After watching 23 films in Marvel’s Infinity saga, a collective 49 hours and 56 minutes, it was clear that we had solid character development for only a handful of core characters. Now, it seems, with the Disney+ offshoot shows, we have a chance to develop the side characters that haven’t yet had time to shine on screen. In 2014, during the mid-credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we caught our first glimpse of “the volunteers”: a pair of “enhanced humans” who appeared to have powers due to being subjected to Hydra experiments with Loki’s staff. A nameless girl in a glass box, crushing toys to smithereens, has come a long way to get her own series and about 6 hours dedicated purely to her.
Before we dive in, let’s recap the events that brought us here. Wanda Maximoff, along with her twin brother Pietro, started in the MCU as adversaries to the Avengers. As children, the twins were trapped in an apartment with their dead parents and an unexploded Stark Industries bomb. Tony Stark didn’t personally send that bomb, of course, but this was the time where Stark Industries was mostly an arms dealer to the highest bidder. Now, all grown up and granted powers from Loki’s staff, the Maximoff twins were out for revenge on Tony Stark and his merry band of heroes. The twins fell in line with a genocidal robot, but switched sides at the last minute once they realized that killing all human life wasn’t really the answer to their problems. Pietro died in the process, but Wanda was taken in by the Avengers.
In the same film, another artificial being was created in the form of Vision. Part Jarvis, Stark’s original A.I. assistant, part Ultron, part mind stone, Vision was a unique and complicated being that chose to fight on the side of life. By the end of the film, like Wanda, Vision was inducted into the Avenger family as well. In the next few MCU films, we saw glimpses of these two outsiders comforting each other while the core Avenger team members had spats of drama. Fast forward to Infinity War, we find Wanda and Vision as traveling lovers, hiding from the world, trying their best to be together. Vision’s mind stone, however, is among the infinity stones that Thanos, the war lord, is after. Things end in tragedy as Wanda loses her love and Thanos gains his stone. Even when the Avengers eventually beat Thanos in Endgame and set things right in the universe, Wanda is still left without her Vision.
So, after losing her parents, her brother, and her lover, with no real way to find closure or even avenge the death of any of them, Wanda is left with nothing but her sorrow and her loneliness.
This, however, is not where WandaVision starts. Instead, the first episode of the Disney+ show starts with a happy couple, Wanda and Vision, moving into a new house in the quaint black and white town of Westview. Complete with set designs, a live audience, and shenanigans galore, we are exposed to a light-hearted tale in the vein of The Dick Van Dyke Show. Wanda and Vision seem to be young and joyous lovers, living in a small town, devoid of any of the drama or tragedy that had beset them when they served as Avengers. In fact, the only conflict that the two seem to face is how to keep the nosey neighbors from discovering that they have powers. Everything might seem hunky dory on the surface, but as Vision later puts it, “I think something’s wrong here, Wanda.”
In an effort to avoid spoilers for this 9-episode, nearly 6-hour show, I’m going to leave the plot talk at that. As a long time fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I was incredibly excited to check out a show completely dedicated to two of the most compelling characters in said Universe. Neither had received their own movie in the past, and yet I found them to be among the most interesting storylines. Disney+ gives an opportunity to dive deeper into their stories, and allow their characters to flourish in ways that a feature film’s runtime wouldn’t be able to indulge. Luckily for us, Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany earned their stripes as the title characters, as the show is 100% most compelling when these two are on the screen. Olsen, who’s shown us some grit in non-marvel shows like Oldboy and Wind River, brings her full range of emotion to this role as a woman who’s dealing with mountains of sadness while trying to keep a smile on her face. Likewise, Bettany, who has charmed us time and time again in films like A Knight’s Tale, Wimbledon, and A Beautiful Mind, commands your attention with his performance.
The Good
From the start, we are confused as viewers as to what exactly is going on in Westview. The only thing for certain is that Wanda clearly is struggling to hold on to anything that gives her joy. After experiencing a life of loss and torment, it makes sense that all she wants is to find peace, love, and joy in her life. While we wait to find answers to the questions presented in each episode, we hold on to the constant that is Wanda’s grief. The layers of her suffering peel back throughout the show, and it is both a beautiful and heart wrenching display of someone who is truly lost. Instead of one or two brief mopey scenes in a blockbuster film, we get an entire show with Wanda, Vision, and the drama between them. No matter what happens, the most fascinating parts of this production center on Wanda and Vision’s relationship.
The majority of WandaVision delights us with intrigue, mystery, and drama, drenched in waves of nostalgia as the aesthetic of each episode pays tribute to a different era of television. I won’t spoil the reason why, but I did appreciate the effort put in, both in terms of set design and weaving it into the plot as well. Like most things in the show, the visuals are not simply a quirky choice on behalf of the director, but purposeful references to either past MCU moments, or character elements yet to be revealed to the audience.
