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At first glance, WandaVison is a cute, Rom-Com styled television show about two superheroes, Wanda Maximoff, and her synthezoid-android husband, Vision, trying to live a normal life in the boring old town of “WestView.” Every week the couple get themselves into some sort of wacky, sitcom-esque situation. Like the time Vision invited his boss over for dinner and Wanda was tasked with making everyone a gourmet meal, while also concealing her and Vision’s abilities. Regular sitcom problems. But at the end of the day they get through it with a happy ending. Beautiful. We can just leave it at that… right? Wrong! This is a Marvel T.V show. Nothing is as it seems here in WestView. Be warned. Spoilers ahead.
First thing to point out is that WandaVision takes place three weeks after the events of Avengers: Endgame. And if you’ve seen Endgame, then you know a lot of the characters are left heartbroken and distraught, (myself included.) One of the main themes explored in WandaVision is the fact that no one has suffered in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) quite like Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). Losing her parents, (explained in Avengers: Age of Ultron,) losing her brother, Pietro, hurting the civilians in Lagos, and then being on the run for 2 years in Infinity War.
In a lot of lesser written television shows and movies, sometimes the writers are not able to keep up with the character development that comes along with all the trauma in a character’s life. They will disregard all of the character’s experience and pretend it didn’t happen. The director makes Wanda’s past suffering a very integral part of the story and not just something that can be forgotten about. They’re still there. And we see the straw that breaks the camel’s back in Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame. If you remember the ending to Infinity War, (how could you forget,) one of the people to die at the hands of Thanos was Vision. However, we see in Endgame everyone return from the snap, except Vision, who was legitimately killed in battle. And we see at the end of Endgame, there is no talk of a plan to revive Vision. As far as we know, Wanda lost her love and there was no way of bringing him back.
So why do we see Vision again, after Endgame, living merrily with Wanda with his skull intact, complete with a glowing mind stone?
Well, they take their time with that explanation. They also do not give an immediate explanation as to why they are currently living in the 1950’s. Yes, you read that right. After the two most powerful Avengers fought the Mad Titan, the next time we see them they are living in an “I love Lucy” themed sitcom. But it only gets weirder from there.
Not only do Wanda and Vision not mention anything about their arrival to WestView, but after every episode of WandaVison, the two move onto the next era of sitcoms. After the 50’s style, they go into the 60’s, and then the 70’s and so on and so forth. Wandavison’s creative way of storytelling using the different era’s of sitcoms through history, while also keeping continuity in tact for the plot, is what separates it from other science-fiction television, and what makes it so enjoyable, and just downright fun for longtime MCU fans, and also the MCU fans who are just getting started.
The first episode is meant to reflect the 1950’s so it mimics the sitcom style of “I Love Lucy,” and “The Dick Van Dyke show.” Having the episode entirely in black and white coloring, and the 50’s hair-do’s and wardrobe. Following that is the 1960’s and that mimics the show “Bewitched.” Still in black and white, and still matching wardrobe. After that they spice things up and do an “in-color episode,” in the 1970’s. Mimicking “The Brady Bunch.” The 80’s reflects “Full House,” complete with a laugh track and leg-warmers. Then for the 90’s they did a “Malcolm in the Middle,” episode. Including Malcom’s fourth-wall breaking to the audience. And then finally, they get to modern sitcoms. This episode was a combination of sitcoms like “The Office,” and “Modern Family.” This included talking heads to an unknown audience. And that leaves the final two episodes to transition back to the regular MCU-style storytelling we all know and love.
Of course, by the end of WandaVision, we get to the bottom of how they ended up in WestView, how Vision came back to life, and who has beens secretly orchestrating everything behind the scenes.
The few weeks waiting for new episodes of WandaVision, were some of the most insane moments on social media of all time. During the shooting of WandaVision, Disney had acquired the rights to their 20th Century Fox characters. Meaning characters like The Fantastic Four, or The X-Men, could show up in any MCU movie at any time. This caused several fan theories out there on the internet because if you are unaware, Wanda and her brother Pietro, were originally X-Men characters.
They altered their comic origin in 2015 when Marvel brought them into the light for Age of Ultron, and decided to call them “miracles,” and not “mutants.” And have their powers come from the mind stone, rather than being born mutants. Both being the twin children of legendary X-Men villain, Magneto. Fan theories ranged from, “a dangerous mutant is responsible for all this!” to less logical ones like “Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is going to save the day at the end!” Spoiler alert… he did not.
WandaVision, is able to keep you on the edge of your seat with their unique brand of storytelling and it keeps you on your toes with their “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it,” easter eggs spread out throughout the entire series. Seriously, if there was an award for how many easter eggs and foreshadowing hints you can fit into a series, WandaVision takes the cake.
While being a fun and goofy show for all types of viewers, WandaVision still does not disappoint the standard MCU fan. Filled with action and sci-fi conflicts, WandaVision has a little bit of everything. Including absolute heartbreaking moments between the Avenger’s cutest couple. WandaVision is a must-binge series.
