WANDAVISION (2021) MAGIC, HEXES, SPECIAL EFFECTS, AND TROLLING. SERIES REVIEW.

The first official MCU TV show and plot.

WandaVision has been released in Disney+ properly beginning phase four of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). This is the first television show to premiere of many announced by Disney/Marvel that are officially part of the MCU. Wanda and Vision are finally able to live the home life they have always wanted, in Westview, a small town in New Jersey, without adventures or fighting supervillains. But something is not quite right. Their days pass inside an idyllic and harmless television program, each day a different decade, each decade, the representation of a distinct TV show according to the time. If this is not strange enough, there is a more delicate situation. Vision is dead.

Wanda Maximoff is one of the most powerful characters in the MCU. But she is also one who has had to endure a higher amount of loss and suffering throughout her life. The series goes deeper into her past but also prepares us for her future. Everything here is going to have significant repercussions for the entire MCU. And also pave the way for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to be premiered in 2022.

The series takes place just a few days after the events of Avengers: Endgame (Russo Brothers 2019), establishing WandaVision chronologically right before Spider-Man Far From Home (Jon Watts 2019). Where we get to know about wild conspiracy theories about witches and the multiverse are common knowledge. With this, we can see the excellent level of planning on the part of Kevin Feige, outlining a large-scale plot to follow for all the MCU with years of anticipation and showing hints of story development in each production. This level of planning is what Lucasfilms, the other great franchise that Disney owns, fails miserably, but that’s a different subject.

Old and new characters.

Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany return to their roles as Wanda and Vision and the chemistry between them is evident, achieving touching and tender moments as the doomed couple. Teyonah Parris’s cast as Monica Rambeau is excellent, she looks just like the character shown in the comics. Randall Park as Jimmy Woo has the opportunity to continue developing the character, now mastering the little magic tricks that he began to learn in the Ant-Man movies. Another success of the continuity of the MCU that the fans love. But who steals the show is Kathryn Hahn playing Agness. her charisma draws all eyes into her on every scene she appears.

The most expensive series in TV history

With each episode hovering at approximately $25 Million this makes WandaVision the most expensive TV series in history, and it shows. All around, production values ​​are top quality. The special effects are equal to any MCU films, but it is in the TV sitcom homage episodes where this stands out the most. The decoration is remarkably faithful to each era, very detailed on every representative furniture and utensils for daily use. Besides, to achieve a more faithful representation, each of these episodes were tried to be made, as far as possible, with original technological filming resources of each era. Trying to use the same types of cameras and lenses, the same lamps for the lighting, camera positioning techniques, they even brought people who participated in the original productions to advise them on how to obtain the original feel on each sitcom.

Classic TV sitcoms honored in WandaVision.

The classic programs that are honored are, first, in the 50s The Dick Van Dyke Show and I Love Lucy. The 60’s  Bewitched. In the ’70s it was The Brady Bunch and The Patridge Family. For the ’80s Family Ties and Growing Pains. The 90s and 00s are based on Malcolm In the Middle and lastly on the 2010’s A Modern Family. Each of these episodes also contains a commercial according to the time where depicts several stages of Wanda’s life. To many viewers, the development of the story was very slow despite the marvelous presentation, being a comic superhero series, and indeed, the action moments are few, but the overall manufacture of the whole series is magnificent.

Writers trolled the fans?

The plot of the series is based on several Marvel comics which are The vision and the scarlet witch, as well as Avengers West Coast, and House of M. In the first two comics Tommy and Billy are introduced, the children of Wanda and Vision. But since Vision is an android and cannot procreate, it is known that Wanda created them through magic. But that in reality, Tommy and Billy are fragments of the soul of Mephisto, who is the representation of the devil in the Marvel comics.

