WandaVision

Impeccably and cleverly crafted as a mashup of the otherworldly and the nostalgic, this insanely entertaining fantasia works on so many weird levels it doesn't matter if you're as confused as its principal players. [1 - 14 Feb 2021, p.6]

Easily one of the best new shows in years, “WandaVision” accomplishes the impossible: it pulls us back in just when we thought we were out.

With performances like those delivering scripts this tight, surrounded by period-accurate sets, lighting, effects, credits, costumes, etc., WandaVision is itself a masterclass in sitcom history and a sincere depiction of what the format means to people. This show is more than a Marvel show, and that’s evident from the first three episodes.

WandaVision is primarily designed with MCU fans in mind, though casual viewers can more or less jump right in with no prior knowledge. (Everyone on this show is confused, too, so that helps.) But don’t let the show’s outside-the-box approach worry you: Yes, WandaVision is unlike anything Marvel has done before — but it turns out that’s a very good thing.

It's great TV on its own merits. But for those who relish these stories but always want them to reach further, WandaVision is a true triumph.

There are trappings of truth everywhere, and while viewers can spot them easily, Wanda remains willfully ignorant. It is absolutely devastating to see her spinning as fast as she can to keep this all in place, to stay ahead of her trauma, when we know that ultimately it won’t change anything. ... WandaVision’s core conceit—that sometimes you just want to escape into television, into fantasy, into a daydream—couldn’t be more meta.

With two episodes that are fun sitcom parodies and a third that ends as a vaguely horror-flavored take on a Marvel movie, WandaVision has the makings of what could be a riveting entry in the MCU canon.

Though the show’s first three episodes don’t make a ton of headway in terms of plot development, WandaVision is so dedicated to being its own bizarre entity that it’s difficult to be upset that nothing Marvel-y is going down. Wandavison merges the disorienting and the mundane so effortlessly.

Adroitly drawing from small screen history with the same level of reverence and wonder as its elaborate superhero mythology. "WandaVision" is banquet for fervid TV viewers and moviegoers alike, and its ambition doesn't stop there. Each episode is also made to please comic book readers. ... This is soaring, original unreality worth seeing through to the finale, be it bitter or sitcom sweet.

“Wandavision” works as a painstakingly crafted, impressively spot-on tribute to the evolution of the American sitcom — later episodes will take us through the 1980s and 1990s style of comedy and eventually reach a “Modern Family” type world — and as something directly connected to the “real” lives of Wanda and Vision. Every once in a while, there’s a crack in the veneer of the sitcom universe. ... Certain touches reminded me of a classic “Twilight Zone” episode called “A World of Difference.”

As they get caught up in this TV evolution, or devolution, the weirdness grows, and the tropes change — from a "Dick Van Dyke Show"-like world, to a "Bewitched"-like world, to a "Brady Bunch"-like world. They're just along for the ride, trying to adapt with it. But what is "it?" That "it" and their bewilderment is the pleasure of "WandaVision." ... Homage in the best sense.

Whatever it is, "WandaVision" is the weirdest entry yet into the MCU, and a significant artistic step forward in its storytelling. It's bold and visionary and also a lot of fun, tweaking sitcoms in a knowing, loving way and playing with their format in a way that turns Americana on its ear. Like any great show, we're hooked.

I’m a fan of any long-running franchise stepping out of its comfort zone to try something new and “WandaVision” does exactly that for Marvel. Quirky, humorous and with fascinating characters, I’m interested to see what kind of long, strange trip Wanda and Vision have planned.

Success will depend on whether the eventual answers are satisfying — and whether all those fancy sitcom adornments are just a long wind-up to an overly familiar superhero smash-up. Consider WandaVision an unusual first step for this new Marvel phase. The best parts lovingly conjure the mood of very old television shows. The worst parts feel like just another movie.

Compared to the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is not only joyous, but delightfully experimental.

This is a bizarre and audacious twist on these characters and a world away from the usual explosions and super-punching. Who knew that superhero sitcoms were the element the MCU was missing?

Without a Big Bad in sight, Wanda is the warden of the world they’ve found themselves in, and whether she knows it or not, the show’s antagonist is her grief. That’s a deeply satisfying twist for a character who, in the comics, typically drives maximalist story lines.

Expanding the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s serialized narrative to television in surprising and cheeky ways, it’s a daring sharp right turn for Marvel. ... The show likely won’t bring many newbies into the fold—especially once its fantastical sitcom-tribute device is shattered by the emergence of MCU “reality.” Yet even if its ultimate target viewers are those wholly invested in the fate of the Avengers, it manages to put a fresh (and small-scale) spin on what has become a world-conquering franchise behemoth

It’s all deliciously, confidently, stylishly done. The parodies are fantastic fun, the jokes are great, the performances (especially from Olsen and Bettany, whose chemistry is a joy in itself) are wonderful, and it has the glorious air of something shaped by people who know exactly what they’re doing, where they want to go and how they’re going to get there.

Through the first three episodes, the Marvel mythology recedes even as it provides enough stakes and structure to keep the old-timey sitcom riffs from having to shoulder the series. Over the years there have been all sorts of attempts to bring back the laugh-track sitcom, but WandaVision is more successful than most of them (I know, knock me over with a feather) because it’s all icing on the cake—the cake actually being the grim and complex Marvel mythology and backstory.

One feels that the show might have been written backward from an original Big Idea or even from the title; that is how things often go in Hollywood, after all. But the results here are rarely less than interesting and at times much more.

