By Ezra Emerson
WandaVision. The name makes the show sound so predictable and yet it was anything but. I am in the YU Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) groupchat and after every episode there were theories, and often plausible ones at that, being thrown around left and right. We talked about a potential Dr. Strange cameo (never happened), if Ralph was actually a codeword for Mephisto ( It wasn’t, although his last name reveal was quite the laugh), if the last three episodes were going to be an hour each (they were less than that) and so on.
As the show progresses, you can see how badly Wanda wishes Vision was still alive (a little chazara [review] for those who forgot, Wanda killed Vision thinking it would save the world, only for Thanos to redo time and then take the stone from Vision, only to kill him again). She cannot bear to be alone so what does she do? She goes to NJ (most self-hated state ever), traps a bunch of people in Westview (it’s not real), reincarnates Vision, and voila everything is normal again (except for the unintentional creation of a new TV show).
I would go more in depth, but there’s too many tiny details so I’ll just pick my favorite parts. A great scene in my opinion was the magic show scene back in episode two. Note to future-self, never give your robot gum (it makes them tipsy). During that scene you could tell the audience was skeptical and Wanda had to make her act up as she went along, which was definitely funny to see. Another part I liked was when the whole family came prepared to fight as one and made a great family superhero pose in the series finale. For some reason I definitely thought I saw that somewhere before, and sure enough there’s a similar superhero pose scene in the Incredibles (take five seconds for the nostalgia to hit you, then breathe). That episode to me was a tearjerker (especially the ending), but at least it had some nice fun moments like this.
Another great moment was the Pietro reveal (spoiler alert: really Ralph Bohner) at the end of episode five Even though he does turn up to be a bad guy in this show (not at the moment of being introduced, but you can tell something’s up), it’s still cool to see a special appearance being made, especially since X-Men is still popular. Pietro is just that cool guy who is also a really cool uncle, except for when he is under a spell by an evil witch. I also love how one of Wanda’s kids takes his powers which can definitely hint at a possible show where the twins become the next Wanda and Pietro (@disney???). One last part I liked was the ending of the series finale. Yea I know, real tear jerker and all. I don’t really think I have to explain the beauty behind it (unless you the reader has not watched the show, which then you probably should not have read this article if you were planning to watch it).
And obviously last but not least, I want to mention Jimmy Woo (or as I like to call him Magic WOO) and Darcy. For starters, Jimmy is brilliant and very witty, back in the Ant-Man and the Wasp days and now in WandaVision. Plus, he can do magic (hence Magic WOO), with the beautifully executed card trick when Monica pulls up to Westview. In terms of Darcy, don’t mess with her until she gets her cup of coffee. Don’t make her wait any longer for coffee then SWORD did or else she might get really pissed. She also makes a lot of great jokes here and there which are really key in striking the balance between comedy and drama.
Besides the credits taking up a long time (which shouldn’t really have to happen anytime, but here we are) and the fact that there were only nine episodes, I am very pleased with the show and its production. This is a great segue into Falcon and the Winter Soldier which is a little more serious but should still have comedy in it.