MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE: WANDAVISION (2021)
Chapter 24
**updated 3/9/2021**
When Marvel Studios announced this project back in 2019 (pre-COVID... gosh, that feels like a lifetime ago...) this is what we here at Bloodwork posted...
"This project is again largely unknown with not much information out
right now. It's the second Disney + television show. All they've said is
that the show is "WEIRD" with an extra emphasis on the weird. That
sounds good to me as it should be weird given her character. They've
also said that this show will directly tee up their next movie: DOCTOR
STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS. That's probably the biggest
revelation right there. This may signal a shift from Scarlet Witch as
merely a powered person to exploring the "magic" side of her. There's a
50's Leave It To Beaver esthetic to it as well which may end up going very dark and twisty by the end of it.
In the comics their is a story about Scarlet Witch's secret origin and
her connection to the dark elder god, CHTHON (see Avengers #185- #187).
That story involved the grimoire The DARKHOLD and Chthon's earthly
servent (and former Midnight Sons member) Modred the Mystic. If
WandaVision is teeing up Dr. Strange 2 like they say then it stands to
reason that the show will feature horror/supernatural elements given
that Dr. Strange 2 is a horror film. I'm expecting hallucinations and
"created" alternate realities from Wanda's powers. Paul Bettany will be
back as Vision but I'm expecting it to be as a hallucination or
manifestation of Wanda's powers or through the power of the Darkhold. It
would also be cool if this show also saw the long awaited return of
Wanda's brother, Quicksilver! All this speculation and possibility has
me very excited for WandaVision. Here's hoping my line of thinking is
correct (watch, I'm probably WAY off and this show will be nothing like
what I've outlined here...)."
Called it!
For that full blog post click here! MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE PHASE 4 ANNOUNCEMENT
THE PLOT
Wanda Maximoff has retreated to a small Pennsylvanian town to deal with her grief over the many losses throughout her life. But not all is as it seems in the sleepy little town of Westview. All of the residents have disappeared and an invisible shield is preventing anyone from entering. Has Wanda's power gone wild in her emotionally stricken state or is she a pawn herself in an even deadlier game? Find out in WandaVision!
INITIAL REACTIONS
Almost two years later (and so much life later) WandaVision has arrived! The first new MCU content since July 2019! My initial reaction for WandaVision is that it was fine. Enjoyable, exciting, and it gave me something to look forward to for eight weeks, and with that I am very grateful.
What I loved
The aspects I loved were first and foremost the actors. The MCU
certainly doesn’t want for great actors (although it is sorely lacking
great villains... but more on that later). Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany
are so much fun to watch. Randall Park, Kathryn Hahn, Evan Peters, and
the rest were all equally as enjoyable. To that effect, it was fun
seeing characters like Jimmy Woo, Darcy, and Monica Rambeau in the show.
I loved Evan Peters as Quicksilver! I wish they would’ve done more with
him as he was great with each scene he was in. I also loved White Vision
and the logic problem solution. And Wanda’s Scarlet Witch costume was
awesome. And the Darkhold! The ultimate source of evil in the Marvel
universe! Bring on the vampires, werewolves, and monsters! This could be
the gateway to Marvel’s horror heroes!
Visually the show is interesting too. From the various color schemes
accompanying the television eras being showcased to the wilder special
effects scenes, the look of the show is very cool. Even the changing
cinematography from era to era, changing upon narrative moments as well,
make this show fun to watch.
Now the nitpicking
Pacing was a bit of an issue for me. The first three episodes in
particular were a mix of emotions. While it was fun seeing these faux
sitcoms, they lacked context to anchor the viewer. And the hints at
something greater going on in the background were too subtle to make an
impact. In short, after three episodes they hadn't given me a reason to care about what was going on. Then the fourth episode gives us that much needed anchor point
but doesn’t move the story forward, merely contextual in nature.
Episodes five and six is where the show really hit its stride. Episode
six was probably my favorite. All in all though I feel this show
would’ve been better served with all episodes dropping at once, Netflix
style. Instead we received a Netflix binge show in a non-Netflix release
schedule.
Where the show really struggled for me was with the writing, not the
narrative being told, but the laying of hints and unraveling of the
mystery. The last three episodes seemed to suffer the most in this
regard. Examples of this being the constant hints (and prior proof from
previous movies) that Wanda isn’t capable of such power, that maybe
there is another force at play. This would've played into both fan theories and teases from Marvel Studios
themselves at a great evil being at work (most guessing it was
Mephisto). It was set up and hinted at but the show instead opted for a solution
that was not set up nor in keeping with prior evidence. The show eschewed its own ideas that
they themselves laid by later revealing it was Wanda all along (not
Agatha ).
**update**
After discussing this with a friend I guess they could've been alluding to the power of the legendary "Scarlet Witch" and if we think about the Scarlet Witch as a separate entity from Wanda then this solves this particular hitching point with me. Still... it feels like a missed opportunity for something greater.
**--**
Agatha Harkness. We all knew there was something up with her from the
get go, but exactly what was a mystery. When Vision temporarily frees
her from Wanda’s spell she seemed confused and even a victim herself.
Her character turn in episode seven didn’t jive with how she was portrayed earlier. If
anything she’d be chaotic good in nature (like she is in the comics).
