Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Starring Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff / The Scarlet Witch), Paul Bettany (VISION / The VISION), Kathryn Hahn (Agnes / Agatha Harkness), Teyonah Parris (Monaca Rambeau), Randall Park (Jimmy Woo), Kat Dennings (Darcy Lewis), and Josh Stamberg (Tyler Hayward), with Evan Peters (Ralph Bohner), Julian Hilliard (Billy Maximoff), and Jett Klyne (Tommy Maximoff)
WANDAVISION
Directed by Matt Shakman
Produced by Chuck Hayward with Kevin Feige
Music By Christophe Beck with Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Distributed by Disney Platform Distribution
Number of Episodes: 9
Initial Streaming: January 15, 2021 – March 5, 2021
Marvel Entertainment
Fun WandaVision Facts
The story of Wanda Maximoff is a convoluted one in Marvel comics, but it is also immensely intriguing. Understanding Wanda is key to understanding many of the stories that she is featured in, including Marvel Studios’ WandaVision series. Starting from the top, there are three primary things one should know about Wanda:
# 1 – She started out as a villain in the Marvel comics. Wanda’s debut came in 1964’s X-Men # 4 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. She was introduced as a member of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and was introduced as the twin sister of Quicksilver / Pietro Maximoff. Wanda and Pietro were ultimately revealed to be the children of Magneto, but that has been retconned since. Wanda’s turn to heroism came in 1965’s Avengers # 16, in which she and her brother Pietro joined The Avengers, along with fellow villain-turned-hero Clint Barton / Hawkeye.
# 2 – As a member of The Avengers, Wanda fell deeply in love with fellow teammate The Vision. Wanda longed to settle down into a quiet life with the synthezoid, and in 1975’s Giant-Size Avengers # 4, Wanda and The Vision were married. From there, Wanda mysteriously birthed Twin sons: Billy and Tommy. Readers would ultimately learn that Billy and Tommy were willed into existence by Wanda via her unpredictable Hex powers, using unbound pieces of the demon Mephisto to accomplish the feat. Billy and Tommy were ultimately reabsorbed by the demon however, essentially being erased from existence. Believing that the loss of her beloved children was not something that Wanda would be capable of handling, Agatha Harkness cast a spell to erase Wanda’s memories of the Twins and Wanda went on with her life as if Billy and Tommy never existed. From there, Wanda and The Vision’s marriage was nullified after Vision was dismantled; his human brain patterns wiped out, and his artificial skin rendered chalk white. This now emotionless Vision was unable to reciprocate Wanda’s feelings, tragically ending their love story. Wanda Maximoff was a very broken person.
# 3 – Years later, Wanda’s friend and teammate Janet Van Dyne / The Wasp made the mistake of referencing Wanda’s forgotten motherhood, restoring Wanda’s memories and sending Wanda into a furious rage. The Scarlet Witch tracked down Agatha Harkness and murdered her before declaring war on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Wanda’s powers were later referred to as Chaos Magic by Doctor Strange in 2004’s Avengers: Disassembled Event Series which saw The Scarlet Witch manipulate reality while waging war against The Avengers, bringing the nightmares of some of her now former friends and teammates to life in order to torture them. Following the conclusion of that event, Wanda created a whole new reality in 2005’s House of M Event Series in which mutants were the dominant species and her children Billy and Tommy were alive (again). This reality ultimately unraveled because, to quote Thanos, “As long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be.” Reality ultimately reverts back to the way things were before Wanda’s spell, but not before Wanda utters the words “No More Mutants”, significantly decimating the mutant population. Wanda would ultimately find redemption, and Doctor Doom would get the blame for manipulating her from behind-the-scenes into doing the terrible things that she did. Also, Billy and Tommy would come to exist in the Marvel Universe as Young Avengers Wiccan and Speed, and they would ultimately unite with Wanda and be acknowledged as her children.
In WandaVision, Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff uses her powers to alter reality to the point of creating a new world that can be viewed from the outside world on old television monitors as a TV show based on classic American sitcoms that is filled with residents of a small New Jersey town that find themselves under Wanda’s spell and portraying character roles that fit-in with her sitcom. This is all made possible (as we’d find out near the end of the series, courtesy of Agatha Harkness), by Wanda’s wielding of Chaos Magic. Wanda furthermore creates a new VISION out of nothingness, wielding the Power of Creation to do so, and from there, successfully manipulates her own pregnancy and the subsequent birth of twin boys: Billy and Tommy Maximoff. Agatha Harkness (an ancient student of Witchcraft) later reveals that Wanda’s ability to do these things prove her to be the prophesied Scarlet Witch; an entity more powerful than even the Sorcerer Supreme and that is destined to destroy the world.
Marvel Entertainment
In addition to borrowing from various stories pertaining to Wanda Maximoff’s comic book history in years past, a couple of recent stories from Marvel Comics also influenced WandaVision, namely James Robinson’s 2015 Scarlet Witch series (which established the “Scarlet Witch” as a mantle), and Tom King’s 2015 Vision series which sees The Vision settle down into a suburban life with a family. I highly recommend both of these series to fans of WandaVision.
In August-2017, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige organized his latest Marvel Studios Creative Retreat in an effort to begin developing plans for Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The goal was to develop a blueprint for the next five-years of Marvel Studios projects post-The Infinity Saga. No public announcements were made, but Feige and his team first discussed their visions for future Marvel Studios projects such as Eternals, Black Widow, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on this retreat. Some four-months later in December-2017, Bob Iger dropped the news on Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige that The Walt Disney Company was entering the Streaming Platform business, with a target launch date of 2019. Iger proposed the idea of a series of streaming television shows that would be set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that more importantly, would be produced by Kevin Feige and his Marvel Studios team. Excited by the prospect, Feige encouraged his creative team to begin brainstorming ideas for potential shows, and the foundations for the shows that would eventually become WandaVision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Loki, and What If? were laid.
