WandaVision

Starring: Elizabeth Olsen (9 episodes), Paul Bettany (9 episodes), Kathryn Hahn (8 episodes), Teyonah Parris (7 episodes), Josh Stamberg (6 episodes), David Payton (6 episodes), David Lengel (6 episodes), Amos Glick (6 episodes), Selena Anduze (6 episodes), Randall Park (5 episodes), Kat Dennings (5 episodes), Julian Hilliard (5 episodes), Debra Jo Rupp (5 episodes), Jett Klyne (5 episodes), Asif Ali (5 episodes), Ithamar Enriquez (5 episodes), Victoria Blade (5 episodes), Evan Peters (4 episodes), Emma Caulfield Ford (4 episodes), Jolene Purdy (4 episodes), Fred Melamed (1 episode)
Directed by: Matt Shakman (9 episodes)
Rating: TV-PG
Genre: Action, Drama, Comedy
2021

Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) is living a sitcom life while reality seems to crumble around her.

Review:
Tim: The MCU unveiled their first fully-controlled television series at a time when it felt absolutely essential for new content. We'd been suffering through a deadly pandemic and incompetent government and we needed something to look forward to. Along comes WandaVision, another big risk for the MCU. This was essentially a MCU sitcom that played with the very fabric of reality. It was unlike anything that had come before it. It's exactly what we needed, though. I had a blast watching every Friday and talking about it over the course of the next week. It was an odd, exciting, memorable series. It's not without its missteps, but it's another big success for the MCU.

It always felt a little strange what to think about the 10+ previous series set in the MCU. These were made by a different division of Marvel and they never quite made it up to the level of the movies. The world was interested in seeing what a fully controlled series would look like. WandaVision gives us a lot of hope for the future. It continues to subvert our expectations, verses just playing off the exact same sheet of music. This series continues to push the boundaries of what the MCU is.

Matt Shakman did a terrific job of directing these episodes. The series perfectly pays tribute to decades worth of television sitcoms. It was truly amazing how they were able to tell a story while shifting the time period of each episode. We get episodes modeled after sitcoms from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s/1990s, 2000s, and today. This is a bit jarring, but it perfectly connects with the larger story. I cannot stress enough what an accomplishment this was. Shakman worked wonders with this series. I loved how much of it was shrouded in mystery, so you would debate and guess each and every week. It was a much-needed distraction from the real world and so much fun to watch.

I have to give immense credit to the cast. I loved that this series was able to shine a light on two supporting characters in the larger MCU. Wanda and Vision were great characters, but they were always relegated to the sidelines. Here, they take center stage and the series is better for it. It helps that Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany are truly terrific actors. Olsen is so fantastic here- she perfectly models her performance after the women of each era. She never loses the thread of being Wanda Maximoff, but she fits this character into the accompanying setting in ways that are astounding. Olsen is absolutely a star and it was incredible to see her get the opportunity to carry a series here. Bettany has long been one of the most underrated actors today- he's fantastic in everything he does. That is the case again, here. He brings so much humanity to this non-human character. Like Olsen, he shifts his performance appropriately and brings a great deal of emotion to the role. One of my favorite moments is when he stares directly at the camera, just like Jim from The Office. It was so much fun seeing Bettany and Olsen together here.

The supporting cast featured some surprises. Kathryn Hahn was good in a supporting role as a neighbor. She's a solid actress and did really strong work here. I loved seeing the return of Kat Dennings and Randall Park. I certainly never expected to see these two reprise their roles from Thor and Ant-Man. I'm a big fan of both Dennings and Park and love that they got bigger roles here. It's also a wonderful way to continue to weave this mega-story of the MCU. Seeing them both again was a highlight. Teyonah Parris was a good addition to the cast. I love that they connected her character to Captain Marvel.

Now, as much as I thoroughly enjoyed this series, there were a few missteps. The biggest of all was the way the series handled the most shocking moment. SPOILER for the series- it was the inclusion of Evan Peters. When he first showed up, like most fans, I lost it. I couldn't believe it! The MCU was finally connecting to the X-Men movies through the multiverse? That would have been the coolest thing ever done. And yet, the following episodes just completely muddle this. Marvel has made mistakes throughout the MCU (most notably, Mandarin in Iron Man 3, which they had to fix later). This is one of those mistakes that just makes you cringe and it needed to be handled better.

While not perfect, WandaVision was a fantastic series. There's a moment at the end when "Scarlet Witch" is name-checked that gave me chills. I had a blast watching this miniseries. While part of me wishes it would continue, there's also something cool about doing something for 9 episodes that was a big success and taking a bow. We're going to be getting a ton of Disney+ Marvel series in subsequent years, but this was the perfect way to kick it off.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Series, We Recommend: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame