The six-episode miniseries stars Elizabeth Olsen and English actor Paul Bettany as a suburban couple who looks pulled from another era of programming. That’s the fun of the series, which seems to jump a decade each episode. The two start off in a black and white era. Bill Brioux said in his review, “They live in a TV house that looks very Rob and Laura Petrie, right down to the slatted window through to the dining room over the sink in the kitchen.”
Brioux continued, “Rob Petrie, however, did not have a titanium skull. Bettany’s character, Vision, is a cyborg underneath that Bottany 500 suit. Wanda’s special powers tips us off that she’s a Samantha Stevens’-like domestic witch.”
The couple look happy, but they’re confused by all the TV tropes that don’t really many any sense to them. Brioux noted, ““What is it we really do at work?” Vision asks a co-worker — a question Ward Cleaver could easily have asked Lumpy Rutherford’s dad Fred at any moment on Leave it to Beaver. A job was very often just a stage direction on a ’50s or ’60s sitcom.”
There’s a laugh track and a nosy neighbor, played by Kathryn Hahn, and everything but a couch. There’s even a fake, ‘60s commercial for a toaster in Episode One. Future ads also are carefully inserted to reflect the decade of the episode.
However, there are hints that something a little off, maybe even evil, is creeping underneath the surface. The toaster in the black and white ad has a soft red light. Brioux admitted. “That never happened on my parent’s 18-inch Marconi.” Wanda also looks to be able to change the narrative if the story goes a little to “Twilight Zone.”
By the second episode, the house and the animated opening credits have been “Bewitched.” Brioux noted, “This new house has a staircase with white posts, floor to ceiling windows and a dining room-kitchen area screaming out for Larry Tate or Uncle Arthur.” By the end of the episode, everything changes from black and white to color – just as it did early in the eight-season airing of “Bewitched.”
By episode three, the color gets enhanced like it did on “The Brady Bunch” in 1969. Credit goes to the team behind sets, costumes makeup and effects on “WandaVision.”
Fans of marvel films and comics know that Vision and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlett Witch are part of the Avengers universe. Brioux said, “Coming into the series with that knowledge will likely tip off some viewers as to what is behind all this sitcom chicanery.” If you’re not caught up with Marvel, however, you can still, like Vision, get quickly up to speed.
The series is directed by Matt Shakman with Jac Schaeffer the head writer. Both worked on Marvel’s Avenger films. Besides Hahn, Teyonah Parris, Randall Park and Kat Dennings are regulars. “That ‘70s Show” standout Debra Jo Rupp adds mouth to her scenes as a boss’s wife from the ‘60s.
Brious admitted, “As someone who grew up with ’60s and ’70s television (and who still collects 16mm prints of The Dick Van Dyke Show and Bewitched), it was easy to get into this world. Things would quickly get dull, however, if WandaVision stayed in a retro rut. Even a brand new four-camera sitcom can seem like a relic from another era.”
“WandaVision” does for sitcoms what “The Mandalorian” did for “Star Wars” – it reworks the old tropes for a new generation.
When I started watching this last year, I was completely lost as to what was going on. However, the more I watched this, the more I finally was able to understand everything. If you have a Disney+, don’t skip this one over. When I found out that Phase Four had shows that were going to tie in with the movies, I started to watch them. Especially after watching the post-credits scene in “Black Widow.” Check this one out and have a great time solving the puzzle.
Tomorrow I will look at the next MCU miniseries in “Disney Month 2022.”
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