Blog #4: The Television Series “WandaVision”
By: Julia Brubaker
The captivating new series WandaVision, directed by Matt Shakman, is a blend between the MARVEL cinematic Universe and classic sitcoms. The show’s main characters, Wanda Maximoff (Actress Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Actor Paul Bettany) are two super powered beings trying to live ideal suburban lives, constantly under the fear of being discovered. “Westview, NJ” is where the characters are living, a false reality powered by Wanda herself and she is in control of everyone in her world.
As the series goes on, each episode looks and feels different, and time doesn't make sense. Viewers will notice their lives unfold over the decades of television tropes, taking us into the style of sitcoms from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
Head writer Jac Schaeffer explained, “We find Wanda and Vision living a blissful suburban existence, trying to keep their powers under wraps.”
Things out of the ordinary begin to appear, and a peculiar take is when the show when Wanda starts to experience a weird phenomena and color starts to appear... along with other strange surprises.
"WandaVision" also takes place after the events of "Avengers: Endgame." Vision should not be there because he was “killed” in “Avengers: Infinity war” by Thanos. Vision's reappearance is just the first of many hiccups on the show telling viewers that something's not right in Wanda and Vision's perfect fairy-tale.
The show overall, is an intriguing element to the Marvel Universe, and the popularity of the show has greatly increased since it has been aired on Disney plus.
Some questions to discuss: (no need to respond to all of them)
Why do you think the director and writer of WandaVision decided to add color? What was the purpose?
What are the different conspiracies about the show that people might find interesting?
Or what do u think the show's effect on the Marvel Cinematic universe will have?
Here are some websites to dive deeper into the multiverse:
https://www.cbr.com/
https://www.msbreviews.com/tv-
Trailer:
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Julia, I am considering this a solid recommendation--as I've never seen it! But it looks very interesting and I love the concept of the various decades and sitcom aesthetics. That alone intrigues me. Now, my question to you (and everyone who has seen WandaVision) is: do you have to be up to speed with the Marvel stuff to follow the story? I'm so out of touch with this 'cinematic universe' as it's referred.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! Images alone grab my attention and pique my curiosity.
I haven't really watched the show WandaVision but I have seen some scenes on TikTok. I think the writers and directors of the show decided to add color because they want to show how Wanda can only control her settings for so long. Meaning that when everything was black and white, she was able to control her surroundings and keep the outside world hidden. But as time goes on, she loses her ability to stay stable and is forced to see the colors of the real world. The conspiracies that people have made from WandaVision is Monica having some type of absorbing energy powers, Pietro return making an opening to the X-Men universe, Dr. Strange possibly appearing to help Wanda fix her reality, Agatha trying to control Wanda to help Mephisto possess her and become evil etc. I think the show will make a change to the Marvel Cinematic universe by combining multiple universes, and adding young avengers (Wanda's kids) to the universe.
ReplyDelete-Natalie Munoz
I think a lot of the visual additions are to show the viewer that they are moving forward through time and no longer in a time of black and white television, or it could be symbolism about the simplicity of their lives and how it is changing. Right now I think the show is keeping viewers in the dark on purpose and it can go in almost any direction, whether that be about hydra, X-Men, or doctor strange. I think its much to early to tell why everything is happening and who the bad guys and good guys are.
ReplyDeleteI think the director changes the colors of the episodes to indicate when the time period they are in changes. I'm not really into the Marvel Cinematic Universe but I have been seeing this show everywhere recently and it looks amazing. I know most of the plot yet I have never watched it, but I am planning on it soon!
ReplyDeleteTara McKearnin
I haven't personal seen any episodes of WandaVision, just clips around on social media. But what I think about the reason why the writers included colors over the coming years is to show the progress of television and the beginning stages of color TV. Possibly in the future, they might do an early 2000s up to currently present. I do hope I can find time to start watching this series. I heard great things about it.
ReplyDelete-Rameek Blake
I haven't seen this, but it actually sounds really cool. It reminds me of the book(and movie)"The giver", this takes place in the future and the whole world is in black and white, but one little boy is given the gift of seeing the past(our time) and is able to see color. I think the writers of WandaVision added color to distinguish the time periods.
ReplyDelete-Brianna Torres
I have been planning on watching this show but I am waiting for it to all come out at once because I like binge-watching. Wanda Vision is based in the 1950s, color television came out in the 1950s but wasn’t popular til the mid 1960s and wasn’t until the 1980s when almost everything was converted into color. So I think the reason that the director chose to use color what seems to be progressively is to match the popularity of the color television. I also have a theory that (from clips that I have seen) certain things is because she has seen these things in the 21st century, so there is a possibility that she doesn’t know what they look-like in black and white.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched this show, but I think the addition of colors is to emphasize the difference between Wanda's fictional world and reality. The black and white could be her created world while colors show that she is back into reality.
ReplyDelete-Franco Jimenez
DeleteThe show Wanda vision is truly a work of television art. The shows fan service to golden age costumes and the story behind it is amazing as well. this show is going to cause much change in the MCU ( Marvel Cinematic Universe). Not only has it opened the door for many new characters but will tie into the phase 4 movies propelling them to be made. Colors i feel represent the time period but also the clothes and furniture give it away as well.
ReplyDeleteThe show Wanda vision is truly a work of television art. The shows fan service to golden age costumes and the story behind it is amazing as well. this show is going to cause much change in the MCU ( Marvel Cinematic Universe). Not only has it opened the door for many new characters but will tie into the phase 4 movies propelling them to be made. Colors i feel represent the time period but also the clothes and furniture give it away as well. (repost under my school email)
ReplyDeleteI heard this show was a neat piece of work but haven't actually dove into it myself, but I believe that the show was changed to color because it best depicted how they adjust to the real world and how they attempt to face and live in a reality. This also aids the viewers on how they go about shifting from the fictional world to a new reality.
ReplyDelete-Ikenna Onyegbule
Personally I've never seen the show but I believe the director adds color for various reasons. By adding color to the show, the director might try to go along with history of color in television because this show is based off of decades in TV. Also the director might be adding depth to the plot and changing the tone of the show.
ReplyDeleteJessica Mongare
Personally I've never seen the show yet but I think this is a story about trauma. (and also setting up the X-Men universe and the Fantastic Four)Wanda's going through these different stages throughout television and she's also going through these different stages of grief. so whatever she unlocks a different stage throughout television she's actually unlocking a different stages with her grief.
ReplyDeleteOluwakemi Akanle
Hey Julia,
ReplyDeleteI love this show! My family and I watch it together every Friday when a new episode comes out. I love how it interesting for all ages. my siblings and I all have our own conspiracies of the show. My brother for example thinks that Ultron has been convincing Wanda what she's doing is okay. His evidence is that Wanda seemed confused in the beginning as well. I personally agree with my brothers conspiracy and he might be right about it. This show is has definitely exceeded my expectations and I recommend if for everyone as well.
Personally I've never seen this show and I have not idea what its about. I've seen a lot of people talking about it on social media but never get around to watching it. I have seen some Marvel movies and they're okay but I stopped watching them when I was around 13-14 years old. I might look into this if it is really that good according to everyone on social media.
ReplyDeleteI've heard from a lot of people about how good this show is, however, I haven't gotten around to watching it yet. I personally have no idea what it's about but after reading through your blog post and looking at the pictures, it seems really interesting. The different colors and time periods this show goes through is really cool and it looks like something I would definitely want to watch!
ReplyDelete- Olivia Reina