On December 14, 2017, The Walt Disney Company announced that a deal had been reached with 21st Century Fox that would see Disney acquire Fox’s television and film divisions, among other things. For comic book fans, this deal was huge, for it meant that Marvel characters such as The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, and Deadpool would be free to be ushered into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This development would end up affecting WandaVision in a very controversial way.
On November 8, 2018, Bob Iger confirmed the name of the upstart Disney Streaming Service as Disney+.
On April 11, 2019, during a direct-to-consumer presentation for Disney investors, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige officially confirmed WandaVision for Disney+ starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany. A November 12, 2019, launch date was also confirmed for the Disney+ Streaming Service.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
On July 20, 2019, Marvel Studios presented its landmark 10th presentation at San Diego Comic Con where Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige officially announced WandaVision for Disney+ with a release window of Spring-2021. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany appeared onstage with Feige to tout the series, which Feige assured would be unlike anything Marvel Studios had ever produced before.
On August 23, 2019, at the D-23 Expo in Anaheim, California, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced the additions of Kat Dennings and Randal Park to the cast of Marvel Studios’ WandaVision in a reprisal of their respective MCU roles as Darcy Lewis and Jimmy Woo. Feige then welcomed Kathryn Hahn to the stage and announced that she too would be a part of WandaVision in an unspecified role.
On October 15, 2019, The Walt Disney Company announced the promotion of Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige to Chief Creative Officer of all things Marvel Entertainment. This meant that Feige would now oversee movies, television, and even publishing. Marvel Television (led by Jeph Loeb) was disbanded and even Marvel Entertainment President Dan Buckley and Marvel Chairman Ike Perlmutter would now essentially answer to Feige. Disney stated that all of this was being done in an effort to create a more cohesive Marvel Cinematic Universe.
On November 10, 2019, WandaVision commenced filming. With its unique narrative, WandaVision drew inspiration from several television sitcoms including The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, The Brady Bunch, Family Ties, Malcolm in the Middle, and Modern Family.
Cinematographer Jess Hall used 47 different camera lenses for the seven time periods covered in WandaVision. The show furthermore uses multiple aspect ratios that switch interchangeably between episodes. WandaVision was also the first Marvel Studios production to be filmed in front of a live studio audience.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
In WandaVision, the voice of Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff becomes less cheery with each reciting of the “Previously On” lines.
In WandaVision, throughout the broadcast of the WandaVision series, several commercials air that serve as shrouded peaks into Wanda’s past:
The first is an advertisement for the Toastmate 2000 with the tagline “Forget the past, this is your future!” As the timer on the Toastmate 2000 ominously beeps, the light of the machine flashes a bright red and as the timer continues to beep, climbing in intensity and shifting until it reaches orange, the advertisement abruptly ends. This seems to reference Wanda’s childhood in Sokovia and the death of her parents after their home was bombarded by a Stark Industries missile. The Toastmate 2000 is in fact even made by Stark Industries. The trauma of being surrounded by rubble and waiting two days for the missile to explode was mentioned in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
The second advertisement is for a Strucker Watch with the tagline “Strucker … He’ll make time … for you.” This is a reference to Wanda and her brother Pietro’s volunteering to be experimented upon by Hydra; specifically, Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker and his companion Doctor List. Wanda and Pietro were the only Sokovians to survive these experiments, which involved being exposed to the Mind Stone in an effort to enhance ordinary people. WandaVision would teach us however, that Wanda Maximoff was never ordinary, and that the Mind Stone merely unlocked remarkable powers within her that already existed.
The third advertisement is for Hydra Soak with the tagline “Find the Goodness within …” This commercial features an ordinary housewife that becomes overwhelmed by things not going quite her way, provoking her to take a bubble bath in an effort to try and forget all of her troubles. This is a reference to Wanda’s mental and emotional break, during which she created the world of WandaVision.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
The fourth advertisement is for Lagos Brand Paper Towels with the tagline “For When you make a mess, but you didn’t mean to!” This references the events in Lagos, Nigeria seen at the beginning of Captain America: Civil War and which inspired the rushed passing into legislation of the Sokovia Accords after Wanda inadvertently sent the terrorist Crossbones crashing into a building full of civilians in an effort to prevent Crossbones from detonating a suicide bomb in the streets of Lagos.
The fifth advertisement is for Yo-Magic and is an animated commercial that sees the central character stranded on a deserted island where he is unable to open his package of delicious Yo-Magic and avoid starving to death. This seems to reference Wanda’s inability to come to terms with her grief and the unhealthy affects her actions are having on not only the townspeople she has entrapped, but as well as on herself.
The sixth advertisement is for a medication called Nexus with the tagline “Because the world doesn’t revolve around you … or does it?” Among the side effects this anti-depressant boasts are “Feeling your feelings, confronting your truths, seizing your destiny, and possibly … more depression. This is obviously a reference to Wanda’s stubbornness as she refuses to bring down the Hex and return to life in the outside world; happy to carry on in this fantasy world of her own creation, regardless of the consequences.
In WandaVision, each distinct era of the broadcast that has been subconsciously created by Wanda has its own unique theme song. These were created by songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
Just two days after completing filming on WandaVision, Elizabeth Olsen flew to London to begin work on Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
On Tuesday, November 12, 2019, Walt Disney Pictures launched its Disney+ Streaming Service in the United States. A special feature titled Marvel Studios: Expanding the Universe was included for viewing upon the launch. The special featured footage from the 2019 San Diego Comic Con and D23 conventions along with some new concept art from Wandavision. The new streaming service drew a reported 10-million subscribers on its first day.
On Wednesday, January 1, 2020, Marvel Studios announced that WandaVision was being moved up for a 2020 release window on Disney+. The show was originally slated for a Spring-2021 release.
On Sunday, February 2, 2020, during the NFL’s Super Bowl LIV, Marvel Studios released a 30-second teaser that previewed the upcoming Disney+ television series, including WandaVision.
