Mental Health in Fantasy Series

“Do you have any recommendations for good shows or movies?” I can’t begin to tell you how much I love getting this question. I would call myself a self-proclaimed “film buff” if everyone else didn’t proclaim it on my behalf. Not trying to brag or anything, of course, I just love introducing people to stories that they may have otherwise not been aware of. The themes of these stories in films and series are really what drives my recommendations. It’s easy enough to say something like “Hey! You liked ‘Shrek’? Well, here’s ‘Shrek 2’”. But for me, it’s not as much about recommending something with the same kinds of stories or that share the same actors. I appreciate finding human connections that I can see others relating to. I like to identify the themes that really made the show or movie stand out to me and see if I’m aware of any other series or films that may share similar thematic elements, even if they may not share the same medium or even genre. One recent standout example for me that I wasn’t expecting to feel as much human emotion with came from a story where the main characters are primarily superhuman.

“WandaVision”, the first of Disney+’s lineup of original series based on their Marvel properties, is a phenomenal example of this. “Avengers: Endgame” from 2019 was the fantastic spectacle and conclusion to over a decade’s worth of storytelling spanning a multitude of films, so it really begged the question, “Well, what now?” Rather than just repeating the formula of “Superhero VS. Big Bad”, “WandaVision” focuses a lot more on the mental health journey of one of the superhumans who lost several loved ones in battle during the events of past films.

As someone who has been watching Marvel-related films on the big screen ever since they started getting popular in 2000 with Fox’s original “X-Men”, I have to say it is extremely rare that we ever see up-close and personal the aftermath and trauma of the big popcorn-movie fight scenes that fans line up to see. In “WandaVision”, that topic is brought front and center with our protagonist Wanda Maximoff (played to darn near perfection by Elizabeth Olsen, who brings so much more heart and humanity to the character than was previously allowed in other Marvel films).

In this series, she creates her own alternate reality inspired by sitcoms throughout the decades to escape the grief of losing her parents, her brother and her one true love, the cyborg Vision (played by Paul Bettany). Meanwhile, innocent civilians and the U.S. government are brought into this alternate reality and find themselves victim to Wanda’s device. Why is she using sitcoms as the base of her newly created alternate reality? That’s something I won’t spoil, but the payoff is something special and emotional.

Whereas other Marvel properties put a lot of focus and energy on the big action set-pieces, “WandaVision” is truly a character study of one of the most powerful and tortured characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Several episodes are stylized as sitcoms from various decades, which brings a whole new level of creativity to the table.

I can’t recommend this series enough – it’s really an innovative way to breathe new life into a world and characters that fans are already familiar with, as well as a natural starting point for new viewers as well. Bringing more human elements to these characters and their story arcs really builds an even more immersive experience for viewers, creating more multi-dimensional figures to get behind. I also really appreciate the serialized approach, as it allows for scenes and moments to breathe and resonate with viewers a lot more than a two-hour film can.

While it would be easy to just recommend another film in the Marvel canon, again, my approach to recommendations goes beyond the surface level. “WandaVision” is, at its core, a story of about processing grief told in a creative and fantastical way. Another series that does this in a similarly unexpected manner is “Infinity Train”, an animated anthology series initially from Cartoon Network and now streaming on HBO MAX.

There are no superhuman powers in “Infinity Train” but it does follow another group of characters, primarily children and young adults, processing their own trials while traveling through a wide array of train cars, each containing their own universe. The train itself serves as a form of therapy for each of the main characters, but much like “WandaVision”, the series never explicitly says this. The only way off the train is to open one’s mind to addressing the issues at hand and process them in a healthy way.

As an anthology series (arguably something the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe is as well), we follow a variety of different young adults and kids dealing with issues such as the loss of a loved one, guilt, trust in humanity and the divorce of one’s parents. Their journeys throughout each train car and the universes that inhabit them either bring them closer to processing their mental health issues at hand, or farther away. Their progress is signified by the number that is imprinted on their hands; the closer to zero the number is, the closer to getting off the train – and therefore processing their issues -they are.

Being an animated series, it would be easy for one to shrug this one off as being strictly kid-fare. However, the discussions that are being had throughout the stories never feel condescending or watered down for a young audience. Honestly, as an adult I felt more compelled by the series and its topics because these were stories that were never featured in cartoons during my youth.

For example, the first season follows a young girl named Tulip who is coming to terms with her parents' divorce - a topic that was rarely, if ever, explicitly explored in animated series when I was growing up. When she runs away from home in a fit of angst, she finds her self boarding a mysterious train and getting assigned a number that appears to be tattooed on her hand. While traversing each train car, trying to make her way to the conductor, she encounters new companions and a wide variety of different worlds and universes that she has to learn how to make through, with each of her solutions tying back into dealing with her emotions and the fact that her parents are going their separate ways.

Each of the subsequent seasons deal with other universal human issues that aren't just explored in family media, but rarely ever discussed in more mature films and series. One of the greatest achievements that distinguishes this series from others is that the material surrounding these issues never feels melodramatic - it allows moments to breathe, have some quiet time, and process before moving on to the next step of the journey - not unlike processing matters of the heart and mind in everyday life.

On a personal note, I am very appreciative of movies and television series handling the topic of mental health with more respect nowadays. This wasn’t always the case, usually being relegated to a joke at its expense. These two series are both, for the most part, family-friendly explorations of various emotional themes and topics that never feel heavy-handed because of their fantasy elements.

It’s the timeless, unique and inspired explorations of the human condition that makes both “WandaVision” and “Infinity Train” complimentary streaming treasures.