The side characters, like their sitcom counterparts, each bring fun aspects to the show. While most of them are new to the MCU, we do see a couple familiar faces from previous Marvel properties. The first half of the show, while shrouded in mystery, does a decent job at clipping along with a fast pace, and giving us just enough tidbits to be excited and curious about what happens next. When larger revelations start to emerge, the end credits of each episode become more and more unbearable as you can’t help but yearn to see more. This is a sign of a compelling production, when the audience members are aching for the next week to pass and a new episode to drop.
The Bad
Unfortunately, for me, there were two points in this production when certain elements were introduced that felt more like studio interference than quality story components. The first few times I noticed this, it seemed to be specific choices made by the show’s writers. Audience members witnessed huge teaser elements that either meant drastic changes to the MCU as we know it or major trolling by the writers of this show. Again, I won’t get into specifics, but I was disappointed when these potential branches into bigger and bolder things for the MCU turned out to be fruitless.
The other point in the show that really dragged me down was that sense that Marvel/Disney didn’t seem to want things to get too dark. Once we started to see behind the curtain of what was really going on in Westview, it was hard not to focus on the ramifications of certain character decisions. In any other situation, these acts would be seen as disturbing and vicious assaults. While the show seems to nod enough toward that realization, it lacks any kind of consequences for said acts. Especially after we saw the governments of the world step in with the Sokovia Accords, in an attempt to keep the Avengers accountable for their actions, I was surprised at the amount of hoops this show jumps through to excuse certain things. While the first half of WandaVision is an expert course in grief, the second half seemed more focused on shoehorning in other minor villains instead of focusing on the true turmoil that our title characters needed to deal with. By the time the finale was over, I felt like the tone of the show had been lost, and the show was uncommitted in what light it wanted us to see the remaining characters.
Conclusion
Again, it is hard to critically discuss this show while keeping a lid on all of the events that happen. All in all, I felt like the show had a great build up in terms of character development and mystery. Build up, however, is only as good as the payoff, and that’s where WandaVision lost its footing. Sure, I expected CGI fights and explosions and so forth, but I didn’t expect the lackluster tone of the final moments, especially after such a solid beginning. I feel the show could have dove even deeper into the psyche of someone dealing with pain, and maybe it could have even given us the most solid foundation for a villain the likes of which the MCU has yet to see. Instead, the writers seemed to get tired with the compelling character development, and swapped it out for less than captivating fight scenes.
RORSHACH RATING:
A Mental Moment: The most shining aspect of WandaVision is its focus on a character’s personal trauma. Everyone has events in their lives that affect them on multiple levels. Something that might seem small to an outsider, might haunt an individual for years to come. Personally, I have blocked out the memories of many personal things in my past in an effort to focus on the positives of my past. There are still things, though, that hide within pleasant memories that, when I take a moment to ponder, always seem to bring me grief. That grief, like a cloud of funk, can be hard to clear at times. If there’s anything that I have learned over the years, and this show seems to acknowledge as well, is that bottling something up inside doesn’t do a damn bit of good.
There could be many reasons why you don’t want to open up about a thing you’re dealing with. Maybe it is too hard to talk about. Maybe you don’t want to burden or bring down your friend or family member with your troubles. Maybe you feel embarrassed about it and wish it would just go away. The problem with shoving something in the closet, or sweeping it under the rug, is that you’re basically holding yourself, your friendships, and your relationships hostage to the eventual moment when those things come crashing back into view like an avalanche. If the people in your life are truly there for you, they likely want to help, but they can’t do so in the dark.
Holding things inside only compounds the weight of their burdens on your life. Nothing stays hidden forever, and nothing truly goes away simply because we wish it would. Instead, like all of life’s other problems, we must confront our issues and hang ups and heartbreaks in order to move past them into the next stage of our lives. This is what friends are for. As you grow older, you shed the acquaintances in your life, but hold onto the deeper, fuller relationships that bring fulfilment to your time on this planet. Those individuals are there to help you enjoy the time you have alive. So, it is truly in your best interest to reach out to those people, in your times of need, instead of keeping your turmoil to yourself and depleting your quality of life.
If you or someone you know is reading this right now and struggling with suicide, depression, addiction, or self-harm - please reach out. Comment, message, or tweet at us. Go to victimsandvillains.net/hope for more resources. Call the suicide lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Text "HELP" to 741-741. There is hope & you DO have so much value and worth!
Victims and Villains is written (and produced) by Josh "Captain Nostalgia" Burkey and others, and edited by Cam Smith. Music by Mallory Johnson and others. WandaVision is property of Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Pictures. We do not own nor claim any rights.
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