On Sunday, March 15, 2020, Marvel Studios announced that all filming on WandaVision had been halted for two weeks due to concerns related to the sudden Coronavirus outbreak.
On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Marvel Studios completely shut down due to continued concerns over the ongoing COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak. All active shoots had already been postponed, but a further step was taken to close the Marvel Studios offices in Burbank, California as the Coronavirus continued to wreak havoc on American life, complete with a mandatory stay-at-home order to all residents in California for the foreseeable future.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
On Sunday, September 20, 2020: The first official trailer for Marvel Studios’ WandaVision dropped.
On Thursday, November 12, 2020: Marvel Studios confirmed that WandaVision would premier on Disney+ on January 15, 2021.
On Friday, September 11, 2020, reports surfaced that Marvel Studios had resumed filming on WandaVision.
On Thursday, December 10, 2020, The Walt Disney Company hosted a conference call that was dubbed “Investor’s Day” in an effort to generate revenue in what had been the most challenging year in company history with the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic shutting down film and television productions, closing theaters, canceling cons and conventions, and closing theme parks, while infecting 69-million people worldwide and killing 1.5 million. With no San Diego Comic Con and no D23, there had been no formal announcements from Marvel Studios over the course of 2020, forcing fans to carefully follow just about every leak and rumor that emerged while clinging to hope that at least some of them were true. Finally, at Investor’s Day, many of the rumors that had been floating around out there proved true, while some were completely ignored, which didn’t necessarily make them not true by any means but put a lot of them on the backburner in light of all of the announcements that came. Marvel Studios produced a near 23-minute clip featuring Marvel Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige and there was plenty for fans to sink their teeth into, including Feige’s confirmation that WandaVision would still debut on Disney+ on January 15, 2021, along with a second trailer for the Streaming Series.
On Friday, March 12, 2021, a behind-the-scenes feature on WandaVision produced by Marvel Studios aired on Disney+. The feature boasted interviews with stars Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, and Kathryn Hahn, as well as Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige along with several writers and producers.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
According to the 2023 book Marvel Studios – The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline, on the MCU (Sacred) Timeline, the events of WandaVision kickoff in the Fall of 2023, about three-weeks following the Battle of Earth and after Steve Rogers’ journey through mystery to return the Infinity Stones to the timelines from whence they came. Wanda’s post-Endgame journey starts with her visit to S.W.O.R.D. to retrieve the shattered pieces of The VISION. Again, according to the MCU: An Official Timeline book, Season One (and Two) of Marvel Studios’ Disney+ series Loki should be viewed chronologically before WandaVision, as Loki picks up with the Variant who seized the Tesseract and escaped Avengers custody during the Battle of New York (on a Branched Timeline). From there, the two Seasons of Loki shed a lot of light on the nature of the MCU Multiverse, explaining the Prime MCU (Sacred) Timeline as an isolated and preordained Flow of Time policed by the Time Variance Authority and ruled over by an entity known as He Who Remains. The events of Loki ultimately result in the destruction of the all-important Temporal Loom that makes the Sacred Timeline possible, leaving the Sacred Timeline exposed and vulnerable to Multiversal War. Therefore, chronologically speaking, WandaVision is the first live action MCU project that takes place on a vulnerable (616) Sacred Timeline that is now held together by the aforementioned Loki Variant, who has at long last ascended to Godhood. Watching WandaVision with this knowledge enriches the series significantly, particularly when it comes to the appearance of a certain twin brother and just maybe why he looks the way that he does.
In the Spring of 2022, Marvel Studios released the feature film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in theaters worldwide. The film serves as a follow-up to WandaVision and primarily takes place on the now former Sacred Timeline that started with Marvel Studios’ Iron Man in 2008, though the film does explore alternate Universes. Multiverse of Madness takes place one year after the events of WandaVision in the Fall of 2024 on the MCU Timeline, meaning that Wanda has had a full calendar year to be fully corrupted by The Darkhold, leading to the villainous turn that she takes in the film.
WandaVision was nominated in eight categories at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, including nominations for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series (WandaVision), Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (Elizabeth Olsen), Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Anthology Series or Movie (Paul Bettany), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Anthology Series or Movie (Kathryn Hahn), Outstanding Directing for a Limited Anthology Series or Movie (Matt Shakman), Outstanding Writing for a Limited Anthology Series or Movie (Chuck Hayward and Peter Cameron for the All-New Halloween Spooktacular episode of WandaVision, Jac Schaeffer for the Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience episode of WandaVision, and Laura Donney for the Previously On episode of WandaVision. The series also won multiple MTV & TV Movie Awards including Best Show (WandaVision), Best Performance on a Show (Elizabeth Olsen), Best Villain (Kathryn Hahn), and Best Fight (Elizabeth Olsen vs Kathryn Hahn).
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
My WandaVision Review
Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience – Directed by Matt Shakman. Written by Jac Schaeffer.
On January 15, 2021, Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at long last kicked-off with the airing of the first two episodes of WandaVision starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany with Kathryn Hahn on Disney+. The series was Marvel Studios’ first-ever venture into the realm of streaming, their first venture into television in six years, and their debut original series on the Disney+ platform. It was furthermore Marvel Studios’ first new project in 18-months; since Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 2, 2019.
The first episode of WandaVision seemed to take place within a new reality that Wanda Maximoff had created, presumably based on her childhood love for Western sitcoms. The reality existed as a literal television series titled WandaVision that could be viewed by the outside world on a variety of older screens. Here, Wanda and VISION (whom she had presumably resurrected following his demise in Avengers: Infinity War at the hands of Thanos) lived together in a small community called Westview. They were a couple and were very much in love. VISION worked at a company called Computational Services Inc. under Arthur Hart. Wanda was meanwhile a housewife. Wanda and VISION were surrounded by a cast of characters that included their neighbor Agnes and VISION’s co-worker Norm. Neither Wanda nor VISION seemed to have any memory of the world from which they came, apparently lost in the bliis of their immense love for one another.
