Same Witch Time, Same Witch Channel
Disney+ has started it’s first Marvel TV show created specifically for the service, WandaVision. The show centers around Wanda Maximoff and the Vision. But didn’t the Vision die during Avengers: Infinity War? That’s just one of the big questions of the series which starts out in black and white with the two Avengers acting very out of character.
The show is very reminiscent of old TV shows, Bewitched most of all. Wanda plays a role like that of Samantha Stevens and has powers very different than she had in any of the Avengers movies. Vision is still an android with density shifting powers and flight, pretty much the same other than his personality. Everything seems like this is a show about them in a different era until they are asked about where they came from and when they got married and they realize they don’t know the answers. Something is not right. (The role that Debra Jo Rupp from That 70s Show plays in all of this is great.) At the end, things fade out as they might in an old show and you even see credits from the old TV show it would have been, but it then backs off and we see the screen sitting on the desk with paper showing a symbol for S.W.O.R.D., an organization related to S.H.I.E.L.D. And now we have to wonder if they caused this or just know about it.
Disney+ released 2 half hour episodes at the start so we get to see a little more. This time around, Wanda has a hair-do a little more similar to Samantha Stevens and an intro to the show that hearkens back to the one on Bewitched. Even the layout of the house (which you see a little more of) even has similarities to the Stevens’ house but it’s not a total recreation. The shows brings Wanda and the Vision out more into the world around then which they recognize they don’t fit into. A couple characters return (their next door neighbor and one of Vision’s coworkers) but new characters are introduces to build up the world. At the same time, the world itself starts to fall apart. Wanda finds a toy helicopter that is in full color and not black and white like the rest of the world. (If you’ve seen the movie Pleasantville, you can picture the effect.) On top of that, the symbol of S.W.O.R.D. is on the toy. Additionally, a voice on the radio starts calling out to Wanda but we don’t know who it is or where it is actually originating from. Something is breaking through to them from outside of whatever this is and more color starts coming into their reality too.
There are more questions than answers so far in the show. Wanda continue to show powers more like Samantha Stevens too than anything she does in the movies and comics. I’m not sure if this is just an effect of the world they are in or if they are actually playing around with her abilities. Vision should be dead so where did he come from? They’ve even shown a clip in the trailer of someone recognizing that he should be dead so this is definitely after the last movie. The little hints have been fun, but I hope it doesn’t drag out too long because it could get old. The humor is fun if a bit cringy which fits given the time period that the world they are in is giving homage to. The mid-show “commercials” linking to Stark and Strucker/Hydra are great too. The woman who lives next door to Wanda is a lot of fun and I’m hoping she will carry on in the other “realities” that the trailer has given hints to even if the rest of the people in this world don’t. I really can’t wait to see the world where they end up in their comic book costumes.
There have been some people who have disliked the show. Some don’t like that it’s not based (for now) in the current Marvel Cinematic Universe. Others don’t have the history with the older shows to appreciate the connections the series has shown so far. Just like any show though, it won’t be the cup of tea for everyone. I’m guessing after all the secrets come out, we’ll be back in the MCU. The show is only slated for 9 episodes so I’m not sure if this whole alternate TV show reality will stretch through most of the season or not. We’ll just have to wait and see. I plan to stick around to find out. (I did get my Disney+ account just to watch this after all.)
