Reviewing - WandaVision
The MCU’s first foray into Phase Four is fraught with far-fetched fan theories, false leads, and a fulfilling heart-felt finale. It’s everything the MCU has become famous for, and more.
Episodes 1-3 were a wonderful experiment. We had little to no context through which to understand what was going on. We knew that this couldn’t be real – Vision’s dead, after all. And the MCU isn’t a sitcom. But for three grueling episodes, the Marvel team led us along without giving us much in terms of clues. There was little moments here and there that indicated something was off, but nothing more than that. But because we all know the caliber of films that the MCU has put out, we trusted them long enough to get to Episode 4. And boy, did things get crazy from there on in.
Episode 4 was a “man behind the curtain” kind of episode, where we finally got an idea of what was going on. It was fun to retroactively understand the significance of stuff that had happened earlier on in the show, and to be able to firmly contextualize the setting. The “snap” sequence in particular was a blast. The idea of everyone popping back into existence is such an intriguing one – although I doubt we’ll see another scene like this in the MCU anytime soon, I’d love to see more of the ramifications of the second snap.
One of the things that made this show so fun was the supporting cast outside of Westview – Captain Marvel’s Monica (grown up), Thor’s Darcy, and Ant-Man’s Jimmy Woo all joined in as members of a new government organization known as S.W.O.R.D. (you know, since S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t a thing anymore). Each of them was a welcome addition – Jimmy was still working on his magic tricks, and Monica seemed to be an increasingly relevant character to the MCU with every passing episode. I have a feeling she’ll play a major role in Captain Marvel 2. But the most refreshing role out of the three of them has to be Darcy. I’ve written before in my reviews of the first two Thor movies that Darcy didn’t really matter as a character. She was funny, but out of place. Here, she’s right where she’s supposed to be. She’s relevant to the plot, and her jokes don’t feel like she’s stealing spotlight from more important characters. Give us more Darcy!
Obviously it was so fun watching each episode make its way through decades of family television. The theme songs, the costume and set designs, the lingo – everything felt really wholesome. It was an ode to the sitcom, and I loved it. More than that, I loved the ways they challenged and bent the rules of television. The aspect ratio changed. Wanda made the credits roll in the middle of an argument. The show seemed to skip, rewind, and halt – but it was on purpose. I loved that. It’s this kind of outside-the-box thinking that makes stories truly memorable.
But most of all, I loved how this show was an exploration into Wanda’s process of grieving. Like many characters within the MCU, Wanda has lost a lot. Most obviously, she had to murder her own true love – and then watch her sacrifice end up in vain as Thanos killed Vision a second time. In WandaVision, we got to see Wanda trapped inside a prison of her own making – a false reality that prevented her from accepting the truth. We all like escaping reality now and then (in a sense, that’s what television is), but Wanda seemed committed to making what used to be a temporary moment permanent. When she was young, these sitcoms provided her with a bit of peace amidst a world of chaos. It’s cool how she’s now turned to them again to get her through one of the biggest challenges she’s ever faced.
On that note, Wanda’s final scene with Vision was beautiful, poignant, and one of the most emotionally resonant scenes I’ve seen in an MCU production. She had to let go of him for a few reasons, but mainly because he wasn’t really Vision to begin with. As Vision explained with his “Ship of Theseus” analogy, there’s only so much of a thing you can replace before the thing has become another thing entirely. Vision wasn’t really himself – rather, he was the Vision that Wanda believed in. I teared up as she explained this to him in their final moments together:
“You, Vision, are the piece of the Mind Stone that lives in me…You are my sadness and my hope. But mostly, you're my love.”
Like, wow. In a very real sense, Wanda got to speak to her grief in a very direct way. And in letting him go, she was able to move on. What’s next for Wanda is a topic of great speculation amongst fans, but what’s great about this show is that she’s made conclusive growth as a character by the end. We’re left with the promise of more to come, but it’s not as if this ended on a cliffhanger.
WandaVision was a weird and wonderful little big show, and a terrific kickoff to a new era of MCU storytelling. A great cast, a thrillingly fresh storyline, and a compelling theme at its heart made this a show that definitely needs to be watched twice. Folks that are new to the MCU might get a little disoriented, but the true believers are in for a real treat.