How ‘WandaVision’ Reassembles the MCU With a Crash Course Through TV Sitcom History
Marvel returns after an unexpected 18-month hiatus with a laugh track
Tim Baysinger | January 10, 2021 @ 6:14 PM
Last Updated: January 10, 2021 @ 6:21 PM
Disney/Marvel
“WandaVision” wasn’t supposed to be here. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic upending Marvel Studios’ carefully-laid plans, the whacky, sitcom-inspired Disney+ series was expected to cap off the first year of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4, one that included its first foray into episodic television.
Instead, it has to reintroduce the MCU to content-starved Marvel fans who have been waiting (im)patiently since “Spider-Man: Far From Home” swung into theaters some 18 months ago. When “WandaVision” debuts on Friday, it will end the biggest gap between Marvel Studios projects since the powerhouse company was in its earliest days.
“I don’t love that the whole world has been delayed by a year. But if it had to happen, ‘WandaVision’ being our first Disney+ series is perfect,” Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige told TheWrap. He heralded the 9-episode series as “a bold declaration of new storytelling medium — which is what television is for us at Marvel Studios — in which, on certain levels, ‘WandaVision’ was built to explore in a very direct way.”
In doing so, it aims to prove just how different the MCU will look on Disney+ compared to the big screen. The series finds Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany’s Vision living in suburban bliss, in a setting that feels like it was transported from “The Dick Van Dyke Show” or “Bewitched,” before skipping through decades of TV history as fast as people flip through channels on their remote.
For Feige, “WandaVision” enables him to scratch a particular itch that the 24-film “Infinity Saga” has been unable to accomplish: episodic television. “Everything that influenced me as a child and as a fan and as a viewer is what has gone into everything I’ve worked on,” he continued. “One segment of that, that I wasn’t able to, was an obsession with TV, with episodic television, and with sitcoms as a kid.”
Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff debuted in “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” as did Bettany’s Vision (though Bettany has been with the MCU since its beginning, providing the voice to Tony Stark’s A.I., J.A.R.V.I.S.). Despite the two’s weird-but-cute romance playing out in much more detail in the comics, their storyline was often relegated to the background, except when they were needed to provide an emotional gut-punch. “Wanda and Vision are a very unique couple who’ve gone through more trauma and changes than any characters in our films,” he said.
That’s why, when Feige was trying to figure out where the MCU would go after “Avengers: Endgame,” he couldn’t help but stare at some of the pair’s classic comic covers that depicted their stormy relationship. “Those were on my desk for a long time, as I was thinking about what was next,” he explained, adding that he often watched TV as a “comforting” factor while he was finishing the emotionally-heavy “Infinity War” and “Endgame.”
“I sort of questioned why is that? Why is there comfort in these silly dated shows? Exploring that has been a lot of fun.”
“WandaVision” takes its sitcom homages seriously. Matt Shakman, who directed all the episodes, put the cast through a sitcom boot camp and even brought in a dialect coach to help with some of the era-appropriate lingo. The first episode is in black-and-white and was filmed in front of an actual studio audience. Kathryn Hahn, who plays “noisy neighbor” Agnes, said her character is, essentially, a sitcom trope brought to life (who may or may not have more nefarious intentions).
“There’s that person that just stops by uninvited. You don’t really know anything about their personal life, but they seem to know a lot about yours,” Hahn said. “They’re just always around. And for a couple like Wanda and Vision that are trying just to fit in, having this person kind of constantly breathing down their neck sets up for life to be a little bit more difficult.”
While the first episodes largely apes “Dick Van Dyke” and the second one evokes “Bewitched,” as the show powers through eras, it starts to mash-up shows, alluding to how television’s popularity grew throughout the years. Teyonah Parris, who plays the grown-up Monica Rambeau from “Captain Marvel,” describes one episode as “Good Times”-meets-“The Brady Bunch.”
“We’re in a ‘Brady Bunch’ situation, and my point of reference and source was ‘Good Times,'” Parris said. “It’s like a clash of lots of elements and characters, and you’re like, how does this fit? Does that fit? It’s kind of off… I guess it’s meant to be off.”
