Review Written by Christian Garcia
CG is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is taking a look at the Disney Plus series!!
My girlfriend has gotten back into the Marvel spirit and now we are going to visit all of the Disney Plus shows in preparation for the next phase of the MCU. I remember enjoying most of these shows and I am excited to be looking back at them!
Todays return to the MCU starts with the very first Marvel show on Disney Plus: WandaVision!
I remember enjoying this show a lot when it first came out and was excited to see it again!
How did Marvel’s first venture into the Disney Plus era hold up? Is it a TV smash hit? Or a miss that will have you smashing your TV? Let’s take a look at: WandaVision.
Background:
The series follows Wanda Maximoff and Vision as they live the idyllic sitcom family life in the town of Westview, New Jersey. As the series progresses, their surroundings begin to change as their world moves through the decades and they encounter many classic sitcom television tropes. However, while this is going on, they also learn that the happy world they are living in may not be what it seems and it slowly starts to unravel…
Pros:
Excellent Callbacks to TV Shows Past
Being the television enthusiast that I am, I absolutely loved this show’s callbacks to the different eras of television from the 50s all the way to the early 2000s. The first episode pays homage to The Dick Van Dyke Show, the second episode pays homage to Bewitched with is opening looking just like the old Hanna-Barbera intro, the third goes for the style of The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family, an 80s and 90s homage to the likes of Full House, Family Ties, and Growing Pains, and a great late 90s/early 2000’s tribute to Malcolm in the Middle.
Having watched all of these shows growing up, the TV Nerd in me loved all of these tributes and references. The creators did an excellent job in recreating the sets, camera shots, and overall vibe that matched the original shows. The first episodes plot of Wanda and Vision having Vis’ boss and wife over for dinner is something that would have happened on Dick Van Dyke. The sets looked just like the shows they were based on such as the Brady Bunch stairs and the Malcolm in the Middle home.
I also love how these shows actually had a personal meaning to Wanda and were not just chosen just to be done. They were the shows that Wanda and her family used to watch for her to learn English and it makes sense that in creating her own safe space that she would look back to shows that she watched as a child. It is a great personal touch that shows that television is powerful in how it can leave an effect on us and shows that it is more than “mindless drivel that rots your brain” that detractors claim it to be.
Another big factor that makes this TV sitcom setting work is the performance of the leads, especially Wanda….
Elizabeth Olson’s Performance
In my review of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, I mentioned that the best part of the film was the performance of Elizabeth Olson and the same can be said here.
Olson has proven throughout her time as Wanda that she has great acting talent and can carry dramatic roles. In addition, this series highlights her comedic talent. Olson does an excellent job in catching the tone and mannerisms of the classic household wives of TV’s past. The first episode displays how great of a comedic talent she really is. She channels the likes of Mary Tyler Moore and Elizabeth Montgomery to recreate a great hybrid of the classic TV wife who also happens to have super powers. She captures the whimsical and cheeky performance that made us fall in love with those characters in the past and they bring her a loving and warming charm.
As the show progresses, and the mystery begins to unravel, we see Olson’s performance go to another level as Wanda tries to maintain her happy-place illusion while fighting off hints of her grief. What makes Olson especially talented is her facial expressions. There are a lot of moments where Wanda did not need to see speak and her face let us know exactly how she was feeling. By the end of the series, I had much more appreciation for the character of Wanda Maximoff as well as for the actress Elizabeth Olson. This series was her breakout performance that established she was much more than a side character and that she should be taken more seriously. Many fans felt this way and were ecstatic to see her return in Multiverse of Madness and we look forward to seeing her once again.
A Good Mystery
My first time watching this show, while I was enjoying the sitcom callbacks, I kept asking myself the same question: "what the hell is going on?"
Upon asking my friends, they all asked the same questions. The first two episodes play fully into the sitcom world only adding small hints of moments that briefly take you out of the moment. As the series progresses, the mystery unravels and by the halfway point, we are finally clued into what is going on. After my first viewing, I honestly didn't think I'd ever watch the show again because I didn't think I would get that same feeling of shock and aw already knowing what was going to happen.
Thankfully that was not the case upon my second viewing. Two factors played a role in that one being my girlfriend's reaction to twists and turns and the other was me getting an appreciation for the small hints that the show gives early on. My girlfriend was so invested after the halfway point that she wound up staying up later and finished the series after I had already gone to bed.
A sign of a well told mystery is the ability to hook the viewers interest to the point that they feel that they have no choice but to keep watching. WandaVision's mysterious world and the story of how it unravels was a great risk for Marvel that thankfully pays off and creates a unique experience different from other Marvel properties.
But while I believe the risk pays off, others may not....
Cons:
Mystery May Be Too Much for Newcomers
While I admire the risk that Marvel took with this series, I believe it paid off for Marvel fans. If someone who has never seen a Marvel film before were to randomly put this on, they would likely find the set up to be too weird and confusing to keep them invested.
Me, my girlfriend and friends are all Marvel fans so we were aware of these characters and invested in them before the show. For a newcomer, you need to be able to introduce them to these characters and get them invested in them enough for them to keep watching. This show's set up is so different and out there, that it does run the risk of scaring off newcomers.
I know many people who have said that the MCU can be too much with all the films and shows out there to digest. With that mindset already present in their head, a show with a weird set up and having you scratch your head at what's going will likely scare them away.
As someone who loves the MCU, even I was almost turned off by how strange it was but the TV references and my love of the character of Wanda kept me going. For newcomers, I say that despite the weird set up, the story and characters are worth staying with it and that the experience is one that you will not regret.
Conclusion
For Marvel's first outing on Disney Plus, WandaVision holds up as a unique television experience that pays tribute to the sitcom formula and the shows before as well as creates a captivating mystery that will keep fans on the edge of their seats. Elizabeth Olson shines as the titular Wanda and establishes herself as a strong acting force in the MCU.
Although the odd premise and mystery may risk being off putting to newcomers, the characters and mystery are so captivating and well written that it is worth getting though any confusion and the experience is one that you will not regret.
If you are a fan of the MCU, this is a just watch series! If you are a newcomer, I would recommend watching at least the Avengers films before giving watching this series so you don't miss out on the full experience.
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