Blends the style of classic sitcoms with the MCU in which Wanda Maximoff and Vision -two super-powered beings living their ideal suburban lives-begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.
Chuck says:
I think there’s something very clever and rather devious at play in Marvel’s first Disney+ series Wandavision. The question is: Will we ever get to it?
This isn’t the way Marvel’s Phase 4 was supposed to begin but what with production delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this oddball series is the first thing out of the gate as the superhero studio kicks off their latest crossover saga, which this time out will reportedly include elements from up to ten Disney+ series and a yet to be determined number of movies. Give the studio credit for starting off with something completely different, a pastiche of sit-com conventions that find sorceress Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olson) and her android husband the Vision (Paul Bettany) gleefully living in a black-and-white suburban sitcom nirvana, delivering tepid jokes while navigating one domestic crisis after another.
Yes, it’s a long way from battling intergalactic titans on the African plains of Wakanda and why and how long they’ve been stuck in this Dick Van Dyke Show mock-up are just two of the many questions the show is in no great hurry to answer. Having been given access to the first three episodes of the nine-part series, the most striking thing about these entries is just how slow they move and how redundant the story is, only three episodes in.
The fact that the show isn’t all that funny certainly doesn’t help. Yes, part of what the series does so well is parody classic sitcoms, Bewitched, I Love Lucy and The Brady Bunch all taking hits and serving as an ever-shifting background for Wanda and Vision’s uneasy domestic life, which is plagued by doubt as neither knows exactly why they are where they are or are able to remember their past.
Their efforts to get some answers are stymied again and again, leading to a sense of narrative inertia that proves more frustrating than tantalizing, The second episode is superfluous, serving as an echo to the first in which we see the couple stumble through one sitcom trope after another, offering only a clue or two as to what might be lurking beneath the surface.
To be sure, those who know the history of the characters from the comic book world and are familiar with their adventures have a leg up on those coming in cold, as Easter eggs pop up throughout the three episodes, making allusions that only hardcore fans will pick up on. As a comic book geek, I was frustrated by the lack of clarity despite these clues; I can’t imagine how lost those without any knowledge of these characters beyond the Avengers movies would be by this enterprise.
With Marvel’s solid track record, chances are good that, in the end, sitting through this series will be worth the time and effort. If the final scene of episode three is any indication, the other shoe – a Hulk-size shoe at that – is about to drop and a sense of clarity will begin to form. However, this needs to happen quickly; if the tepid pace continues the viewer is likely to feel just as stuck as the charismatic couple at the show’s center.
2 1/2 Stars
Pam says:
It’s no secret that I am not a super hero fan and that I oftentimes confuse the universes (MCU and DC) so it’s really no surprise that I just wasn’t hooked by this new series. The characters from all those movies are typically gone from my memory within a week of seeing the film so the two main characters, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), didn’t immediately conjure the images that I’m sure true fans of the Universe had. The series starts with two black and white episodes and then unexpectedly begins to morph into color; reminiscent of “Pleasantville.” There are plenty of other similarities with films like “The Truman Show” and sitcoms of the ’60’s and ’70’s like “Bewitched,” “I Love Lucy,” “Dick Van Dyke,” and even “The Brady Bunch,” borrowing bits and pieces to create its own unique amalgam of a series.
Wanda and Vision seem to be performing for an audience (or a laugh track) as they settle into their new home, job, and attempt to blend in. Their silly puns and cutesy relationship gets the “audience” laughing as we are introduced to the Gladys Kravitz of the neighborhood, Agnes (Kathryn Hahn). The perspective keeps the viewer in the dark, asking questions like, “Are they actors? Is this a series about a series? Are they there of their own free will?” Jarringly, while the episodes are sequential and not stand-alone, there seems to be a time warp of a decade as the house and apparel changes accordingly. More characters are introduced such as Monica (Teyonah Parris) and the sinister atmosphere increases giving feeling of a “Twilight Zone” puppeteer orchestrating it all given the camera view at the end of each episode. While it’s unique and beautifully filmed, I’m just not hooked. Its confusing storyline and perspective is frustrating but perhaps it’s because I don’t have the background of reading these comic books or even recalling the super hero films of years gone by.
2 Stars
