“WandaVision” Disney+ Review by Josh Davis : Pop Culture Leftovers

“WandaVision” Disney+ Review by Josh Davis

January 24, 2021 8:51 pm |

*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.*

Marvel has made the Disney corporation an awful lot of money and also has built up immense good will with fans over the course of the last decade, with 23 feature films grossing more than $22 billion to date.

That’s exactly the reason why Marvel was able to make “WandaVision” for the small screen, a cheeky, reference-laden and genuinely strange and delightful show that challenges the audience over the course of its first two episodes, which debuted on Disney+ in mid January.

Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany reprise their roles as Wanda Maximoff and Vision, despite the fact that Bettany’s character was killed by supervillain Thanos in “Avengers: Infinity War” three years ago.

After the traditional Marvel fanfare, episode one opens by compressing the aspect ratio and switching to black and white, and we’re shown a scene of newlywed Wanda and Vision driving a car in a 1950s suburban setting.

A throwback theme song tells us that “A newlywed couple just moved to town / A regular husband and wife / Who left the big city / To find a quiet life.”

It continues, “She’s a magical gal / In a small town locale / He’s a hubby who’s part machine / How will this duo fit in and fulfill all? / By sharing a love like you’ve never seen.”

Right away, the show is reminiscent of classic sitcoms like “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “Bewitched.” Bettany shows off his physical comedy chops, while Olsen wiggles her fingers to cast spells in the same way Elizabeth Montgomery used to wiggle her nose to make magic.

There’s also a rapid flurry of corny jokes:

“What do you say to silver dollar pancakes, crispy hash browns, bacon, eggs, freshly squeezed orange juice and black coffee?” Wanda asks.

“I say, ‘Oh, I don’t eat food,'” Vision says.

“Well, that explains the empty refrigerator,” Wanda replies, to a canned audience laugh track.

We get an early hint that there’s more to the story than the sitcom setting would imply, as Vision notices a heart drawn onto a calendar on the kitchen wall, but neither he nor Wanda remember why it’s there.

After Vision puts on a human face and heads off to work, Wanda answers a knock at the door and nosy neighbor Agnes (Kathryn Hahn,”Transparent”) barges in with a welcome gift. Agnes proceeds to pepper Wanda with questions about where she’s from and what she’s doing in the town, and there’s potentially a brief bit of foreshadowing when Wanda introduces herself and Agnes takes her hand and says, “Wanda. Charmed.” The extra beat and brief change of tone could suggest she’s aware of the magical farce.

There are also suggestions that something is amiss when Vision later asks a coworker what their company does, exactly, and doesn’t get a straight answer. The audience is meant to know this is all a facade, but Vision himself doesn’t seem to notice— yet.

The episode is briefly interrupted by a commercial break for a new toaster, developed by Stark Industries, and a blinking light on the machine glows red — our first hint of color in this strange black and white world. “Forget the past. This is your future,” the ad says, in perhaps another bit of foreshadowing.

Back at home, Wanda and Vision entertain his boss Arthur Hart (Fred Melamed, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) and Arthur’s wife (Debra Jo Rupp, “That 70s Show”). It’s a comedy of errors, as Wanda struggles to put together a meal and Agnes pops her head back in to lend a hand.

Wanda and Vision are aware that he can “move at the speed of sound” and she can “make a pen float through the air,” but the episode continues tossing out classic sitcom tropes up until the final moments, when the screen expands and zooms out to reveal the phony television show is being monitored by someone in a high-tech environment. Eagle-eyed fans should also notice a S.W.O.R.D. logo, which in Marvel lore is short for “Sentient World Observation and Response Department.”

The second episodes opens with an animated intro right out of “Bewitched” or “I Dream of Jeannie,” and the show now seems to be set during the 1960s. Vision and Wanda rehearse a magic act as “Illusion” and “Glamour,” a reference to two characters from Marvel Comics.

We’re introduced to two new characters in the episode, neighborhood queen bee Dottie Jones (Emma Caulfield Ford, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) and Geraldine (Teyonah Parris, “Dear White People”). Geraldine at one point comments, “I actually don’t know what I’m doing here,” and then introduces herself as “I’m, uh… Geraldine.”

IMDB also lists Parris as playing Monica Rambeau in the series. Marvel film fans should know that name from “Captain Marvel,” where a younger Monica Rambeau first appeared as the daughter of Carol Danvers’ best friend.

The episodes closes with the revelation that Wanda is suddenly pregnant. “Vision… Is this really happening?” she asks.

A moment later, the couple goes outside to investigate a strange noise and are frightened by a menacing figure in a beekeeper’s outfit emerging from a manhole and covered in buzzing bees. There’s a S.W.O.R.D. logo emblazoned on his back.

“No,” Wanda says, and the episodes rewinds back to the good news of the baby. The couple kiss and Vision’s face turns bright red and blue, and then the entire episode is flooded by technicolor.

As the closing credits start to roll, we hear a man’s voice say through a radio, “Wanda? Who’s doing this to you, Wanda?”

Overall, the first two episodes are a stunning departure when compared to the 23 films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Casual fans may be confused, but that’s part of the charm: Marvel has built up so much good will during the last decade that it’s now allowed to challenge audiences with something that’s bold, bizarre, and utterly original despite all the parts it borrows from classic American sitcoms from more than 50 years ago.

Bettany and Olsen are fantastic and appear to be having a blast playing two cheeky throwbacks blissfully unaware that they’re stuck in an imaginary world.

Hahn, too, is chewing scenery and having fun with her character, and has great chemistry with Olsen.

Director Matt Shakman (“The Boys,” “Game of Thrones,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) has so far built an impressive world that balances being immersive and genuinely fun and funny as a throwback, but also ominous as hell with something lurking just beneath the surface.

Writer and series co-creator Jac Schaeffer (“The Hustle”) also masterfully captures the quick and witty dialog and tone of the 1950s and 1960s. Incidentally, he also has a story credit for the upcoming MCU feature “Black Widow.”

Based on previews and trailers, the show will continue to move through various time periods, likely next into the 1970s, and eventually the walls will have to breakdown as Wanda — an incredibly powerful superbeing in the films — figures out that all is not as it seems.

If the show can continue the energy, tone and cleverness of the first two episodes, it’s destined to become one of the best entries in the current Marvel canon, and one of the most original. Given all the success that’s come before it, that’s one heck of an accomplishment.

PCL Rating: Tupperware

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: FRESH