The new era of Marvel properties recently got announced at the Disney Investor Day. Releasing exclusively on Disney+, WandaVision marks the first entry in a long line of freshly told stories with unique presentations. After a whole year with no new Marvel properties, series writer Matt Shakman’s first two episodes were released at once on Disney+.
The first episode starts out with a cheesy intro akin to that of sitcoms of the past. Here we’re introduced to our two main characters, Wanda and Vision. It’s shown that they just moved into a new house in a new town. It’s also shown in the intro and first few scenes that both of their powers still work, although they’re much more cartoonish in comparison to how they’re shown in previous Marvel movies. The typical husband and wife dynamic that so many sitcoms rely on is emulated in WandaVision as Vision must go to work as Wanda stays home to figure out some mundane mystery. It ultimately culminates in a hectic dinner scene where Wanda and Vision must impress Vision’s boss.
Episode two continues many of the aspects that the first one utilized. The goofy humor is focused on much more. Many character archetypes are put on full display as Wanda and Vision must put on a talent show for the neighborhood. It’s a simple story of fitting in, but a lot more reality-warping elements are brought in, keeping this episode from being too redundant.
Throughout both episodes, fun remarks are made to each of the character’s backstories and powers, showing that it’s not a complete departure from the rest of the Marvel universe. Little easter eggs are also given, hinting at other Marvel properties. A good portion of the humor is aimed at deconstructing many plot beats that sitcoms often employ in their story. Cliffhangers, laugh tracks, and cheap effects take center stage in delivering many of the jokes.
Hopefully the story can start escalating since these first two episodes are mainly set up for what looks like an interesting story. It’s a fun, novel idea, but if it stays as stagnant as it appears it might be, it could get really old really fast.
Marvel’s working with a much smaller scale, and it translates very well into the new stories they want to tell. Each phase continues to take more and more risks as they start to pay off. I’m personally very excited to see where they go next.
WandaVision releases a new episode every Friday on Disney+.
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