WandaVision, the show that has quickly become one of the main topics of MCU discussion, is full of mystery and new territory for the Marvel franchise. Starring Wanda Maximoff, played by Elizabeth Olsen, and Vision, Paul Bethany, the two avengers play the lead roles in a strange sitcom-style TV show that has been slowly advancing through the decades. Each episode takes place in a new decade, starting with the ’50s and ’60s, and then moving into the ’70s and ’80s, finally ending with the ’90s and present-day style television. But what is really going on within this strange background of the television era, and why is it so significant to the progression of the Marvel storyline? Let’s begin with some preliminary knowledge: Vision is dead, he was killed by Wanda (by his own asking), brought back to life with the Time Stone, then killed again by Thanos. So, how is he here, since this show takes place AFTER Infinity War and Endgame?
The first two episodes, although funny, were nothing but a character and setting introduction. Of course, there were a few mysterious events that occur in each episode, but the majority of the two parts consist of nothing but information about the setting for the audience. In the first episode, the couple hosts Vision’s boss and wife for dinner, and after some time, Mr. Hart (Vision’s boss) begins to choke. This is our first glance into a moment that the cast calls “a twilight zone” moment (According to the TV show, Assemble). An awkward point where one or more of the characters begin to act out of the ordinary. This happens again at the end of the next episode, when Wanda and Vision go outside to the front lawn to find that a beekeeper has climbed out of the sewer system in the middle of the dark street, lit by street lights. Wanda mutters, “No,” and the show rewinds to show what she wants to happen. According to Elizabeth Olsen, the twilight zone moments mark the change in the era: “…something has to go wrong in order to advance to the next decade, [because why else] are you changing the scenario or the given circumstances?”
At this point, we are beginning to see that Wanda is either trying to control or is losing control of the events that come to pass in the town where she now lives. We pick up the third episode with Wanda’s quickly progressing pregnancy, and by the end of it, she has given birth to two twin boys. During the episode, Vision begins to grow suspicious and question Wanda before she rewinds the clock again and he suspects nothing. In the last few minutes, A new character, Geraldine doesn’t know who she is and asks Wanda about Ultron as Wanda uses her iconic red powers to force her far away from the two avengers. This is the first time we see the large boundary that rests just outside the borders of Westview.
In the following episodes, we learn more about what is REALLY going on. Wanda has created a magical boundary around this town, and all of its inhabitants are in a brain-washed state, causing them to be mere pawns of this sitcom that Wanda has created for herself. She has created this to live the life that she wanted to live with Vision, which, when thought about, is truly, deeply, sad. As the season wraps up, Wanda defeats her previously unseen adversary and releases all from her own control. This television show has really been a story of self-discovery and allows us to know more about the goings-on within Wanda’s complicated past, and how that will cause her to move forward.