The inaugural episode of WandaVision took place within a world that had been stripped of its color (just like The VISION when he was destroyed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War) as everything was black-and-white; just as the first television programs ever produced were. It also took place in what appeared to be a 1950’s setting.
Someone had drawn a heart on the date of August 23rd on the calendar within Wanda and VISION’s home, but neither Wanda nor VISION could remember what it was the heart was supposed to remind them of. It turned out to be a dinner date with VISION’s boss and his wife. Wanda however mistakenly assumed it to be a romantic anniversary of some kind and was encouraged by her neighbor Agnes in all the ways to properly celebrate the occasion. This led to a chaotic evening as VISION arrived home with his boss and his wife to a candlelit room, soft music, and a quite scantily clad Wanda. Wanda then tried to throw together a meal while VISION tried to keep his boss and his wife both entertained and distracted. Wanda finally offered breakfast for dinner, with the awkwardness of the evening being cleverly and hilariously written off to her Sokovian heritage. During the meal however, Mr. Hart questioned Wanda and VISION’s history, which provoked Wanda to cause the loud and demanding man to choke on his food. VISION ended up using his phasing powers to save the life of his boss, however. From there, the show ended with Mr. Hart promising a promotion to VISION and with Wanda creating wedding rings for herself and her now husband.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Don’t Touch That Dial – Directed by Matt Shakman. Written by Gretchen Enders.
The second episode of WandaVision took place in a 1960’s setting where after investigating a strange noise and pulling their individual beds together, Wanda and VISION (apparently) made love. The following day, the couple practiced the magic act they had decided to present at Westview’s upcoming talent show: For the Children. From there, VISION ventured to a neighborhood watch meeting while Wanda discovered what appeared to be a toy helicopter that was a vivid red; strongly standing out in the colorless world she had created. Wanda then joined Agnes in attending a meeting with the other neighborhood wives of Westview where she met the very vocal and judgmental Dottie Jones, and the recently arrived Geraldine, who just so happened to be S.W.O.R.D. Agent Monica Rambeau, who had lost her memory upon arriving in the world of Westview. While trying to impress Dottie and to fit-in with the other women of the neighborhood, Wanda began to lose her focus as a voice began addressing her from out of a radio, calling her by name. Dottie began to be consumed with terror and the radio as well as a glass in Dottie’s hand both suddenly shattered as tensions rose. Dottie was cut by the exploding glass and bled a very vivid red amongst the backdrop of the colorless world.
Meanwhile, The VISION inadvertently swallowed chewing gum, which caused an internal malfunction, leaving him in a seemingly drunken state at the magic show. VISION and Wanda both won the crowd over with their antics, nonetheless.
Returning home, Wanda suddenly became pregnant, and Wanda and a delighted VISION shared a passionate kiss before VISION stepped outside to investigate another strange noise. Wanda followed and they encountered a man wearing a beekeeper’s suit, surrounded by insects crawling out of a sewer. Noting the same S.W.O.R.D. logo on the man’s suit that donned the red helicopter she’d found previously, Wanda sternly uttered the word “no”, and then rewound time back to the point of her and VISION’s passionate kiss after which she transformed the world around them from black-and-white into living color.
So, the first two episodes of WandaVision weren’t exactly what I was expecting, but they were wildly entertaining, nonetheless. Each episode was weird, and quirky, and mysterious, and confusing in all the right ways! The first time I watched these episodes, I, like so many others, had theories and ideas pertaining to what was probably going on, but I really didn’t know what was up! What I did know was that this was a new side of Wanda Maximoff and VISION that we hadn’t seen in the MCU before! Wanda was erratic and awkward, and … well, funny! Same can be said for VISION; VISION was funny and awkward and not quite himself and somehow, it all worked together to make for a really interesting episode. I loved seeing Wanda and VISION thrust into the 1950’s world; a world that is reflected upon by many today as sort of a last age of innocence in the United States before the political upheaval of the 1960’s came; an upheaval that continues to this day. I loved the throwbacks and tributes to old American sitcoms and how Wanda’s powers were handled in a comedic way. Was I confused? Of course! Was I entertained? Absolutely! And as one of the biggest Scarlet Witch fans there is, I was all-in!
As for the second episode, this too was a lot of fun for me. The stuff with Dottie was intriguing and the little splashes of color (red) were very well done, but the magic show is what stole the episode for me! Paul Bettany as VISION in particular blew me away with his performance as a malfunctioning / buzzing VISION. He was SO funny, and his dialogue was amazing, as he could not have cared less about exposing his powers to the Westview people, forcing Wanda to improvise and keep the “illusions” explainable. I adored the whole scene, and then things got taken to a rather creepy level with the weird beekeeper and then the manifestation of color and Wanda’s pregnancy at the end of the episode.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Now in Color – Directed by Matt Shakman. Written by Megan McDonnell.
On Friday, January 22, 2021, the third of episode of WandaVision dropped on Disney+. This episode saw Wanda Maximoff give birth to twin boys (Billy and Tommy) and revolved around a major confrontation between Wanda and Geraldine, who had been the talk of the town. Geraldine was revealed to the audience to be S.W.O.R.D. Agent Monica Rambeau when in a moment of clarity, she remembered and vocally stated that Wanda’s twin brother Pietro had been killed by Ultron. This prompted an intolerant Wanda to lash out at Monica, sending her out of Westview, where Rambeau landed with a thud back in the MCU 616-Universe in the middle of a S.W.O.R.D. Encampment.
The third episode of WandaVision was the most bizarre yet! The 1970’s setting and Wanda’s sudden labor made for all sorts of chaos and Geraldine found herself right in the middle of it all, which made things all the more hectic. The strange stork and Wanda’s inability to control it was a lot of fun, while the Sokovian melody that Wanda sang to her children was hauntingly beautiful. In the meantime, seeing VISION grow increasingly confused by his surroundings raised the stakes, with Herb and Agnes adding to the mystery perfectly.