Fans who read these comics know this well, and throughout the entire TV series, there are hints from the writers that this is also the case here as well. Apparently, Mephisto is behind all of this unusual situation. There were multiple references to the demonic and occult, in addition to the fact that it is already known that the next Doctor Strange film will have a more sinister touch, being labeled as the first «horror» Marvel film. But no. It was Agatha All Along (a catchy song by the way, an homage to the Muntsers). Not Mephisto, not Nightmare, neither Grim Reaper. Possibly one of the first two villains will appear in the Doctor Strange Multiverse of Madness movie but will have to wait.

Why Evan Peters?

What was the point of casting Evan Peters as Peter/Pietro/Ralph? The actor successfully played Quicksilver in Fox’s X-Men productions, but now that the production rights are in the hands of Marvel / Disney again, why not reveal that he is indeed the Quicksilver of those sagas and open the doors to the universe of possibilities of the multiverses? But no, he is only Ralph, a common guy controlled by Agness.  Also, what is the point that Ralph is constantly referenced by Agness whenever she could throughout the series, implying some level of relevance to the story and anticipating a big revelation? In the end, Ralph/fake Pietro had no impact on the outcome and only served to divert fans’ attention. Why not choose any other actor for this irrelevant role? If this is not explained in a future Marvel project, it will only be considered a major trolling gimmick.

Lazy writing?

Suspension of disbelief is basic to watch any science fiction or horror film, but it is the small aspects closest to reality where it is more difficult to believe when they are not resolved properly. Why does Director Hayward have to shoot Tommy and Billy at the end? He was after Vision and Wanda, there is no reason to kill the children. Although of course, this scene served to show the new powers of Monica, now Photon / Spectrum, but surely the writers could have created a more convincing way. Also, they never showed who the protected witness was hiding in Westview that took Jimmy Woo there looking for him. They just forgot. Again, I hope this shows up in future MCU projects.

Luke Skywalker size cameo.

Disney+ had tremendous success in the last episode of The Mandalorian with the appearance of Luke Skywalker, one of the most iconic characters in the history of cinema, and the actors of WandaVision did not miss the opportunity to take advantage of this situation to promote the series. Paul Bettany commented that he was looking forward to a cameo in the last episode with an actor that he always wanted to work with. For his part, Elizabeth Olsen went so far as to comment that there was going to be a cameo appearance that was going to rival Luke’s.

The names of Doctor Strange, Magneto, Professor X, interpreted by the actors who have made these characters famous, or the previously mentioned villains Mephisto and Nightmare, related to Al Pacino and Mark Hamill respectively, were shuffled by the public. And the result was nothing at all. There was no cameo. Paul Bettany confirmed that the surprise actor he mentioned was himself, backing off on his comments. But what Elizabeth said about the cameo, is as if she doesn’t understand the impact of that Luke Skywalker scene, or was it simple and pure trolling.

A great show for those with patience

In short, WandaVision appropriately opens phase 4 of the MCU. The positives far outweighing the negatives. A very well-made, fun, and engaging series, basic viewing for Marvel fans, and a joy ride for the ones who are just casual viewers. Although it raises more questions than it was able to answer, Marvel has managed to carry the continuity of its stories effectively and for extended periods, with long waits to unravel its plots. So far they have not disappointed and that is why we can give them the benefit of the doubt. The ending is coherent and perhaps it is better for the self-contained story that these cameos did not come true, since they could have taken away some relevance from the main characters.

As for the trolling, it was not just a bunch of YouTubers with wild theories. For us, the original Marvel fans that read the comics when we were kids back in the 80s, knew that Mephisto was an integral part of the story. That is why the trolling was not well received, and that’s what they could have avoided.

Trivia WandaVision:

 Mexican fans rejoiced at the Chapulin Colorado reference in episode 6. Chapulin Colorado (Red Grasshopper) was a super-hero that appeared on a Mexican 70s TV sitcom comedy of the same name. A parody of the genre. When Vision is about to leave the house wearing the full green and yellow costume on Halloween, he performs an odd jump back and forth. This little jump was the same signature move Chapulin Colorado made every time he entered or exited a scene.

Delirium Score