WandaVision Premiere Early Review

The following is a spoiler-free of the first 3 episodes of WandaVision with the first 2 premiering this Friday and the third dropping the following Friday on Disney Plus.

Marvel Studios’ first forray into television (the Marvel Netflix series were produced by Marvel Television) was certainly a risk but with the advent of streaming and the Disney Plus platform, it only made sense as a way to diversify their many properties and use it as another means to build upon their already impressive cinematic universe with this events of this series reportedly leading to the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and the yet to be titled Spider-Man 3. Knowing what has been reported about those future films have inevitably led to speculation about WandaVision but to the series’ credit, it should be seen as something much more than that.

Being a television series as opposed to a feature film, some may have concerns about Marvel Studios’ approach but they unsurprisingly have not missed a beat here. While it still feels like a television series, it still features that same cinematic feel through its first three episodes. Taking the characters of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) and putting them in classic sitcom world can arguably be seen as a risk though it is one that certainly pays off. The series is a blast to watch so far, embracing those tropes by viewing them through the lense of these extraordinary characters who clearly don’t fit within that world though as far as they were concerned, there was nothing wrong with their current environment. The viewers of course know that to not be the case. Nevertheless, watching Wanda and Vision interact with this new world was definitely fun to watch as episodes played as the wholesome classic sitcoms they found themselves in with a twist.

Each episode played as a sitcom of a different decade from the 1950s to the 1970s with respective openings but the changes went beyond those openings which included subtle (and not so subtle) changes in cinematography, set design, costumes, score, and subject matter that reflected the decade depicted in the episode. Viewers can also expect plenty of obvious and not so obvious Easter eggs scattered throughout. Despite all of that, the feeling of something being wrong with this world and the characters within it never went away and loomed larger as the episodes went on without necessarily providing much in the way of answers. We do know that Vision’s appearance here is a peculiar one considering his demise at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War so one may think that this world was merely Wanda’s creation to keep his memory alive or were there other forces at play? Either way, this illusion or whatever it is wasn’t going to last forever as cracks were starting to build as the outside world slowly but surely started to creep in.

In the end, the best part of WandaVision thus far were its performances from Olsen and Bettany as Wanda and Vision but also Kathryn Hahn as a new character named Agnes while the sharp writing was a very close second, seamlessly weaving in a blast of a sitcom-traversing adventure with a compelling mystery angle. The first three episodes saw Olsen and Bettany’s great chemistry on display as they look to be having a blast, fully buying into the series’ ridiculous premise and all the tropes that came with it while subtly adapting their performances accordingly. Not only were they fun to watch together but they were also surprisingly hilarious. Meanwhile, Hahn also looked to be having a blast as Agnes who is definitely a wildcard character despite her role in the series so far (those familiar with the comics inevitably have their own theories), She was also hilarious with a scene-stealing energy that fit perfectly within this changing world.

At the end of the day, Marvel Studios’ first forray into television is definitely a winner with a weekly release format that will further fuel viewers’ collective suspense and anticipation for the next episode so they can uncover the mystery. Whether or not the series’ format will continue remains to be seen but the writing and the performances are enough of a reason to stay tuned for the craziness that is sure to come over the following weeks.

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.