A New Beginning: Marvel unveils WandaVision to begin Phase 4

Mallory Winfrey, Staff Writer

Photo: Disney+

If you have seen and loved the Avengers, you need to watch WandaVision. 

The Avengers is one of the most grossing film series of all time. The Marvel Cinematic Universe creates stories way in advance and leaves hints as to what the future holds for new movies years before they come out. This is what makes this series worth the watch. Avengers: Age of Ultron began the story of the Maximoff twins. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff started off as mutant spies for Ultron to get revenge on Tony Stark and overthrow the Avengers. Pietro was killed by Ultron in this war. After this event Wanda was attracted to joining the Avengers to make sure that no one else went through the pain she did. 

There are ten stories that are told between Age of Ultron and WandaVision. Wanda found the love of her life, Vision and hid out with him in Europe before the final fight with Thanos. They built their love during this time. Wanda chose the world over love when she destroyed the mind stone, ultimately killing Vision. Wanda feels lost because she has no family left, thus the beginning of WandaVision.

WandaVision began the new phase of the MCU with an imaginary sitcom world Wanda creates to distract herself from the realities of Vision’s death and losing many of her friends in the war against Thanos. Wanda uses her mind powers to brainwash the citizens of the small town of Westview into being characters of a sitcom that showcases the lives of Wanda and Vision in a family setting. Within this sitcom Vision and Wanda start a family and navigate life in a small town, through different decades. Their lives are continuing to escalate no matter what decade they are in. 

The WandaVision creators used a wide variety of artistic choices that made the show aesthetically pleasing to the eyes of a viewer. WandaVision uses black and white filters to stage the 50s and 60s eras of television. This is an artistic choice that was genius. Switching to technicolor in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s, was a choice to reflect entertainment in the different decades. The decorations of the different houses within each decade represented the several style choices of a person designing a home within each of the decades. 

The design of the sets really sets the tone for the entire decade of which they are in. The wooden walls, the soft carpet and the stylish outfits of a middle class American shows off the aesthetic of the 50s. The 2010s are represented by the flat screen televisions and modern art on the walls. The Marvel producers did a great job of setting up time periods within all of the movies and tv shows that accentuate the lives of the people within them. 

Elizabeth Olsen plays Wanda and is an amazing actress. WandaVision would not be as successful without the brilliance and elegance of Elizabeth Olsen. Paul Bettany, who plays Vision, brings an authentic performance to the show. As an android, it is difficult to acclimate to traditional human lifestyles. As an Englishman, it is difficult to acclimate to traditional American values and traditions. WandaVision is unlike anything that Marvel has ever done in the entertainment industry. It’s diverse cast gives this show the modern values of today’s society. The plot of the story is very confusing at the beginning but toward the end, they managed to wrap it all up into a neat, finished production that deserves the success it is receiving. 

Overall, WandaVision is a great mixture of the action from the normal Avengers, and a relaxed family sitcom. It includes family life as well as supernatural action. The hints at the future, or Easter eggs, that were seen in other Avengers films were great foreshadowing of the genius of this show. It is always nice to see new ideas when it comes to Marvel. There will always be a love for the original Avengers that will stick with fans’ hearts for the rest of the Avengers films. However, this show is a great start to the fourth phase of Marvel. WandaVision exceeded expectations and represents the magic that the Marvel Cinematic Universe presents to the world.