I'm curious how much the show will open up in its last six episodes. But there's a big part of me that would be perfectly content to just let WandaVision be an eccentric oddity and to know that there's room for that under the Marvel banner.

It’s the most purely intriguing thing the MCU has ever made.

If Wanda and Vision can blend into each new community and keep their unusual gifts hidden, they’ll be safe and okay at the end of every half-hour. But as ominous signs begin to creep into their blissful, lawn-mown bubble, WandaVision is already signaling — with grand ambition, infectious energy, and moments of intriguing suspense — that these time-traveling characters can only play house for so long.

As a loving pastiche of creaky American sitcoms WandaVision is endearing. And Olsen and Bettany are clearly having a hoot in their retro frocks and dad sweaters. But it’s that rising dread – with the mystery it portends – that will bring Marvel fans scrambling back for more.

WandaVision sets up an interesting path for the MCU. It proves that Marvel isn't afraid to try new things and evolve, which not only makes us eager to see how the rest of WandaVision will pan out, but also what other surprises the rest of the Marvel Disney+ slate has in store.

It’s admirable how sharply WandaVision deviates from what most viewers might expect from the first Marvel series to hit a streaming service. The fine line that it toes, between the sitcom sendup’s near-cloying cuteness and the unnerving jolts of its interruptions, is eccentric enough to almost make viewers forget that they’re watching a flagship series inheriting the billion-dollar legacy of the Marvel IP.

Through clever re-creations of sitcom theme songs, sets and tropes, “WandaVision” proves a unique entry in a genre that’s too often overly similar.

The result wields more of a scalpel than a hammer, wryly celebrating the history of television while slowly, very slowly, pulling the viewer into an enticing "The Twilight Zone"-esque mystery.

For all its invention, the ever so slightly gnawing tedium of WandaVision suggests that Marvel’s reach has not yet become so total that it can plug its characters into literally anything. Which may come as something of a relief for people weary of the brand’s hegemony. But, the show is a good enough that it ought to be a big hit.

Though it gets off to a slow start, the show has plenty going for it, from gorgeous, extremely expensive-looking production design and breathtaking special effects to punchy performances, a trippy mood and a plot that does eventually become quite absorbing. ... Unfortunate that it’s one of the hardest Marvel series to follow if you haven’t visited the MCU since Black Panther.

The look and feel of each episode is true to the spirit of its respective sitcom era as much as to any one show, as it’s clear everyone did their homework. ... But at least for now, WandaVision shares a problem with all those defunct Defenders-adjacent shows (even if it’s livelier than all of them): Some inspired moments start to lose their effectiveness because there’s less story than there is time to fill. But a new regime brings with it a greater chance that the payoff will justify the patience, especially since there’s such a bounce to things along the way.

Tim Roche and Nona Khodai’s editing keeps things moving at a tight quip, while creator, writer, and executive producer Jac Schaeffer shows a gift for connective, quippy dialogue and fully utilizing her skillful cast. ... But issues of fan service and bloat have been nagging problems for past Marvel TV attempts (see: the Netflix saga) as well as other Disney properties like “Star Wars.” So no matter how much people claim “WandaVision” is like nothing the company has done before, for better or worse, it’s more of the same.

It feels simultaneously wildly experimental and weighed down by its high concept. But one thing is certain after viewing three episodes made available for review: More are needed to figure out what "WandaVision" actually is.

Despite its character and dialogue beats, “WandaVision” isn’t a sitcom; it’s a sinister thriller wearing respectable clothes and an unnervingly bright grin. It’s “Pleasantville,” if “Pleasantville” opened with the characters stuck inside the black and white television. When “WandaVision” leans into this uncanny-valley side of itself, it works much better than it does when it’s just going through the sitcom motions others have done better before.

I imagine that when everything starts locking into place, the first episodes will take on a new meaning. Until that happens, WandaVision’s debut is an intriguing, visually captivating world with a lot of question marks, one that’s full of potential but also requires a bit of patience.

“WandaVision” may ultimately be seen as a fascinating experiment, but right now—only three episodes to judge— it’s mostly just superheroes playing house within sitcom constraints and marginally amusing at best.

Odd does not, by itself, equal good, and on the evidence of the three episodes made available for review, the eccentricities of “WandaVision” are mostly just weighing it down. It feels as if we’re still waiting for the real show to get started, and even with half-hour episodes (reminiscent of the hit Disney+ sci-fi serial, “The Mandalorian”) that’s a long time to wait.

“WandaVision” seems likely to entice die-hard, movie-starved Avengers fans in pandemic lockdown. It may also frustrate others to distraction, or the bailout point, just as things have a shot at getting interestingly good.

It’s difficult to tell where “WandaVision” is going to go based on the series’ first three episodes provided for review. Each half-hour installment is so defined by allusions to classic TV like “I Dream of Jeannie,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Bewitched,” “I Love Lucy,” and “The Brady Bunch” that its titular characters seem sidelined in their own series.

If you’re deep into this universe and have been keeping up on all the creator and staff commentary “explaining” what they’re aiming for, you’ll get more out of “WandaVision” than any casual viewer. The end product on the screen is comedically wan, the double-takes broad and all the Olsen/Bettany/Hahn charm squeezed into those tiny dabs of screen time doesn’t add up to enough to make the whole worth the investment in time, even if you change shows as the endless closing credits start.