To cap it all off, Geraldine’s Westview exit expanded the scope of the world this show inhabited significantly and began to fill in some of the blanks left by the first two episodes.
We Interrupt This Program – Directed by Matt Shakman. Written by Bobak Esfarjani and Megan McDonnell.
On Friday, January 29, 2021, the fourth episode of WandaVision starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany with Randall Park, Kat Dennings, and Teyonah Parris dropped on Disney+. This extremely revealing episode opened with the Blip as people (including Monica Rambeau) began suddenly reassembling five years after Thanos’ Snap, causing mass panic and confusion. It was revealed that while Monica was Snapped-away, her mother Maria (portrayed by Lashana Lynch in Captain Marvel) died from cancer and Monica was one of countless members of the Vanished that Thanos left a permanent mark on, despite The Avengers’ reversing of his Snap. The suddenly reemerged Monica began trying to get back to work as an Agent of S.W.O.R.D., assigned to joining FBI Agent Jimmy Woo in his investigation of a missing persons case in Westview, New Jersey where a hexagonal static energy field emitting Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation field had surrounded the town.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
After S.W.O.R.D. erected a perimeter around the town, Monica Rambeau was sucked into the field, seemingly vanishing into thin air. Doctor Darcy Lewis was then brought in by S.W.O.R.D. to consult on the investigation and she discovered a television broadcast signal emanating from the field that had manifested itself as a sitcom titled WandaVision. As I previously mentioned, this signal could be received and viewed on old television sets and upon studying the show, S.W.O.R.D. deduced that all of the town’s people had been (seemingly) unknowingly cast as characters in the WandaVision show, which starred renowned Avengers Wanda Maximoff and the presumed destroyed synthetic android The VISION, a direct victim of Thanos.
As the episode moved forward, we saw recent events from the first three episodes of Wandavision through the eyes of S.W.O.R.D., learning specifically that Darcy Lewis was the person seen watching and taking notes on the show, and that Jimmy Woo was the individual trying to communicate with Wanda through the radio. We also saw the extent of the warping of reality this field wielded as Monica was transformed into the Geraldine character with no memory of the outside world for a while, as well as the transformation of a S.W.O.R.D. Agent in a Hazmat suit into a beekeeper. On top of all of that, it was revealed that Wanda’s rewinding of time (a startling ability in the grand scheme of things that reflects the extent of her power set) was not detected by the outside world.
What I loved most about this episode personally, was how Wanda lashed out at Geraldine the previous week, which we saw in its entirety here! The look on Elizabeth Olsen’s face as she demanded answers from Geraldine was awesome, and then Wanda physically casting her out of Westview and casually putting the pieces of her home back together to the sounds of Voodoo Child as she brushes off VISION’s questions just put this whole sequence over the top, and WandaVision as a show with it, and had me really excited by the notion of a villainous Wanda!
Also, the ever-so-brief glimpse of VISION, seen through the eyes of Wanda as the haunting corpse that Thanos left behind, was quite disturbing, and Wanda’s melancholy insistence that she and VISION could not leave Westview was subtly sad. From there, Wanda deceptively assured VISION that she had everything under control, giving us a closer look at Wanda’s more sinister side, while a returned Monica informed everyone at S.W.O.R.D. that it was Wanda who was manipulating the bizarre series of events that they were investigating.
I thought We Interrupt this Program was the best episode of WandaVision yet! It revealed a lot of the mystery that had surrounded the show, and cleverly even had the Agents of S.W.O.R.D. asking the very same questions that fans had been asking as viewers at times! There were some cool confirmations; most notably that Wanda was in fact shaping this reality, but it left a whole lot that was yet to be discovered such as the roles of Agnes and Dottie, the whole “For the Children” thing, and just how in-control Wanda really was and whether or not she was being manipulated herself by some seen of unseen force?
I really felt that the first couple of episodes were stolen by Paul Bettany, but the second two were easily stolen by Elizabeth Olsen. The emotion with which she sang to her twins and then the solemn way she reflected upon her deceased brother, whose death she had clearly never gotten over were great character moments and then in episode four, the subtle rage with which she portrayed Wanda Maximoff was amazing! These were the first times since Avengers: Age of Ultron that we’d seen this side of Wanda and it was really cool to see this side of her return for me as a fan! Also, I must praise that Blip scene! After seeing it unsatisfyingly played for laughs in Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019, it was really cool to see this much more serious take on it! The way the people came back together was chilling and seeing the absolute panic and chaos that ensued at the hospital was quite engaging.
I also thought the character introductions of both Jimmy Woo and Darcy Lewis were handled well. I enjoyed the Darcy character in both of the Thor films that she appeared in, and this show seemed like a great fit for her. I felt the same way about the Jimmy Woo character. The comedic aspects of Jimmy and Darcy would help keep the S.W.O.R.D. scenes interesting and I always appreciate any time further Marvel Cinematic Universe character development is made a priority by Marvel Studios.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
On A Very Special Episode … – Directed by Matt Shakman. Written by Peter Cameron and Mackenzie Dohr.
On Friday, February 5, 2021, the fifth episode of WandaVision starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany dropped on Disney+. On a Very Special Episode … took place in a 1980’s setting and featured the aging-up of Billy and Tommy Maximoff into 10-year-old children in a matter of hours! Wanda and VISION furthermore adopted a puppy for their boys; a puppy (named Sparky) that later died, leading to one of the most emotional scenes of the series as the heartbroken children begged their mom to resurrect the animal. As all of this transpired, Wanda was seen slowly losing her grip on the reality that she had created as S.W.O.R.D. continued to try and get through to the subjects under her control. This included VISION receiving an e-mail at work that snapped him into reality and provoked him to temporarily clear his co-workers’ mind, leading to the flabbergasted man begging VISION to stop Wanda while proclaiming how much fear and pain he was dealing with. In the meantime, S.W.O.R.D. sent a drone into Westview and a hit on Wanda’s life was attempted! This prompted her to, in a rage, exit the reality she’d created and confront S.W.O.R.D. in the real world! Wanda flexed her muscle a bit and let S.W.O.R.D. know just how easily she could end all of their lives and insisted that this was the only warning they would have, before returning back to her reality.
