Wandavision Spellbinds Audiences At Start, Sputters Towards End

(Photo Credit: Marvel Studios)

By Michael Omoruan

Opposites really do attract. After launching 2 years ago on November 12th and releasing a backlog of content from Disney films and series, Marvel films and series, National Geographic, and more, Disney Plus has now stepped into the original streaming series game when releasing “Wandavision”.

Starring Elizabeth Olsen as the Sokovian sorceress Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany as the sharp synthezoid Vision, the first piece of media to take place after the events of “Endgame” juggles a myriad of genres and Marvel Cinematic Universe characters for a unique take on the newly married couple tropes. While it starts off on the right notes, towards the end is where it tends to falter.

We are first reintroduced to the truly dynamic duo in Westview, New Jersey through a retro yet risky black and white lens. Both Vis and Wanda do their best Dick van Dyke and Lucille Ball routines respectively with great comedic timing and endearing chemistry. They enter their new home but have trouble recalling their lives before they entered the garden state. The first few episodes follow several sitcom cliches that will delight older viewers but could slightly put off those younger.

Almost as if being called to set, the two are soon introduced to Agnes played by the effervescent Kathryn Hahn with food already in tow to welcome the two to the neighborhood. Hahn takes what could’ve easily been a phoned-in performance and turns the ham to 11. Through the show, she plays the pesky, noisy neighbor in the ilk of Full House’s Kimmy Gibbler and Married with Children’s Marcy D’Arcy incredibly well.

One of the highlights is seeing Olsen and Bettany playing different versions of their characters through decades of show structures and costumes that genuinely fit. The theme songs and brief intermissions in the form of in-show commercials

As mentioned, the series brings back many old faces and names fans may have  forgotten including the always charming Randall Park as FBI agent Jimmy Woo, who first appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp, and a now adult Monica Rambeau played by Teyonah Parris who was last seen as a young girl in Captain Marvel.

The show begins to enter darker territory as Wanda and Vision’s home as well as the Westview neighborhood start to witness weird occurences around them. For fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, tune in if only to see more of the relationship developed between the 2 Avengers that started in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

It’s been confirmed by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige that the Scarlet Witch will soon make an appearance in the Doctor Strange sequel entitled “Multiverse of Madness” directed by “Spider-Man” trilogy helmer Sam Raimi which means Wanda will definitely be making a mark on the MCU going forward.