WandaVision: A Breakdown
March 23, 2021
Have you ever seen Avengers: End Game? Did you ever wonder what happened to Wanda, also known as the Scarlet Witch, after her world was literally and emotionally blown apart by Thanos? If so, WandaVision is the show for you! If you have not watched Avengers: End Game, it is suggested you do so before reading this article, as there are spoilers for the end of the movie. If you have, continue reading for more information on this brand new show.
After the tragic death of Vision in Avengers: End Game, Marvel fans, as well as Wanda herself, were left sad and upset. Why did Vision have to die? What will Wanda do without him? After Marvel fans got good and weepy over Vision’s death, the startling release of Marvel’s new show, WandaVision, made viewers excited and intrigued about what it would be about. How would Vision be in the show if he was dead? Would Wanda be confused about why Vision would be there? These questions and more lead many people to begin watching the new series.
However, upon doing so, many people began to question the show, and stopped watching it almost immediately. Why is the show in black and white? Why do Wanda and Vision seem to be living in an old rom-com? How is Vision alive? The show started out confusing, to the point where many viewers quit watching it and gave up on the show. It seemed pointless, as the beginning of the show made no sense. That is, at first. Although the beginning of the show did seem confusing and pointless, as the show continues, things start to make sense. The first episode may have not appeared to be important, however it showed many important events in Wanda/Vision’s life in this new world. The second episode began to get wacky when weird and unexpected items started appearing in the world that Wanda and Vision are living in. Time seems to rewind, puzzling fans even more. Events start to get really interesting from there. Some of the episodes, specifically the earlier ones, may have appeared to be nonsensical and pointless, but each episode fits into the story of the show. As the puzzle pieces start to fit in, the intricate plot and setting of WandaVision positively amazes viewers and leaves them astonished.
So who are these amazing actors playing such creative parts? There are many actors in WandaVision, but the main actors are Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch), and Paul Bettany (Vision). Let’s talk about Elizabeth first. Elizabeth is a 32-year-old American married woman. Her character in WandaVision hasn’t been fully explored yet, so this is a chance for Elizabeth to learn her character’s personality and such. In an interview, she says, “I feel like I have such ownership, and I feel like I can take her into any situation now…” so as we can assume from this quote, Elizabeth hadn’t fully experienced her character’s life yet, and didn’t fully understand what her personality was like. So when filming WandaVision, she got to experience stuff with her and take advantage of this tv series.
Paul Bettany is a 49-year-old married man. Paul’s career before filming WandaVision was not very successful. He was an amazing actor (and still is), but he didn’t get cast in successful movies, so everyone assumed he just wasn’t a very good actor. It wasn’t until one of the directors of Iron Man asked him to do some voice overs for Tony Stark’s glasses, when he started to become more successful in his career. Some other main roles in WandaVision are Kathryn Hahn (Agatha), and Tayonah Parris (Monica Rambeau). WandaVision is Kathryn’s first television show in the Marvel Comics Universe (MCU). In fact, it is her very first appearance in any Marvel movie or TV show. Kathryn has gotten very popular over the months of her appearance in WandaVision. Kathryn was surprised to be in the MCU, she said in an interview, “I would not have imagined entering this world in a 1950s sitcom, like into the MCU, like it’s – the whole thing is so trippy to me, and exciting…” Like Kathryn, this is also Tayonah’s first appearance in the MCU, and she also is looking forward to spending time exploring her character. “Hopefully, these things will be addressed, you know, I – Monica – has been announced to be joining Carol in Ms. Marvel, in Captain Marvel 2, so that offers us a lot of space to explore that relationship.” Wanda has never gotten her own movie, or television show in the MCU, and we never really knew anything about her, so let’s take a look at what other movie critics thought about the show.
As mentioned before, m
any people did not like the beginning of WandaVision. Television critic Mik Hale from New York Times even went as far as to say, “It’s not uncommon for TV series to be overthought, but ‘WandaVision,’ through three episodes, feels like an extreme case; you could even go so far as to call it over-intellectualized.” This critic was thinking that the show was over-thought extremely, and did not like that about it. Despite this, the show has 92% Rotten Tomatoes, meaning that 92% of television/film critics reviewed the show positively. Overall, this shows that although many people may have not liked parts of WandaVision, a vast majority of television/film critics did like it, or rated it positively.
Additionally, some critics thought that Wanda and Vision’s ‘chemistry’ is the problem
with the show. Kelly Lawler who wrote a review for USA Today thought that, “It’s too attuned to its corporate responsibility to tie into the films and other TV shows to focus on being its own TV show.” Kelly thinks that the show needs to focus more on being its own show, rather than trying to be a Marvel show. Kelly even says, “For a series that purports to be a love letter to one of TV’s most classic genres, the sitcom, it struggles to claim an identit
y as a TV show at all.” And to be fair, she only said this stuff with the show was just coming out, and she didn’t get to experience the rest of the show before making her opinion. Kelly even still had hope for the rest of the series, because she leaves it off by saying, “But hey, maybe there will be some cool fight scenes later.”
There have been many good reviews from critics, as well as many negative reviews from journalists. These reviews usually seem to stem from the confusion of the beginning of the show. However, after watching a few episodes, everything starts to make sense and the show surprises viewers. There are many amazing actors in this show, some of whom are just getting to know their characters. If you’ve made it this far, you must be interested, so if you haven’t already, make sure you check out WandaVision on Disney+!
Works Cited
“About.” Rotten Tomatoes, www.rottentomatoes.com/about#:~:text=The Tomatometer score represents the,receives at least five reviews.
Hale, Mike. “’WandaVision’ Review: That’s Why They Became the Disney Bunch.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 Jan. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/arts/television/wandavision-review.html.
Lawler, Kelly. “Review: Marvel’s Trippy Disney Sitcom ‘WandaVision’ Is Funny but Frustrating.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 19 Jan. 2021, www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/01/14/wandavision-review-disney-s-marvel-series-funny-but-frustrating/6653364002/.
Maio, Alyssa, et al. “How Does Rotten Tomatoes Actually Work?” StudioBinder, 22 Feb. 2021, www.studiobinder.com/blog/rotten-tomatoes-ratings-system/.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaZZEjbkqXs
