WandaVision: A Compelling Exploration of Grief Through Sitcoms
While many aspects are underwritten, WandaVision is still hugely entertaining, thanks to its masterful performances.
*Warning: This article contains major plot spoilers for WandaVision. Read at your own risk.*
Marvel Studios finally makes its return after one year of content setbacks with its “first” television series: WandaVision — whose initial premise of mixing the styles and aesthetics of different sitcom eras to the grandiose spectacle of Marvel Cinematic Universe films seemed like a great idea. In one area, they succeeded brilliantly in creating something truly daring and, dare I say, different from what we’ve seen before, done time and again in their movies. In another, WandaVision replicates the facile formula of Marvel Studios whilst adding very little to the table to truly keep the audience engaged. It’s a particularly frustrating series to watch — even though it’s still pretty enjoyable.
WandaVision starts smack-bang inside of the “sitcom” (what will further be referenced as the HEX in subsequent episodes), where Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) lives a typical suburban housewife living in the 1950s, while his husband, “The Vision” (Paul Bettany) works at Mr. Hart (Fred Melamed)’s company. There’s very little explanation of what exactly is happening to Wanda, Vision (who died in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War), and how they are trapped in the sitcom.
For three episodes, WandaVision provides very little to the viewer in terms of “information” and lets its visual cues and subtle callbacks to previous Marvel movies through obscure commercials give just enough clues to keep the viewer enticed in its mystery. The first three episodes are phenomenal — mixing three distinct styles of situational comedies with Lynchian (yes, you’ve heard me correctly) expressions, akin to Twin Peaks or Blue Velvet's vibe.
The screwball aspect of 1950s sitcoms is perfectly executed through Elizabeth Olsen’s dynamite comedic timing and director Matt Shakman’s incredible understanding of how the structure of a Dick Van Dyke-esque episode works. I was utterly blown away by how good Olsen, Bettany, and Kathryn Hahn as “nosy neighbor” Agnes were during the series’ first three episodes. I’ve honestly never seen Olsen act with such brilliance and energy, able to recapture three vastly different styles of sitcoms perfectly.
As the eras change, so does her acting — it becomes less and less expressive as sitcoms become more focused on the cyclical story and its characters than grandiloquent comedic situations. After the 1970s episode, which contained extreme laughs through Wanda’s elaborate pregnancy of her twins (my personal favorite episode), the show quickly fizzles downhill when it starts to over-explain.
Of course, with such an ambitious premise and setting, it’s vital for the show to [slowly] start giving answers as to what exactly is happening to Wanda Maximoff and the citizens of Westview. Unfortunately, most of the series’ exposition is sloppily written and constructed. Episode 4 acts as a pure exposition dump to ensure the audience isn’t “lost” without ever relying on the audience’s intelligence to start picking up subtle details on the HEX. Marvel thinks it has to hold the audience’s hand throughout the entire series instead of truly bathing in its wild premise.
Noah Hawley’s Legion offered little to no explanation while crafting an insanely creative story on one of Marvel’s most powerful mutants. It wasn’t afraid of experimenting with form (through aspect ratios and length) and story, purposefully confusing the audience until its incredible climax. Shakman and head writer Jac Schaeffer both seem to want to go in that route for WandaVision, but Marvel's head honchos likely wanted them to “accompany” the audience in its weirdness. Whatever happened, most of the sequences that happen outside of the HEX are poorly shot, directed, acted, and written. Not a great combo, especially when everything is happening inside; it is a treat to watch.
The series’ worst performance comes from Josh Stamberg’s S.W.O.R.D. director Tyler Hayward, whose “evil arc” is tepid and line delivery incredibly flat. Another problem that Marvel seems to have is the overuse of bathos to fill what would otherwise be “silence” from their characters. There have been many times in the franchise where filling silence with comedic moments worked, but not through Darcy Lewis. Kat Dennings performs better than Darcy’s previous appearances in the Thor movies, but she is still being written as a joke-deliverer rather than a compelling sidekick. She does, however, get her share of hilarious jokes — one, in particular, involving Hayward during the final episode that feels oddly satisfying.
Thankfully, Teyonah Parris and [especially] Randall Park as Monica Rambeau and Jimmy Woo respectfully are great additions to the series and have terrific chemistry. Woo has [literally] more than one trick up his sleeve, making most of the sequences involving him feel interesting. I did enjoy how the series gave us more access to the “side characters,” who are usually present to “lighten the mood” of the MCU’s quasi-apocalyptic setting. Parris’ Rambeau has one of the show’s best sequences, where it is revealed that her mother (played by Lashana Lynch in Captain Marvel) died during the five-year gap between “The Snap” and “The Blip.”
What WandaVision succeeds at the most, aside from its sitcom antics, is the exploration of deep character moments, particularly on the theme of grief. Monica unknowingly loses her mother during “The Snap” while she is trapped in another dimension. She does not have time to process her death when she is miraculously “blipped” back at the hospital. It’s one of the most emotional moments of the entire show — and foreshadows a deeper exploration of the theme during its eighth episode, spent on analyzing Wanda’s tormented past, that led her to create the HEX. Olsen’s performance perfectly balances the wit and charm of the sitcom housewife to a grief-stricken Wanda, who only created the HEX out of “love persevering,” not ready to be left completely alone, without a brother and husband at her side.
Because of this, the series’ final scene with Vision is particularly tough to watch without shedding a few tears. She still isn’t ready to let Vision and her family she created in the HEX go but must accept the fact to move on and “persevere,” even if it will be hard. The final episode is WandaVision’s strongest one that didn’t involve a sitcom parody — containing incredibly exhilarating moments of pure comic book cinema kinetics (none of the VFX has a televisual quality to them) and a fantastic origin story to “The Scarlet Witch.”
It’s great to see that WandaVision contains one compelling antagonist in the form of Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness. Most Marvel Studios’ villains are “carbon-copies” of the hero, making most of their climaxes feel weightless. While I wasn’t sold on the idea of “White Vision” being the second antagonist of the show, at first, his arc is surprisingly more interesting than I ever thought he’d be. However, Hahn completely steals the show as Agatha Harkness — her “nosy neighbor” sitcom portrayal is already iconic, but her villainous turn is even more fun to watch. From her over-the-top performance, you can clearly tell that she is having a ball — and so is the audience.
Some may be disappointed that the series didn’t fully explore “The Multiverse,” most notably with Evan Peters's addition as Quicksilver to the cast…only revealed to be some random dude by the end of the show, but that was to be expected. Fans (particularly on Twitter) seem to have raised massive expectations on the show through overzealous fan theories on villains, cameos, and character arcs, without truly enjoying the show for what it is. Fans seem to have forgotten that a film or a show shouldn’t specifically cater to them. Lowering your expectations (and avoiding any kind of social media discourse) is the best key to finding great value in high-budget blockbusters. Still, a few nods Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Darkhold storyline were great and might set-up The Multiverse of Madness if you have stayed all the way through the credits…
Even if some of the material outside of the HEX is terribly underwritten and poorly conceived together, WandaVision delivers on its promise of giving a somewhat “ambitious” project for the MCU. It isn’t as ambitious and daring as it should be, as the early risks taken from its first three episodes don’t necessarily pay-off. Marvel seems too afraid to lose its audience if they don’t explain everything “at some point,” which is their biggest flaw. At some point, Kevin Feige et al. will have to move away from facile forms of storytelling to further expand its universe to places unseen.
However, with the seeds WandaVision plants for Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, maybe, just maybe, Marvel Studios will crank up more ambitious film and TV projects. The wait won’t be much longer, and only time will tell if Marvel will do something even more ambitious than Avengers: Endgame. The ball is on your hands, Kevin Feige, and most fans (myself included) are here for the ride. Excelsior!
