WandaVision, An Acquired Taste 



I waited until all the episodes of WandaVision were online on Disney+ so I could more or less binge the series, so let's get going with this mostly spoiler-free review. (AT FIRST, but then I delve into some serious spoiler territory as I ponder some developments.)

WandaVision is a fascinating and curious presentation of two very popular characters from the MCU, Wanda and Vision.

As you could tell from any previews, the series takes place in a sitcom kind of reality that Wanda and Vision occupy. Each episode is a different era at first and it's cute.  At first.

My big take-away:

If you aren't a Marvel fan or, like in my case, hate sitcoms, trying to watch this series can be challenging. It wasn't making sense. If I weren't a Marvel fan, I would have checked out by the third episode. But I am a fan, so I stuck it out.

Each of the early episodes leaves an itty-bitty nugget to grab a-hold of to see where this tale may be going. By episodes four or five, the real story gets going and we learn exactly how/when Wanda and Vision are existing.

Is it mind-blowing? Probably not, but it made sense. Was it a satisfying ending?  I wasn't disappointed, but neither was I blown away.

If you look at the episodes and the run-times for each, they're really kind of short. The credits take up 6 to 10 minutes each, so there's that.

BUT after the last episode, Marvel did what they always do and left a few teaser mid and after-credit nuggets to keep your expectations and hopes up.

Did I enjoy the series? I didn't dislike it, and I was glad I was watching it on my phone because that 10-second jump button saved my sanity in some of the sitcom scenes. And it fulfilled my need to see more about Wanda and Vision.

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On to the spoilers of the chat:

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Wow, talk about being traumatized and upset.

This entire series took place based on how upset Wanda was with the death of her true-love and she is not getting over it anytime soon it seemed. To see Vision's body, dismembered and dismantled on a government lab table, I presume, was amazingly agonizing, as the government examined 'their' property. Though to be honest, they didn't make it, they stole it from what was left of Ultron's work of creation. They just looted it from the smoking ruins of the battle scene. But I digress...

Then SWORD (Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division) organization tried to weaponize Vison's inert and dismembered body.
"Vision's corpse was taken by S.W.O.R.D. and disassembled in an attempt to weaponize his remains. Vision's body was then reassembled in a white form and reactivated through a sample of Maximoff's Chaos Magic, and was employed by S.W.O.R.D. as their sentient weapon. Initially programmed to eliminate Maximoff and another Vision, Vision's memories were restored, prompting him to flee. "
So Wanda snapped...  and put things into an interesting perspective.

If she has allowed herself to put an entire town into a sort of mental prison, encapsulated in a Hex shell to keep the real world out, what is she truly capable of? 

Is Wanda still a hero or is she now a potential threat? She's the most powerful or close to it, Avenger or powered vigilante in the Marvel Film Universe, rivaling Captain Marvel, but on different levels.
And what of this new White Vision?

At first he was just a replicant built by SWORD, who used a sample of Wanda's Hex power to activate him (I never caught that in the show, but that's what people are reporting) and away he went, on his primary, programmed mission to destroy Wanda and Vision.  But as the two Visions battled, there came a moment where the two agreed upon a philosophical discussion of their differences, resulting in Wanda's Vision sharing what memories he had with the new one, awakening something within the White version, and off he flew.  Don't you hate sentient weapons with a mind of their own???

And what will this new Vision do with his memories, if he doesn't have the emotions that the original had taken the time to develop? Of course this could lead to the White Vision becoming Victor Shade, like he did in the comics, or, on to something else in the films, much like they've done on many occasions in the films.

All good questions...in time I guess.

We're presuming this will put Paul Bettany back into the MCU as Vision. And I'm glad, and yet, this rehashes the 'no one ever dies in Marvel films' perspective.

And the big baddie in the show... well, it was no character I ever heard of, a witch called Agatha.  There wasn't really much to her, except to provide a form of resolution for the series. Plus add the premise that her coven had foretold of the Scarlett Witch that was created, not born, and the evil it will bring.

Hence, we finally see Wanda's Scarlett Witch persona come to light at the end of the series and in one a weird scene in one of the mid-credit scenes.

Plus, to be honest, it was an interesting casting choice, to cast the actor who played Quicksilver in the Fox movies as her brother, but according to Marvel, means nothing at all.  Hmm, riiight.

The back half of the series was engaging... so there's that. But since I hate sitcoms, I suffered a little, waiting for things to pan out...


https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Vision


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