The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has changed the entertainment landscape forever, giving us one of the most masterfully crafted shared cinematic universes of all time, culminating in 2019's Avengers: Endgame, ending the decade-long Infinity Saga with a bang (I know Spider-Man: Far From Home was officially Phase 3's last film but in terms of the overarching story, we know which film ended it all). The MCU's future looks bright moving on to Phase 4 and beyond, with Marvel releasing tons of TV series on Disney+ to tie in to the films, with the first of these series being WandaVision. This wouldn't be the first time that the MCU has incorporated TV series, considering how we've had Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Runaways, Cloak & Dagger and the various Netflix series, but those previous series only ended up making reference to the films and not actually crossing over, with the films practically ignoring the existence of the TV series.
With the inception of the Disney+ series, we're finally getting what fans always craved, proper TV and film crossovers for the MCU. With WandaVision, we know for a fact that this series will directly tie into 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. These are exciting times for MCU fans and casual watchers in general because of the plethora of media we'll be getting featuring our favourite characters. As the name of this series suggests, Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany reprise their film roles as Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch and Vision respectively. Taking place after the events of Avengers: Endgame, we see that the pair are now masquerading as a regular suburban couple in Westview, all while trying to hide their superpowers. As they progress through the series, they find their surroundings changing drastically to match various decades of TV tropes and soon they figure out, life isn't all it seems. Let's dive in.
INITIAL THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS (SPOILER ALERT)
If it wasn't clear enough through the countless TV spots and teasers released, WandaVision is going to be a totally wacky ride for everyone. At the end of Avengers: Endgame, we know that Wanda has been "snapped" back into existence by Hulk while Vision remains dead after Thanos ripped the Mind Stone out of his forehead. With the bittersweet ending for this couple, it's definitely a shocker to see them living life like normal newlyweds, albeit in a 1960s household. Just like the countless TV spots have told us, "we just don't know what to expect" from this series.
As of the first two episodes, this series has impressed me with how insane everything is. I'm a sucker for sitcoms and background laugh tracks occupy a spot in my heart, so seeing this series as a black-and-white sitcom with the disembodied laughter of an offscreen audience playing was absolutely hilarious. It's completely ridiculous and I loved it. In the first two episodes, we see our heroes struggling to fit in with their new neighbours and act like normal non-superpowered humans. Of course, they have some trouble with that, with Vision needing to disguise his android appearance and Wanda refraining from using her telekinetic abilities. They get into all kinds of shenanigans and on the surface, everything seems idyllic in this cheesy romcom. But nothing is at it seems here.
While most of the first two episodes does focus on Wanda and Vision trying to fit in, coupled with lots of usual sitcom moments, we get bits and pieces of evidence that something is very wrong. For starters, it's clear that the pair don't really know how they ended up in Westview and when questioned by others, it seems as though they're confused about their surroundings, unable to figure out why they "moved" to Westview. We even get weird occurrences throughout these two episodes. For starters, there are two "commercials" in the same '60s style, one for a toaster made by Stark Industries and the second being a watch emblazoned with the names Strucker and Hydra, even having the iconic octopus insignia on it. Both commercials feature the same man and woman, as well as having very sinister undertones, with an unusual red light appearing in the otherwise black-and-white Stark Industries toaster ad as well as beeping, and an incessant ticking with the Strucker ad.
Naturally, Stark Industries, Baron von Strucker, Hydra and to some extent ticking or beeping sounds are big parts of Wanda's past. From Avengers: Age of Ultron, we know that the Maximoff siblings were orphaned after their parents were killed by explosives, while the children were trapped under rubble waiting for a nearby unexploded, you guessed it, Stark Industries missile to blow up and kill them. After they were rescued, the Maximoffs became very anti-Stark and would end up becoming Hydra test subjects, with Baron von Strucker using the Mind Stone to give them superpowers, turning them into Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. These are all facets of Wanda's dark past and only further drives home the fact that something's not right.