Later, the incident at work prompted VISION to confront Wanda at home and this confrontation saw VISION admit to having no memory of his life before Westview. An aggravated Wanda tried to cut VISION off by prompting the credits of the WandaVision show to roll, but VISION ignored this and lashed out at his wife, demanding that she come clean. Wanda defended herself and insisted that she was not in control of everything that happened in Westview, contrary to what VISION and others thought, and as their debate went on and escalated, the doorbell rang. Wanda insisted that she was not the cause of this, and she and VISION went to the door, where, standing in the doorway was Wanda’s brother Pietro … except that it was not the same Pietro that Wanda (or we as viewers) knew … Pietro had been recast … and the actor portraying Pietro was Evan Peters, who portrayed Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver in several X-Men films produced by Fox prior to the Disney acquisition of it!
I had heard that Evan Peters had been cast in WandaVision prior to his debut, and I knew about the Quicksilver speculation that this casting had generated, but I never bought into all of that. I thought that Evan Peters was playing Mephisto! I still believed this following his debut based on two things: one, Wanda seemed genuinely surprised when the doorbell rang, so I really didn’t think that it was her doing, and two: Wanda didn’t seem to recognize Pietro, and why should she have? This was clearly not the version of the character that was portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Avengers: Age of Ultron. I figured this was some sort of a desperate distraction orchestrated by Mephisto (more or less Marvel’s Devil) to bring an end to the rapidly escalating confrontation between Wanda and VISION. All of that being said, I did want this to be the Quicksilver from the X-Men films, because that just would have been all kinds of awesome and would have had major ramifications upon the MCU in terms of the Multiverse and whatnot, but at this point in WandaVision as well as in The Infinity Saga, as viewers, we really didn’t know how or why what was happening was happening, and for all we knew, Wanda had somehow breached the Multiverse in creating Westview but ultimately, this was not to be, exciting as the premise may have been. Regardless, this was an incredible moment that sort of broke the internet and will long live in infamy within MCU fandom, and learning how the MCU Multiverse does and doesn’t work in the time sense, has sort of left this sequence wide open for interpretation as it pertains to why Agatha Harkness may have chosen this specific person to portray Wanda’s brother.
There was so much more to this episode than the Evan Peters introduction though! At the top of the list for me was the footage that revealed Wanda stole The VISION’s body from S.W.O.R.D. and her subsequent confrontation with the Agents of S.W.O.R.D. Wanda was such a badass here with hints of evil and malice during her confrontation scene with Tyler Hayward! Her acting continued to shine as the highlight of this series throughout her heated confrontation with VISION and during the scenes with her children prior to that! Elizabeth Olsen seemed to be adding new dimensions of complexity to the Wanda Maximoff character with each and every scene.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
All-New Halloween Spooktacular! – Directed by Matt Shakman. Written by Chuck Hayward and Peter Cameron.
On Friday, February 12, 2021, the sixth episode of WandaVision starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany with Evan Peters and Kathryn Hahn plus Julian Hilliard and Jett Klyne dropped on Disney+. Due to the trailers and promotional material that came out before the show’s debut, I was really looking forward to this episode, which mixed two of my favorite things: the MCU and Halloween!
This episode was everything that I wanted it to be! Just seeing Wanda and VISION in their comic-accurate costumes was a treat and I had no idea we’d see this new version of Pietro wearing a comic-accurate costume as well, nor Billy and Tommy! Aesthetically alone, there was a lot to love about this episode, but of course, the ever-evolving story of this series was the main course.
With this episode, the series jumped to the late-1990’s / early-2000’s and saw Wanda, VISION, Billy, Tommy … and the would-be Pietro celebrating their first Halloween together as a family. After VISION decided to skip-out on trick-r-treating due to the lingering issues between himself and his wife, the would-be Pietro stepped up and joined Wanda and her boys in their celebration of this special holiday. Meanwhile, VISION wandered to the outskirts of town where he saw several Westview residents that appeared to be frozen with one specific resident crying while finding herself unable to move. Obviously, these residents had ventured to a point in town beyond Wanda’s reach.
VISION soon happened upon Agnes, who was sitting in her car dressed as a witch and frozen as well. VISION used his powers to unlock Agnes’ mind and Agnes instantly recognized VISION as one of The Avengers and remembered that VISION was dead (destroyed by Thanos). Agnes asked if she was dead and began cackling uncontrollably, prompting VISION to put her back under Wanda’s trance, at which point she quickly reverted back to her WandaVision character.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Having heard and experienced enough, VISION decided to venture outside Westview and after breaching the energy field of the Hex, VISION saw the encampment set up by S.W.O.R.D. and cried out for help as he began to disintegrate. Billy sensed VISION’s despair and alerted Wanda to it and Wanda saved VISION by expanding the Hex to cover the entire S.W.O.R.D. encampment and its Agents and equipment were transformed into circus items and performers. This episode ended with S.W.O.R.D. Director Hayward trying to outrun the expanding Hex.
In the meantime, Pietro mysteriously revealed that he was fully aware of what Wanda was doing in Westview and even endorsed her actions, raising more questions as to why he was there and what his true motives were.
I loved the would-be Pietro, Billy, and Tommy so much in this episode. Evan Peters was brilliant as their immature uncle, and it was amazing to see Pietro and Tommy running around together throughout the town. All of those hopes of Evan Peters’ character being the Quicksilver from the X-Men films took another hit during this episode though, as something surely seemed to be off with him and it was at least teased here that he had some of the memories that belonged to the other Pietro; complete with Wanda having a haunting vision of this Pietro as a walking corpse with the same wounds he received in Age of Ultron. This had me at the time back to thinking that this Pietro was maybe Mephisto again, but even that was put in doubt by Wanda’s acknowledgment that she really was behind the Westview anomaly, (at least to some degree), as evident by her expansion of the Hex.
