The long-awaited Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe finally arrived in the form of WandaVision, a Marvel series streaming exclusively on Disney+. In 2019, we saw the thrilling conclusion of what has been dubbed the Infinity Saga in Avengers: Endgame. With the launch of Disney’s streaming platform, fans were promised more content focusing on individual characters in the form of episodic series.
All of this came to a screeching halt when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the globe. Many of the upcoming Marvel projects were put on hold, and WandaVision was no exception. But at long last, on Jan. 15, the first two episodes of Wanda-Vision were dropped on Disney+. I am very excited to be talking about some of my favorite characters, so without further ado, let’s get started with what we know.
The stars of this series are, of course, Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch, and Vision, played by Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, respectively. The premise is that Wanda has created a universe for herself and her android lover, a universe that draws its inspiration from television shows across the decades. The first two episodes were inspired by the 50s and 60s, referencing shows of the eras like The Dick Van Dyke Show and Bewitched, and filmed in black-and-white.
However charming these episodes were, they didn’t offer much in the way of exposition. As far as we the audience knew, Vision was killed in Avengers: Infinity War when the villain Thanos destroyed him in order to get to the Mind Stone embedded in his head. And yet here Vision is, fully intact, Mind Stone and all. I believe that Wanda, who has the power to manipulate minds, is experiencing a mental breakdown and has created this alternate universe as a way of coping. But
even that isn’t confirmed yet.
Both of the episodes employed very sit-com-esque tropes, such as Vision’s boss coming for dinner in the first episode, and Wanda and Vision trying to conceal their powers during a magic show in the second. But every now and then, there is
a jarring moment to remind us that things aren’t what they seem.
Several times during the second episode, Wanda runs into color, specifically, red. A toy helicopter inexplicably lands in her bushes, and later, her neighbor cuts her hand and bleeds bright red. By the end of the episode, color is completely restored
as we move into the 70s, but only after Wanda miraculously becomes pregnant and has a strange encounter with a bee-keeper that climbs out of the sewers.
We also hear someone from the real world trying to contact Wanda through a radio, asking, “Wanda, who is doing this to you?” This gives the impression that the reality Wanda has created is not actually under her control. Or maybe she is being allowed to believe that it is while someone else is actually pulling the strings. My suspicions are on her nosy neighbor Agnes.
WandaVision will continue to premiere one episode every Friday on Disney+ for the next seven weeks. And according to Marvel Studio executive Kevin Feige, this show will tie in directly to one of Marvel’s upcoming movies, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. If there’s anything Marvel’s good at, it’s connecting their characters. So who knows what, or even who, Vision and Wanda might encounter? In the words of Wanda herself, “We just don’t know what to expect.”
