WARNING: Contains MCU movie spoilers!
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has returned with Marvel’s first Disney+ series, WandaVision, starring Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany as Vision. Coming off from the events of Avengers Endgame, we find Wanda and Vision living in a world of sitcoms. Every week, the show takes its audience through each decade of TV sitcoms, starting from the 1950s’ The Dick Van Dyke Show to the 2010s’ Modern Family.
Here’s a quick refresher on the background knowledge needed to understand what is happening in WandaVision. Debuting in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda got her powers from the mind stone while at a Hydra testing facility. The mind stone is one of the six infinity stones. Starting as the enemy of the Avengers as she aided Ultron, Wanda later switched sides and joined the Avengers to defeat Ultron. In the same movie, Vision was created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner by combining Iron Man’s AI (Jarvis), the vibranium body that Ultron was going to use and the Mind Stone.
Then during Captain America: Civil War, the team lived in the Avenger’s facility, where she and Vision grew closer and their relationship started. In Avengers: Infinity War, we find Wanda and Vision living abroad, romance and all. At the end of the movie, Vision ends up dying at the hand of Thanos and Wanda gets snapped away by Thanos. She’s brought back 5 years later by Bruce Banner, the Hulk, in Avengers: Endgame. We’ve last seen Wanda at Tony Stark’s funeral, and Vision dead in Wakanda 5 years ago in Avengers: Infinity War.
For any newcomers to the MCU, I recommend watching (in order), Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame before binging WandaVision. For those of you who want a refresher without having to watch these movies from up to 6 years ago, there’s a series on Disney+ that summarizes the characters, Wanda and Vision, in 7 minutes.
Taking place just mere weeks after Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision is a deep-dive into Wanda’s psyche, exploring her mental health and how she deals with the loss of Vision in Avengers: Infinity War.
The show balances the humor from the sitcoms and the serious emotional moments very well, starting the show more sitcom heavy, then slowly getting more and more plot-heavy as the series goes on. The comedy bits are sure to make you laugh and the emotional scenes will make you tear up. The writing in the show is also top-notch, with Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany delivering stunning performances, showcasing Wanda and Vision’s deep love and deep pain. Elizabeth Olsen steals the show with her Emmy-worthy acting as she channels the vibes of old-style sitcoms perfectly and is also an amazing modern-day Wanda Maximoff.
WandaVision has something for everyone, from the casual viewers to the most diehard Marvel fans. Casual watchers can enjoy the homages to sitcoms from across the decades with witty comedy and deep emotions in its writing. For hardcore Marvel fans, there are many Easter eggs and references in the show: background details, dialogue, commercials, and even costume design. WandaVision takes inspiration from different comic stories, mostly pulling from “The Vision”, “The Vision and The Scarlet Witch”, and a fan-favorite, “House of M.”
We see a few people from other Marvel movies reprise their roles in WandaVision. Kat Dennings, who played Darcy Lewis in the first two Thor movies, and Randall Park, who played Jimmy Woo in Ant-Man and The Wasp, are two of these returning characters. Another major person who is both returning and debuting in the show is Monica Rambeau. Her character first debuted as a child in Captain Marvel, but she is now grown up; she is played by Teyonah Parris.
A beautifully executed show, full of humor, homages, emotion, and the classic Marvel action, WandaVision is available on Disney+ to watch.