Breaking the Fourth Wall – Directed by Matt Shakman. Written by Cameron Squires.
On Friday, February 19, 2021, the seventh episode of WandaVision starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany with Kathryn Hahn and Kat Dennings dropped on Disney+, and it was Agatha All Along! This episode took place in the late-2000’s with a mockumentary format, similar to television shows like The Office and Modern Family. After a Halloween that did not at all go as she planned, Wanda decided to take a day to herself and allowed Agnes to watch Billy and Tommy. As the episode commenced, Wanda was very obviously flustered and very obviously losing control over the reality she had created. Meanwhile, VISION found and awakened Darcy Lewis (who was absorbed into the Hex the previous episode), and she filled in several of his confusing memory gaps. Meanwhile outside, Monica tried to infiltrate the Hex once more. She eventually did and discovered that she now had enhanced vision within the Hex. Monica rushed to Wanda, who did not take kindly to her being back within the Hex. Agnes stepped in to intervene and talked Wanda down from getting into a physical confrontation with the empowered Monica and Wanda returned inside to discover that Billy and Tommy were missing. Wanda ventured downstairs to the basement in search of the Twins, only to discover Agnes, who revealed that she too had magical powers and introduced herself as … Agatha Harkness! Complete with an amazing accompanying soundtrack and theme song, we learned It Was Agatha All Along!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
According to Agatha, she had been responsible for a lot of the mischief in Westview that Wanda did not have control over … She even killed Sparky!
Previously On – Directed by Matt Shakman, Written by Laura Donney.
On Friday, February 26, 2021, the eighth episode of WandaVision starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany with Kathryn Hahn dropped on Disney+. This was an episode that went a very long way towards tying everything together that the series had been setting up, while boasting some incredible flashback sequences. I pretty much cried throughout this entire episode as it was overloaded with emotion and sadness.
Previously On opened in 1693 as the Salem Witch trials were ongoing. This sequence taught us that Agatha Harkness was an intended victim of these trials, as her Coven sisters attempted to kill her for dabbling in some sort of forbidden black magic. Agatha was too powerful for them to contain however, and she ended up extracting the life force from her would-be persecutors, killing them (one of which was her own mother). So, we know Agatha is over 300 years old and a very powerful and dark witch.
Back in the present, Agatha demanded to know how Wanda had created what she had in Westview, apparently desperate to share in the literal Power of Creation that she had witnessed Wanda wield. Agatha then wielded her dark magic to force Wanda to relive key moments of Wanda’s life. Through this journey, Agatha (and us as well) discovered that Wanda had magical abilities before she was ever exposed to the Mind Stone!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
This was discovered in a flashback to Wanda’s life in Sokovia with her parents and brother where we saw them sharing their collective passion for American sitcoms as an escape from the horrors of the world right outside their window. This was a beautiful and tragic sequence which ended with the arrival of the Stark missile that took the lives of their parents. Shockingly, it took two days, but Wanda ultimately used her powers to defuse the missile, saving she and Pietro’s lives.
We next saw Wanda living through some of her Hydra experiments, and we saw the moment that she was exposed to the Mind Stone, and we saw the Mind Stone sort of choose to bask Wanda in its glow, presumably upgrading her powers. Interestingly, the footage of Wanda’s exposure to the Stone was mysteriously kept from the eyes of Hydra, perhaps via Wanda, even if subconsciously.
From there, we jumped ahead to after the Blip and saw Wanda’s confrontation with S.W.O.R.D. in its true context. The real story was that Wanda ventured to S.W.O.R.D. Headquarters to recover The VISION’s body and found him completely dissected! Unable to feel anything resembling life or a spiritual connection with The VISION, Wanda was denied the chance to bury The VISION, and after mourning over a letter from The VISION concerning a plot of land that he had bought for Wanda and himself to spend the rest of their lives together on, Wanda drove out to the location of the plot … Westview, New Jersey!
There, Wanda was overwhelmed by her grief and inadvertently unleashed a huge burst of magical energy that transformed Westview and its residents and created WandaVision. All out of nothingness.
Having seen all that she needed to see, Agatha deduced that Wanda wielded a rare and powerful type of ancient magic known as Chaos Magic, which, according to prophecy, could be wielded only by The Scarlet Witch!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
The episode ended with the reveal that Hayward and S.W.O.R.D. had successfully assembled a new and all-white VISION.
As viewers and MCU fans, we got a lot of answers out of this episode: Wanda did have powers before the Mind Stone, the Mind Stone did choose her, Wanda does wield Chaos Magic, Wanda did create Westview, and The Scarlet Witch is a literal thing within the Marvel Cinematic Universe that is directly tied to the personification of Wanda Maximoff.
We also knew the extent of Wanda’s undying love for The VISION and how her ongoing grief and mourning was a reflection of the depth of that love. Furthermore, we now knew conclusively that Heyward was overseeing a S.W.O.R.D. initiative to create a new VISION; an ultimate sentient weapon, and that he was indeed successful in doing so. On top of all of that, we also now knew that WandaVision was in fact a thing because of Wanda’s love for American sitcoms, and Wanda created Westview’s VISION; a magical construct that could not exist outside of Westview. Just like Billy and Tommy.
I LOVED this episode! The flashback scenes to Wanda and Pietro as children had been a six-year wait that was very worth it, as were the Hydra facility reveals. Wanda’s heartbreaking “I can’t feel you” line to The VISION’s remains and VISION’s “What is grief if not love persevering” were beautiful words that defined the story that had been told in this mysterious, thought-provoking, and wonderful series!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
The Series Finale – Directed by Matt Shakman. Written by Jac Schaeffer.
