Ivan Vanko aka Whiplash

I observed for as long as I could. Their leaders have been assassinated. Communities flooded with drugs and weapons. They are overly policed and incarcerated. All over the planet our people suffer because they don't have the tools to fight back. With Vibranium weapons they can overthrow every country and Wakanda can rule them all the right way.

Chaos, conflict, intensity, not an easy card to be in, but not always unjustified. I’m going to say it. These dudes were not wrong to seek conflict. N’Jobu may have betrayed his people, but his reasons were super justifiable in the context of world history, ya know? I cannot fault a dude for working for the greater good. This is honestly such a good example of how people who fight for justice can self sabotage because they’re supposed to be “better” than the oppressors. That is too much to unpack for this post but hit me with your thoughts. 

You come from a family of thieves and butchers, and like all guilty men, you try to rewrite your history, to forget all the lives the Stark family has destroyed.

Vanko, for his end, has a daddy to avenge. While he’s a little more chaotic than our level headed N’Jobu—played by the smoothest of the smooth Sterling K Brown—Mickey Rourke is entertaining enough with his wacky whiplash to earn some sympathy.

Either way, these double fives bring necessary conflict to the surface and ignite deep soul searching in their respective storylines.

6 of Wands - M’Baku

Witness the might of the Jabari! First-hand!

After an initial defeat, M’Baku had a glow up like no other. Under his leadership, the Jabari went from being the outcast tribe to the most respected allies of Wakanda. Peak 6 of Wands has traditionally been an omen of victory, but could also indicate our longing for success, or invite us to “fuck the haters.” All interpretations track where M’Baku is concerned.

7 of Wands - Obadiah Stane aka Iron Monger / Justin Hammer

For thirty years, I've been holding you up! I built this company from nothing! And nothing is gonna stand in my way - least of all, you!

TBH I’m tickled by the fact that it’s two Iron Man villains in this spot. The 7 of Wands is about defending your success at all costs. In this case, these two buttheads want so badly to be on top, they’ll do anything, including some horribly unethical shit, to beat Tony in the game he invented.

Obidiah goes for a suit that supposed to be bigger and better than Tony’s but ultimately isn’t quite good enough. He strives for something that isn’t his, wanting credit for what he believed her worked for. Meanwhile, Hammer hires the aforementioned Vanko to build him his own army of iron type men. With Stark Industries no longer in the weapons game, Hammer Industries gets the chance to rise, and Justin wants that a little too badly.

Tony and I… Tony… I love Tony Stark. Tony loves me. We’re not competitors. Him being out of the picture created tremendous opportunities for Hammer Industries, you know? Everything that Tony and I do is a healthy competition.

8 of Wands - Pietro Maximoff aka Quicksilver

You didn’t see that coming?

This one could be called an arbitrary reach, but let me explain. 8 of Wands is a quick transformative energy, so the obvious link is to his power of super speed, but dig a little deeper, and his death sets up a character transformation, mostly for Wanda, but also for the entire team. He’s the first team member to fall, which raises the stakes for everyone else.

9 of Wands - Johann Schmidt aka Red Skull

I lead others to a treasure I can never possess.

9 of Wands represents that “almost there” energy that the Red Skull gets to experience into infinity. Not only did he get cursed AF as storekeeper on Vormir, but before that, he was striving towards a superiority he never truly got. If you don’t heed the “take a minute” warnings of the 9 of Wands, you’ll either burn out before victory, or find yourself in a shitty version of your imagined results.

10 of Wands - Agatha Harkness aka Agnes

I take power from the undeserving. It’s kinda my thing.

You know what happens when you go too hard? Ya burn the fuck out. Agatha, hell love her, wanted too much power and it tapped out hard. Contextualizing her experience for a moment, it’s not that all pursuit of power is bad, but when you have more fires that you can handle, they all burn out. So Agatha is now her imagined persona, Agnes, although who knows for how long. 

Page of Wands - Shuri / Cassie Lang

Don’t scare me like that colonizer!

Just because something works, doesn’t mean it can’t be improved.

Her intellect made her a toss up between Wands and Swords, but at the end of the day her willingness to dive into action gave her to team Wands. Full of ideas and ready to dive into them, Shuri is certainly smarter and more mature than the average page, but she does have that quick spritely energy that inhabits this particular one. We are also only just beginning to see her take action as she is next in line for the throne, and the Black Panther (and after Chadwick Boseman’s tragic death, may have to take on the mantle sooner than expected).

Cassie: Don’t laugh, I’d be a great partner.

Scott: Aw, peanut. You would be awesome. And if I let you, I would be a terrible dad.

Cassie Lang, for her part, is ready to join the fray, even as a wee peanut. Even though she’s not allowed to fight crime yet (but might be soon), she covers for Scott and sasses everyone in his way. She’s a little spark plug that will turn into a blazing fire one day.

Knight of Wands - Scott Lang aka Ant-Man

Sorry I’m late. I was saving the world. You know how it is.

Damn, a lot of the Ant Man squad here. Our boy Scott is full of good intentions, but always managed to slip away like a mist of smoke. Our lovable Knight of Wands is great for a good time, but maybe has a little too much going on to be considered the most upstanding member of society. 

Cassie: Is daddy a bad man? I heard some grown ups say he's bad.

Maggie: No. Daddy just gets confused sometimes, you know?

Queen of Wands - Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow

Let me put you hold.

Our girl has no qualms about using her sexuality as a weapon, and while the femme fatale is tropey, it’s still effective. The male gaze has less power when we’re laughing at it. Her mastery extends into a range of skills, including how her enemies perceive her. What I mean by that is she exudes a comfort with her raw power that is often disarming. That’s what makes he your fire queen.

Natasha: I don't know, the truth is a matter of circumstances. It's not all things to all people all the time, and neither am I.

Steve: That’s a tough way to live.

Natasha: It’s a good way not to die though.

King of Wands - Gamora / Dr. Wendy Lawson aka Mar-Vell

If he ends up being evil, we’ll just kill him.

I know who you are, Peter Quill! I am not some starry-eyed waif here to succumb to your… pelvic sorcery!

Full transparency, if we just take MCU Gamora at face value, she may not have taken the King of Wands spot. While she’s touted as the “most dangerous woman in the galaxy,” it doesn’t always seem that way, especially in the first Guardians movie. Still, her reputation precedes her, and she is a game changer in the Infinity War plot. King of wands masters their output and if we’re just talking battle wise, Gamora takes the cake as the most serious and effective guardian. At least the one who executes most of her victories on purpose.

Dr. Lawson, or Mar-Vell, take the other side of the King of Wands coin. A trailblazer in interstellar peace, we can read her as the original race traitor of the MCU, leaving the Kree to help the Skulls find refuge in the galaxy. Now, that’s allyship. While she gets killed in the process, she lays the groundwork for Carol Danvers to take up the mantle in her own time. Paving the way in a blaze of glory is so King of Wands.

Agreements? Hot takes? Rebuttals? Hit me below!

Missed the MAJOR ARCANA? Check it out here!

Stay tuned for THE CUPS!

Want to learn more about Boneseed or how to work with me? Start here!