WandaVision (2021) - A series in Review

NOW is the most exciting time to be alive for anyone to be a comic book nerd! Look at all the superhero films that are being pumped out. Especially, it's a rewarding time to be a Marvel fan, as the man Kevin Feige himself has plans with the Marvel Cinematic Universe spanning for at least the next 10 years! Now coming to WandaVision, our main topic of discussion. Launching almost after 1.5 years of no product being released by Marvel, this mini-series has been a major source of enthrallment for not only the fans, but the whole world in general. Having a diverse & star studded cast along with a promise from it's creators to deliver something different from what Marvel has given till date, we've been waiting patiently for the series to be released. Before we get into the specifics, I'd like to first say that the director Matt Shakman has pulled off one of the most highly anticipated projects in a triumphant manner, not only in adapting a famous comic book storyline (House of M), but also in giving it his own unique twist while retaining his originality.

Now, speaking of the actors performing namesakes from the title, Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff) and Paul Bettany (Vision) give such astounding performances in bringing their characters to life. Paul Bettany is a seasoned actor and we've seen him shine in other series in character-driven roles, such as "Manhunt: Unabomber", but his ability to switch between different emotions and feelings swiftly doesn't cease to amaze me. Yes, they are actors and it's their job to manipulate and convey emotions. But imagine to be an android hybrid, pretending to be human in a bubble, having his entire existence shrouded in mystery, all at the same time, while still being comical and quirky. It is in these moments we are able to see what a colossal range of acting Paul Bettany possesses. This is essentially a love story between Wanda & Vision and their yearning to have a family, which does happen here. But the question is, does it last? And the charming performance of Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen leaves us wanting for more of them.

Coming to the star of the show, Wanda is portrayed by the youngest of the Olsen sisters, in which, Elizabeth gives a nuanced performance in showing a deeply hurt and emotionally unstable woman who has lost everything & everyone in her life- first her parents, next her brother, and finally, the love of her life. Starting from being one of the side actors in the sequels to the Avengers, to now having her own show, Elizabeth Olsen has certainly come a long way and has worked hard to get where she is now. In one of the most emotional episodes of the series, i.e., the penultimate episode (#8), Elizabeth carries the entire episode on her back. Yes, she does carry the entire show along with the others, but it is in this episode we see how much of a skilful performer she is. The way she traverses through her emotions was truly a baffling spectacle. She's being set up as one of the most Canon characters of the MCU and I'm excited to see her again in "The Multiverse of Madness" and thrilled to witness what Marvel is going to do further with the Scarlet Witch.

But, the performance which stole the show was that of Kathryn Hahn's. In every scene that she was in, she took the center stage even when she stood on the sides. Her performance as the "nosy neighbour" Agnes (the long-living witch Agatha Harkness) comes off as a little awkward at first, but as the show proceeds, she engulfs her character and gets into her character's true skin. It gets to a point where her mere presence is simply menacing. The last 3 episodes have some of the best acting I've seen on any series in a while, from both Kathryn Hahn & Elizabeth Olsen. I'm rooting for Kathryn to become a recurring cast in the coming years in the MCU. Both these actors must definitely be nominated for the Emmy Awards.

Monica Rambeau (a.k.a "Photon"), as played by Teyonah Parris, was a well rounded character. I liked how they connected her coming back as result of The Blip directly with where we left her in Captain Marvel. She is able to humanize Wanda's many questionable choices (no matter how unintentional they are), since both of them are dealing with the loss of their family and loved ones. I liked the contrast between how Wanda had lost Vision due to The Snap, to how Monica comes back as a result of The Blip, only to lose her mom to a terminal illness.

Josh Stamberg's portrayal of Director Hayward was good in general, but I felt his character was a little one-dimensional, no matter how good his intentions seemed to be, from his point of view. The reason for his actions were quiet jaded for me. But, the actor's performance was great overall. Also, Kat Dennings' Darcy Lewis from Thor and Randall Park's FBI agent James Woo from Antman, reclaiming their roles was interesting and fun. It amuses me that MCU has this huge catalog of characters from various films now, that they can get any character from any of the other films and put them on several other shows and films. And, I like how Randall Park's character isn't just used for comic relief (like in Antman) and his character actually does some cool FBI agent-esque work and has a considerably higher and prominent role in this show.

Talking about the entire show, many people did not like the first couple of episodes, especially the black & white sitcom aesthetic the creators were going for. But to be very honest, and this is my opinion and mine only, I really loved those episodes. It embraced the quirky side of MCU along with trying to do and be something different. And, I loved the idea of every episode replicating a sitcom-type set from every decade, starting from the 50s/60s and till the late 2000s (such as The Dick Van Duke Show, Malcolm in the Middle, Bewitched, etc.) and paying homage to the greatest and famous sitcoms of every decade, complete with each episode having it own opening credits song, all of which, they absolutely nailed. And set design and costume design was top notch. It only adds to appreciation the fact that they shot the first few episodes with live audience rather than using separate laugh tracks as per convenience. Every episode was absolutely captivating, left us wanting for more. The way that built the mystery around Hex along with maintaining the essence of WandaVision's family left me quite bewitched (see what I did there?).

The cinematography and color grading were so beautiful. The colors popped out wonderfully. The way the aspect ratio changed between Wanda's Hex World of Westview and the real world outside that place was very seamless and it was done without hampering the atmosphere of both the worlds. The background music was scored by Christophe Beck, while the theme music was composed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez. The soundtrack has been one of the strongest pillars of this series. The theme for Wanda is so mysterious and haunting, yet so emotional, portraying the mindset of Wanda. I was delighted by how era-appropriate the background score was, with beautiful shifts from the music of Hex's "sitcom" world to the cinematic scores of the actual show, with sinister undertones at play here and there. And, not to mention, Agatha's theme song, "Agatha All Along" has been stuck in my mind for the past 3 weeks, since I first heard it. I like how they went for that vintage sound and nailed it perfectly.

My biggest pet peeve is how Marvel chose to bite more than they could chew. There is expectation subversion and then, there is disappointment. They had teased so much, about one "Aerospace Engineer", showing a version of "The Bee Keeper", sprinkling hints of "The Devil not only being in the details", everyone was waiting so eagerly to get that adrenaline rush from seeing some of the most canon Marvel Characters on screen. I was certainly not a big fan of how they introduced a certain character to connect many lines just to make a Ralph "Bohner" joke out of it (looking at you, Evan Peters). But, I'm able to understand Marvel's reasoning behind certain decisions. They would first want to tease us with these Easter eggs and get these characters to life on the big screens.

But, the main reason behind this is majorly the Fandom itself. We all hyped the show up so much that we wanted more than what the show was going to offer. Hereafter, I'm going to make it a point NOT to watch/read any fan theories and all the supposed "leaks" that come down the rumor mill. I'm going to trust the process and Marvel to make top quality content that is parts entertaining and parts emotionally engaging. WandaVision was definitely a rollercoaster and I'm excited to see where Marvel goes with Phase Four.