On January 15th, 2021, Marvel Studios released the first episode of their new TV show, WandaVision, on Disney+. This Disney+ original is the first installment of many upcoming Marvel series, such as The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Loki, and Black Widow. While this is not the first Marvel Cinematic Universe TV show (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Agent Carter are some examples), it is the first one to star members of the Avengers. At the end of Avengers: Endgame, very little was known about what would happen in the future for Wanda Maximoff after the death of the love of her life, Vision. WandaVision is a blend of classic television and MCU action in which Wanda (played by Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (played by Paul Bettany) begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems in their idealized suburban lives.
Before You Watch
While it is definitely okay to start watching WandaVision even if you are not a diehard Marvel fan, there are a few movies you should watch before starting to get basic plot details. I promise, they’re all amazing movies and all available on Disney+.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
If you haven’t seen this movie yet, definitely do not start WandaVision until you watch it. Age of Ultron is the first movie that introduces us to Wanda Maximoff, her brother Pietro, and Vision, a humanoid version of Tony Stark’s virtual assistant, Jarvis. The movie also stars the rest of the classic Avengers crew, including Tony Stark (Iron Man), Steve Rogers (Captain America), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Bruce Banner (The Hulk), Thor, and Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow). It is in this movie that we also see the original Avengers team begin to expand. The movie is a really good setup for WandaVision, so if you only have time to watch one movie before you start, choose this one.
Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame
This movie gives us the setup for Wanda and Vision’s relationship. They are seen together in Scotland before joining the rest of the team in Wakanda for the epic battle against Thanos. Wanda and Vision are both integral to the story, and the heartbreaking final fight scene is an important scene to have watched before starting WandaVision. Of course, you can’t really watch Infinity War and not watch Endgame afterward. The fates of both Wanda and Vision are up in the air after Infinity War, and Endgame deals with what happened and what is to come in the future.
Some other movies that will be helpful to have some knowledge of, but are not imperative to the story are Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man and The Wasp, Captain Marvel, and Thor. These are mostly for character background. You may also want to throw in an X-men movie… but I won’t tell you why just yet! Any knowledge of the MCU whatsoever will definitely set you up to find some fun easter eggs throughout the show.
Watching the First 8 Episodes
The first 8 episodes of the ten-episode series are already up on Disney+. They’re only 30 minutes each, so it shouldn’t be hard to binge-watch them in a day or so. If that’s not your thing, watching them slowly and really taking in each episode is also not a bad idea, especially with a show like this. I often found myself going back and watching episodes again just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything important. Be on the lookout for strange occurrences and easter eggs, especially in the first few episodes.
Watching the New Weekly Episode
Episodes of WandaVision launch on Disney+ at 3:00 AM EST on Fridays. I’ll admit, I’ve had a lot of fun anticipating Friday morning, getting up early, making my coffee, and settling in for a brand new episode. If you’re not the type to watch early in the morning, that’s okay! If that’s the case, I would recommend staying off of the #WandaVision tag on social media until you watch, because fans love to discuss theories after they watch each episode. I have heard some really interesting theories—some of which turned out to be true—when I checked Twitter right after watching. Seeing people freak out over the new episode and offer their theories for what is to come keeps me excited all week for Friday morning’s episode.
I think that WandaVision is a great story for Marvel Studios to mark their Avengers TV debut. I really love this form for an Avengers story because we get so much more material and buildup than we would get in a movie. The next installment of Marvel’s new TV shows will be The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, starting on March 13th, which looks more action-packed than the sitcom style of WandaVision. I am interested to see how the reception of TFATWS compares to the reception of the mysterious WandaVision, and I hope that the franchise remains successful in releasing great new MCU installments.