Instead, out of left field, she was reduced to a raving puppy killing,
attempted child murdering, stock villain. Which, to be fair, is by and
large the standard for MCU villains. Oh, and if Agatha can just suck
Wanda’s power away why wasn’t she doing that the whole time instead of waiting until Wanda was at full power?
**update**
So, technically the puppy Agnes killed and Wanda's children were not real. In essence Agatha was attacking Wanda's magic. As for why she's so stark raving nuts at the end is that she was forced to suffer Wanda's mind control like everyone else in town, experiencing Wanda's nightmares and agony like everyone else. In that case it's understandable why she'd be angry. Agatha is actually trying to right Wanda's wrongs (and Wanda is definitely the villain of this show I've concluded). In talking this out with a friend, they may have turned me around on Agatha. Still, the show didn't do much to establish a lot of sympathy for Agatha. They could've tried a bit more to layer her character.
**--**
Then there’s the big secret origin with Wanda and Agatha. Was that real
or true? The flashbacks hint that maybe her powers weren’t from the Mind
Stone but that Wanda has had witch power all along. But then Wanda says
later that she created Vision from her powers of the Mind Stone. So
which is it? This is either another thread left hanging or another instance where the show can't make up its mind.
**update**
Apparently I missed a line where Agatha said that the Mind Stone awakened/super charged Wanda's innate magic powers. So she has both natural magic power and Mind Stone power. Oops. Our bad. How did we miss that line?
**--**
The other villain, Director Haywood, initially had depth and a hint of
layers, yet became another raving lunatic trying to kill children (again
with the violence towards kids! C’mon!). Some strangeness here, Hayward
was able to somehow track “fake Vision” within the Hex. This idea
worked when it was set up that Wanda stole Vision’s body. But it when it
was revealed that the Vision inside the Hex was all Wanda magic this
became a plot point never explained away.
**update**
Okay, this still isn't solved but through some creative theorizing a friend posed the idea that maybe SWORD was tracking the energy signature of the Mind Stone, which traces of may have still been on Vision's android body as well. This would explain how Vision's body was still at SWORD while an identical energy signature was also within the Hex.
**--**
Quicksilver too, while completely amazing having Evan Peters in the
role, hinted at so many possibilities. But then it became essentially a
massive trolling of the audience. And what about Monica's powers? Does she still have them even though Wanda took back all of her powers? And why hasn't anyone else in the Hex manifested weird powers too? And the commercials! There were so many hints and references within those commercials which never amounted to anything! In a nutshell this show had
possibilities galore that it could’ve taken advantage of, but ended up
seizing very few.
**update**
I still stand by this assessment. With fake Pietro, how did he know so much about Wanda's history too? In regards to Monica a friend suggested that the very act of forcibly inserting herself into the Hex, instead of being purposefully placed under the Hex, is why it affected her differently and gave her powers. Still, you'd think the citizens of Westview being under the influence of the Hex constantly for so long would affect them more. At best this is still fuzzy math at an explanation. But it works. Still, this show could've done so much more with what it was given. Oh well.
**--**
At its core this show had a real problem committing to many of the ideas itself was setting up. It felt as if it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. Along with many narrative threads left hanging or not addressed at all, And if you’re thinking I’m hung up needlessly on little details, I’m not putting in anything that wasn’t already there. This show is a slow reveal mystery. It’s the details that matter most in a show like this. And up until episode seven the show was working well (pacing problems aside). It’s as if they filmmakers suddenly decided to change the ending at the last minute whether it meshed or not.
THE VERDICT
As the MCU’s inaugural outing into the world of television, this was
kind of a mixed bag. When you’re the MCU and you’re going from film to
television you place yourself
in a curious predicament. They say they want these shows to look and
feel like a MCU movie and, if done a certain way, could render the
movies obsolete as a result. So how do you keep the movies
relevant? The simple answer is that you hold back when it comes to the
television shows. This is contrary to what they set out to do with the
shows. So what do you do?
WandaVision is now finished and we can see the route they chose to go
with. They teased a lot of possibilities, so many that the internet has
been flooded with fan theories. Ultimately the teases were either fake
or far lesser than what fans had hoped for. Some people will blame the fans
for setting their expectations too high, and to a degree that’s true. But when Marvel Studios and the actors themselves are the ones teasing these
theories and cameos, the lion’s share of the blame falls on Marvel
Studios for creating those expectations.
Overall Ranking: 6 out of 10
**update**
I'm still sticking with a 6 out of 10 even though a few of my hitching points were answered. This isn't a bad rating at all on Blood Work's rubric. Despite my initial hangups I still enjoyed this show a lot and gave it a good rating anyways. As far as the 24 chapters of the MCU go, I still feel WandaVision is somewhere in the middle in terms of enjoyment, not near the bottom of the MCU's installments nor the top. Had they seized more of those opportunities and really chose to WOW audiences then maybe I'd feel differently.
**--**
I feel WandaVision had the unfortunate luck of going first,
disappointing some viewers as a result, and setting the standard for the
MCU television shows going forward.
The show isn’t bad by any means. There's a lot that I did enjoy. But it feels like it wasn’t all they
had promised, especially if you saw all of the teases from the actors. Far from the worst chapter in the MCU but nowhere near the heights, I don't see myself going back to watch this one anytime soon (which is kinda the nature of the mystery shows). Here's hoping FALCON & WINTER SOLDIER fares better.
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