Entertainment Weekly has debuted its cover story for WandaVision, the first Marvel Studios Disney+ original series!
Marvel Cinematic Universe fans have been in a drought for almost a year and a half, with the last release being Spider-Man: Far From Home in July 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed and reshuffled the Phase Four slate, resulting in a much longer break in MCU content than anyone expected. However, Vision and the Scarlet Witch are coming to the rescue: Marvel Studios' WandaVision is kicking off Phase Four with a bang in December!
WandaVision begins with the titular couple married and settled in the idyllic town of Westview, living a blissful suburban life while keeping their powers under wraps. However, as the couple travels through the decades of classic American sitcoms, they begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems - which would be a fair assumption, considering that Vision died twice in Avengers: Infinity War.
While fans hoped that this article would contain the release date for the series, that's not the case. However, WandaVision is still slated to debut in late 2020, and has been rumored for a December release for quite some time. While the streaming series was supposed to be the fourth Phase Four release, following Black Widow, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Eternals, it's now the first Disney+ original series from Marvel Studios and the only MCU release of 2020. With WandaVision also leading directly into 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where Scarlet Witch will play a key role, Entertainment Weekly notes that Marvel is taking great care to ensure continuity between the films and Disney+ shows due to the reshuffling of their slate.
Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, the cast includes Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany reprising their roles as Wanda Maximoff and Vision, while Kathryn Hahn and Teyonah Parris join as Agnes and adult Monica Rambeau, respectively. Agnes is described as the stereotypical "nosy neighbor", but comic book fans will recognize her as Agatha Harkness, the witch who trained Wanda. Set pictures have shown Hahn in 1600s Salem about to be burned at the stake, which is a part of Agatha's comics history. Monica Rambeau was seen in 2019's Captain Marvel as an 11-year-old girl whose mother, Maria, was best friends with Carol Danvers. Monica Rambeau gains superpowers in the comics and was the first African-American Avenger, as well as the first woman to hold the Captain Marvel title. However, it's likely that she'll go by another name in the MCU: Photon, which happens to be her mother's Air Force callsign. The cast also includes Kat Dennings and Randall Park reprising their roles of Darcy Lewis and Jimmy Woo from Thor: The Dark World and Ant-Man and the Wasp, but curiously, they weren't mentioned at all in EW's coverage.
WandaVision was filmed in front of a live studio audience and used authentic effects from older sitcoms to portray Wanda's telekinetic powers. The series is confirmed to be six hours long, with Parris stating: "it's six Marvel movies packed into what they're presenting as a sitcom", seemingly confirming an episode count of six. This refutes rumors from a few months ago that the series had been bumped up to nine episodes, which was apparently confirmed by a Disney representative, but I guess we'll have to wait and see!
WandaVision is shaping up to be a game-changer for the MCU, creating an entirely new flavor by blending classic sitcoms with superhero action. Fans are running wild with theories about what it all means, with most assuming that Wanda has created another world with her reality-altering powers where Vision is alive and they can live a normal life. Considering her comic book history, it's expected that the show will end with Wanda shattering reality and opening up the multiverse, which will affect Spider-Man 3 before Doctor Strange steps in to fix her mess in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Scarlet Witch's children, key members of the Young Avengers, will also be making their debut in the series.
“If you haven’t seen any of them and just want to step into this weird thing because you love The Dick Van Dyke Show, it’s going to work,” says Kevin Feige. “But if you’ve been tracking the 23 movies we’ve made and following along the stories into Phase 4, there’ll be a wealth of rewards waiting for you as it all unfolds.”
Who else can't wait for WandaVision? It's my most anticipated Phase Four project, and it's almost here! What do you think of the first Marvel Studios Disney+ original series so far? Comment below!
WandaVision debuts in late 2020, exclusively on Disney+.
Source: Entertainment Weekly