Then there's the use of colour. For the first two episodes, everything's in black-and-white to fit the '60s sitcom setting but we know that having colour signifies something being out of place. When a toy helicopter crashes into Wanda's garden, it's red-and-yellow paint job is in complete contrast to it's monochrome surroundings. The presence of the S.W.O.R.D. (S.H.I.E.L.D.'s extraterrestrial branch) on the toy's side doesn't seek to reassure Wanda. In another scene, a glass breaks in her neighbour's hand and the blood she bleeds is red as well, in stark contrast with everything else. At the same time, we hear the radio next to them start to play a message, with someone (probably FBI agent Jimmy Woo, played by Randall Park) trying to make contact with Wanda. At the end of the first episode, we see that everything happening to Wanda and Vision is being broadcast on one of multiple screens, under the watchful eye of an agent from an unknown organisation. It might be the FBI, S.H.I.E.L.D. or S.W.O.R.D., we don't know right now but what we do know is that they're from a world with colour aka the real world. Near the end of episode 2, Wanda and Vision come out of their house to see a person clad in a beekeeper outfit come out of a manhole and turn their attention to the couple. While some fans might see a resemblance to the helmeted costumes worn by evil scientific organisation A.I.M., fact of the matter is it's probably more of a reference to how Wanda is trapped somewhere.
By now, it's pretty obvious that the world our heroes are living in now is something out of the ordinary. From these two episodes alone, we see that Wanda's powers have seemingly grown exponentially. While in the films we see her merely manipulating psionic energy, WandaVision shows our heroine demonstrating chronokinesis and more importantly, reality manipulation. The latter is a major part of Scarlet Witch's powerset in the comics and she famously uses it in the storyline Decimation, where she reduces the world's mutant population from millions to hundreds. Most fans have theorised that post-Avengers: Endgame, Wanda has created a reality where she can happily live out her married life with Vision (who we know is currently dead in the MCU). However, there's also the possibility that she's being held captive (as referenced by the radio broadcast) and her powers are being used against her will. By the end of the second episode, we see that the series has progressed from a black-and-white to a colour sitcom, with Wanda and Vision being very aware of the change in their surroundings. Most importantly, Wanda even becomes pregnant. Her pregnancy is straight out of the comics, where she magically gives birth to twin mutants Wiccan and Speed (whether we see them later in the series is a mystery). There're so many possibilities for this series but we don't know much yet.
Apart from our two leads, there's a few other characters in Westview that will continue to play a pretty important role as the series progresses, namely Agnes (played by Kathryn Hahn) and Monica Rambeau (played by Teyonah Parris). While Agnes has been portrayed so far as Wanda's overly-friendly neighbour who seems to be too much in the couple's business, many people theorise that she's actually Agatha Harkness, an ancient sorceress who is one of Scarlet Witch's supporting characters in the comics. While she's a benevolent presence in the source material, rumour has it that the series will have her be a villain. As of the first two episodes, she seems to be more of a good person, seemingly helping Wanda but that may change as we go along. As for Monica, you might remember her as Maria Rambeau's daughter from Captain Marvel, albeit far younger. Her grown-up self has found herself in Westview and strangely, she too doesn't know who she is, as referenced in both teasers as well as the episodes themselves. People have theorised that she's a S.W.O.R.D. agent in the series and has somehow ended up in Wanda's distorted reality. In the comics, Monica is the powerful superheroine Spectrum, possessing abilities similar to Carol Danvers. At any rate, Monica has a long future in the MCU, with her character confirmed to be part of Captain Marvel 2 so who knows? We might see her manifest superpowers along the way, maybe with Wanda playing a part.
There's a lot to like about WandaVision so far. I would say this is one of the most refreshing entries in the MCU. There're people who have complained about its lack of action so far but I think we have to look beyond that and see the greater meaning of this series with regards to the MCU at large. We're delving a little bit more into Wanda's broken psyche post-Endgame and seeing how she has dealt with the fallout from the Infinity Saga. The sitcom setting is also hilarious and is a much needed breather from any of the intensity from the previous films. I also want to praise Olsen and Bettany's acting because they really sell the "married couple" aspect very well, especially in a sitcom setting. They're a riot to watch and their chemistry is popping. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of them.
In the grand scheme of things, the popularity of such series could be a double-edged sword. They are after all, Disney+ exclusives and in all honesty, it took me a while to find a website that let me stream them for free. Ah yes, the sweet smell of online piracy. Anyway, it might be hard to reach certain people because of the exclusivity of the streaming service and what could potentially make it worse is the interconnectedness of it all. With the exception of the Netflix series being connected to one another, you could watch the older TV series as separate entities from the films because they didn't affect one another even though they were in the same universe. However, now that the MCU has put a greater focus on their TV series and directly tying them into the films, those who skip the series might miss out on some of the stuff happening in the films. Truthfully, that remains to be seen. Honestly, even if the MCU does play up the interconnectedness of everything, I still think they'll do well even if there'll be viewers who'll miss things in the films because they don't watch the series. Until then, I'm going to continue enjoying WandaVision and the rest of the MCU Disney+ series, ushering in a brand new age for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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