Marvel’s WandaVision premiered on Disney+ Hotstar yesterday, on 15th January 2021 and it is definitely different to all previous Marvel outings – one of Marvel’s more …weirder ventures if you will. The Superhero web series has only dropped 2 episodes but it is already shrouded in mystery. And like most other Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films, WandaVision (which is a web series) is interesting enough for a first time viewer to stick around and finish watching.
WandaVision portrays itself an old-school American sit-com from 50s and 60s Hollywood. The mini series is shot in black and white, in front of a live studio audience and even the first episode can be considered a semi-filler episode as it doesn’t give us much information about the odd young couple who just shifted to the suburbs. And that is the premise of Disney’s WandaVision – a “recently married” young couple shifted to an American suburb who seems to be hiding a few secrets.
The first episode of WandaVision is actually just a typical sitcom episode. Wanda is a young woman who has “magical powers” (not fully explained in the show, and for the sake of not giving away any possible spoilers, we will leave it here), while her husband Vision is a high functioning human-robot hybrid (over-simplifying it for the same reasons as mentioned earlier). The series shifts quickly from the sitcom tone to a mysterious tone in between with the black and white style sometimes giving the series – An Afred Hitchock thriller vibe. That shift in tone becomes more prevalent in the second episode and by the end of the two episodes, even a first time viewer would know that something weird is going on.
Having said all that, Marvel in typical fashion has put in many easter eggs in WandaVision for die-hard fans to find. There are the obvious advertisements which talk about Howard Stark (Tony Stark/ Iron-man’s father) and Strucker (One of the leader’s of the ever-elusive terrorist organisation, Hydra). One of the subtler references can be seen in the name of the first episode called Maison du Mepris which roughly means House of Misery. The recently released House of M comics featured the death of Wanda’s children. Wanda, then created an alternate reality in which her children were still alive and happy. Us, hardcore Marvel fans know that Vision is actually dead; he was killed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. So we think Wanda created this reality where Vision is still alive and they are living a happily married life, and the name of the episode is a reference to the similarity in premise of both web-series and comics.
We also see a very unique symbol, which appears in both episodes. To those who don’t know, that is the symbol of a ficitional counter-terrorism unit that deals with extra-terrestrial threats called S.W.O.R.D. – Sentient World Observation and Response Department. We get to hear Agent Jimmy Woo (who previously saw on The Ant-man and The Wasp) speak to Wanda through a radio at a social gathering. We also get a cute reference of another Marvel Superhero couple – Illusion and Glamour. There are also a few cheeky yet classic sit-com references in the half hour episodes as well.
MCU’s WandaVision currently has two episodes streaming on Disney+ Hotstar Premium.
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