On Friday, March 5, 2021, the ninth and final episode of WandaVision starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany with Kathryn Hahn dropped on Disney+. This was an episode that had a lot of very high expectations from me going in. Fans, viewers, and critics alike were anxious to get revelations and answers pertaining to the many mysteries the show boasted throughout its first eight episodes. The final episode started strong and never let-up, providing a thrilling action-packed finale that served as a wonderful payoff to Marvel Studios’ first television Streaming Series. A showdown pitting Wanda, VISION, Billy, and Tommy against Agatha kicked things off and this confrontation was interrupted by the emergence of the S.W.O.R.D. VISION, so in the first 5-minutes we got VISION vs The VISION and it was pretty great (particularly the dialogue between the two)! In the meantime, Agatha broke Wanda’s spell over Westview and the awakened residents convinced Wanda to open the energy field of the Hex and allow them to flee, which she did.
With the barrier open however, VISION, Billy, and Tommy began to disintegrate House of M style and Hayward and S.W.O.R.D. breached the perimeter. Meanwhile, Monica freed the mind of the would-be Pietro, who turned out to merely be an actor named Ralph Bohner. From there Westview’s VISION restored the memories of The VISION while Wanda used rune magic to entrap Agatha, whom she reverted back to Agnes.
With the battle won, Wanda bid farewell to VISION and the Twins and collapsed the Westview energy field, then ventured out into hiding. The mid-credits scene showed Hayward getting arrested and a Skrull approaching Monica, informing her that a friend of her mother’s wanted to meet with her (presumably Nick Fury), and a post-credits scene showed Wanda studying the mystical book known as The Darkhold in astral form, during which she heard the apparent voices of Billy and Tommy crying out for help from within the Multiverse!
I adored WandaVision, but I will admit that the Evan Peters thing was a big downer for me at the time and it still agitates me to this day, though I continue to hold out hope for a future reveal that could make the whole thing more satisfying. For now, let me say that I LOVED Peters as Pietro in this series and would have been fine with him being some sort of Big Bad if he couldn’t be some Multiversal Variant of Pietro, but if this was the end for him in the MCU, it sucks because I think he has a lot more that he could offer to this Shared Universe than just being some throwaway actor named Ralph. That being said, I enjoyed what he added to this series. His supposed Quicksilver scenes were a blast, and it was clear he was having fun with all of that. His enthusiasm for it all transcended the screen and, in the end, I have similar feelings for all of this that I did with The Mandarin in Iron Man 3; it was fine for what it was, and even a lot of fun overall at times, but ultimately, a poorly executed payoff for what the Marvel Studios team had set up.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
With that out of the way, when it comes to the stuff with Wanda Maximoff in this series, man, it was ALL perfect, and in the end, this was her story and her show, and if I’m looking at this show strictly within the context of getting a deeper look into her character and in seeing the progression of her character, this was an all-around homerun by Marvel Studios!
After getting Chaos Magic and Hex Power references in episode eight, in episode nine, we got Wanda Maximoff full-on as The Scarlet Witch, complete with costume and headpiece, and it was awesome!!!
We also saw Wanda come full circle and finally accept her tragic fate and try to at long last move on from it. Her farewells to Billy and Tommy and the VISION of her creation were full of raw and powerful emotion with more perfectly written dialogue. I loved these sequences and just cannot express highly enough how wonderful Elizabeth Olsen was throughout this series. She flexed her acting muscles in unprecedented fashion every time she was on the screen, and she deserved all of the awards that she ends up claiming for her performance.
I was so happy to have a literal Scarlet Witch in the MCU moving forward!
I also have to praise Kathryn Hahn as Agatha! She was wonderful as the nosy neighbor throughout the series, but when she went into witch-mode, she was at a new level of awesome! I thoroughly enjoyed her showdown with Wanda and all of her taunts and cackles and insults. She was wickedly delightful throughout this series, and I cannot wait to see more of her in the MCU!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
I also need to throw praise out to some of the supporting cast members. David Lengel as Phil Jones, David Payton as Herb, Emma Caulfield as Dottie … all awesome! And Billy and Tommy were perfectly cast by Marvel Studios! I loved the costuming and the music throughout the series and there was so much careful attention to detail that I really appreciated. Again, this was Marvel Studios at its best!
WandaVision was a unique and highly entertaining series that richly expanded the Wanda Maximoff character and her undying love for The VISION, while dramatically enhancing the MCU mythology of The Scarlet Witch. This was upper echelon stuff for me, with plenty of questions left to be answered in the future, from whose voices those were that Wanda identified as Billy and Tommy while studying The Darkhold to who asked to meet with Monica Rambeau, and on to what would become of The VISION?
I believe this series has aged well as time has moved on and it has seemed to claim a universal legacy as one of the most risky, bold, and captivating productions in Marvel Studios history.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Highlights of WandaVision:
Elizabeth Olsen is finally The Scarlet Witch
Multi-Layered Acting Performance from Elizabeth Olsen Throughout
Halloween
The Humorous Side of Paul Bettany
The Westview Magic Show
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Kathryn Hahn as Agnes / Agatha Harkness
It was Agatha All Along!
Billy and Tommy
What is Grief If Not Love Persevering
Chemistry Between Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany
VISION vs The VISION
Scenes with Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff, even though He Really Wasn’t
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:
The Scarlet Witch (At Long Last). VISION (the entity created by Wanda that resided in Westview). The White VISON (S.W.O.R.D. Reboot). Billy and Tommy Maximoff (Wanda and VISION’s Twins; created by Wanda). Ralph Bohner (Not Quicksilver). The Hex (the Energy Field created by Wanda around Westview). Chaos Magic (the magical energy Wanda wields audibly defined). The Darkhold. Agatha Harkness (Wicked Witch). Tyler Hayward (Director of S.W.O.R.D.). and WandaVision (Wanda’s TV Show).
Leave a Reply