While its TV roots make sense thematically to kick off the MCU’s Disney+ era, it was initially supposed to air after “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” which will now premiere in March. “WandaVision” is the first out of the gate for Phase 4 largely because it was the one that Marvel could complete sooner, given that “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” featured a much more globetrotting shoot.
“We were really lucky that we always knew that after we finished this big chunk, we were gonna have a tiny hiatus,” Hahn said. The pandemic hit during that hiatus, which pushed back their return date. “The work that we had left to do was, for the most part, outside. And so when it was safe to do so, we were able to slip back in there.”
“WandaVision” premieres its first two episodes on Friday, Jan. 15 on Disney+.
All 10 Marvel Films and TV Shows Coming in 2021 - And How They Could Affect the MCU (Photos)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe finally returned Friday with the premiere of "WandaVision," its first series for Disney+. The hugely popular franchise took an unexpected 18-month hiatus thanks to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down both production and movie theaters, causing Marvel Studios to delay its films and Disney+ TV series all the way out of 2020.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe took an unexpected 18-month hiatus thanks to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down both production and movie theaters, causing Marvel Studios to delay its films and Disney+ TV series all the way out of 2020. But finally, this month will see the return of the MCU in what figures to be the biggest year ever for Marvel Studios. Below, here is a rundown of all the films and TV shows (the first under the Marvel Studios banner) that will stream or (hopefully) hit theaters this year, and how we think they could affect the larger MCU.
"WandaVision" (Jan. 15) •
Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany return as Wanda Maximoff and Vision, the latter of which is still definitely dead. The first MCU TV series for Disney+ finds Wanda's reality-bending powers transporting the pair into the idyllic (and fictional) town of Westview, where they attempt to live out a sitcom-inspired lifestyle. •
How it could affect the MCU: We already know this will somehow lead into the "Doctor Strange" sequel in 2022, in which Olsen is set to appear alongside Benedict Cumberbatch. "WandaVision" also sees the return of Kat Dennings' Darcy Lewis from the "Thor" movies and Randall Park's FBI agent Jimmy Woo from "Ant-Man and the Wasp." Teyonah Parris also debuts as the grown-up version of Monica Rambeau from "Captain Marvel," and she's set to appear in that film's sequel, "Captain Marvel 2."
Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan return as the title characters, who will have team up despite not really enjoying each others' company. "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" will see them battle against the anarchist group known as the Flag-Smashers, while the U.S. government tries out a new Captain America. •
How it could affect the MCU: We'll see the introduction of John Walker aka U.S. Agent (played by Wyatt Russell), who will, at least temporarily, become the new Captain America despite Steve Rogers handing his shield to Sam in the "Avengers: Endgame." We won't be shocked if this series ends up with Sam officially taking over the Captain America moniker. Daniel Bruhl and Emily VanCamp also reprise their MCU roles as Baron Zemo and Sharon Carter, respectively.
Despite seemingly dying three times -- the last one for good -- Marvel is still not done with Tom Hiddleston's trickster god. This series follows the Loki that used the Space Stone to disappear during the Avengers' Time Heist, so he didn't have that whole redemption thing yet. •
How it could affect the MCU: Given that Loki in the MCU is still very much dead, this alternate-timeline version will not only introduce us to the TVA (Time Variance Authority), it will also start to seed just how weird and vast the MCU's multiverse could become. It could also help explain if Steve Rogers had any help when he returned all the infinity stones at the end of "Endgame" and how he was able to hop back into the main timeline to give Sam his shield after growing old in his new, alternate universe-life with Peggy.
The movie that was supposed to kick-start the MCU's Phase 4 is the first film that, hopefully, will hit theaters this year. Scarlett Johansson returns one last time as Natasha Romanoff in a film that is set between the events of "Captain America: Civil War" and "Avengers: Infinity War." She teams up with her Russian family from the Black Widow program, including Red Guardian (David Harbour), a Russian version of Captain America, to battle the Taskmaster. •
How it could affect the MCU: While we think this will mostly be a send-off for Romanoff -- it's set between two previous movies and we already know the eventual fate of her character -- we'll probably learn some new things about the Black Widow program we didn't know before. However, given that Florence Pugh's Yelena is set to show up in "Hawkeye," this film will likely set her up to be the new Black Widow.
"Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (July 9) •
Newcomer Simu Liu makes his debut as Shang-Chi, a skilled martial artist. The film also stars Awkwafina, Fala Chen, Michelle Yeoh and Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, the latter of which plays the Mandarin who is the leader of the Ten Rings organization. •
How it could affect the MCU: With apologies to Guy Pearce's Aldrich Killian, we'll finally meet the "real" Mandarin in "Shang-Chi." In "Iron Man 3," the Mandarin was an invention of Killian's, who hired out-of-work actor Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) to play a fictional terrorist. The Ten Rings were also the group that captured Tony Stark in the first "Iron Man" movie, so we'll likely learn a whole lot more about this group that unwittingly started the Avengers.
The first animated series in the MCU will tell one-off stories that play out major events if they happened differently. Examples include "what if" Peggy Carter took the Super Soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers and Yondu picking up T'Challa instead of Peter Quill. Jeffrey Wright will voice a character known as The Watcher. •
How it could affect the MCU: The series is non-canon so it won't have any larger ramifications, but it will still be cool to see Peggy as Captain Britain and T'Challa as Star-Lord.
Iman Velani will star as the teenage superhero, Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel, a Pakastani-American who became the first Muslim superhero in Marvel Comics.
How it could affect the MCU: Kamala Khan will become the first character introduced in a Disney+ series to reppear in an upcoming film (Monica Rambeau was introduced as a child in the first "Captain Marvel"). Like Parris, Velani will reprise her role for "Captain Marvel 2," which makes sense given the two's comic book ties (Khan names herself after Carol Danvers' superhero).
An immortal race that has been on Earth for thousands of years comes out of hiding to battle their nemesis, The Deviants. It features Angelina Jolie, Selma Hayak, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani and Bryan Tyree Henry. •
How it could affect the MCU: We're not quite sure just yet, but the logline references that some kind of tragedy that happens following the events of "Endgame" is the catalyst for the story. Also, they've been on earth for 7,000 years, so they probably know some stuff we don't.
"Hawkeye" (Late 2021) •
Original Avenger Jeremy Renner returns as Clint Barton, who trains Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) to be the new Hawkeye. He also has to come to grips with his murderous turn as Ronin. •
How it could affect the MCU: We'll bet this is another swan song for an OG Avenger and just as much of a set-up for Kate Bishop to take on a larger role in the MCU. Maybe we'll finally learn about Budapest?
"Untitled Spider-Man 3" (Dec. 17) •
Tom Holland is back for a third adventure that will feature a ridiculous cast that includes the likes of Jamie Foxx's Electro and Alfred Molina's Otto Octavius, who are known for appearing in films featuring other Spider-Men like Toby McGuire and Andrew Garfield. Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange fills the required older guy mentor role in this one. •
How it could affect the MCU: Given Strange's involvement, the characters appearing from non-MCU Spider-Man films and that this will also tie-in some way to "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness," expect some multi-verse hopping weirdness in this one. It could be the last time we see a "Spider-Man" film in the MCU, given that odd joint-custody between Marvel and Sony.
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The MCU finally returned after 18 months with “WandaVision”
The Marvel Cinematic Universe finally returned Friday with the premiere of "WandaVision," its first series for Disney+. The hugely popular franchise took an unexpected 18-month hiatus thanks to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down both production and movie theaters, causing Marvel Studios to delay its films and Disney+ TV series all the way out of 2020.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe took an unexpected 18-month hiatus thanks to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down both production and movie theaters, causing Marvel Studios to delay its films and Disney+ TV series all the way out of 2020. But finally, this month will see the return of the MCU in what figures to be the biggest year ever for Marvel Studios. Below, here is a rundown of all the films and TV shows (the first under the Marvel Studios banner) that will stream or (hopefully) hit theaters this year, and how we think they could affect the larger MCU.
