What "Wandavision" Means for the MCU and Me

I still remember my first MCU movie. It was Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014, so I came a little late to the party. I’d had a passing interest in the movies and comic books for a few months but was under the misguided idea that comics were for nerds. Yeah. That was me.

Then I read an article that showed me that comic books could be intelligent and engaging. Which isn’t a lesson I should have had to learn, but I was young. The article in question was by Alisha Grauso on why the MCU was pointing towards a Civil War adaptation. I can’t find the story now that the site it was published on is gone but it was just shy of lifechanging for me as it let me feel comfortable enjoying the comics, a ripple effect I’m sure translated to the passion for anime I discovered a year or two later.

For a while, I was a hardcore Marvel fan. I bought too many weekly releases, read bound volumes of classic stories like Civil War and House of M, and devoured the movies. My infatuation with the comics waned, primarily because my hours at the ole summer job were cut and I ran out of funding but the movies were always welcome.

It was the movie’s scope that captured my imagination. This wasn’t a franchise; it was a dozen franchises spun together into a single (mostly) cohesive tapestry. Others have tried to emulate the MCU’s success to less than spectacular results. In the world of cinematic universes, Marvel was ahead. They weren’t just building a universe of co-stars with winks towards the other heroes in their stories. There was a purpose. The MCU was building to a single point.

Endgame and Infinity War

Love it, hate it, you must acknowledge Avengers: Endgame all the same. You can leverage legitimate criticisms against the film, but Endgame is unlike any movie that’s come before. It is the culmination of an immense 22 films. It’s one of the most significant movie events of the century.

Endgame was everything I wanted it to be. But it came with an unexpected side-effect: It ended. Of course, there are years of Marvel movies still planned that stretch out before us. But this grand story, the tapestry of the Infinity War Saga, had reached its conclusion. This conclusion began a spiral of disinterest in the MCU as a whole – for me, at least.

Endgame was followed quickly by Spider-Man: Far From Home. While I loved Homecoming, I found Far From Home to be fine. It was nothing groundbreaking but was well-positioned to follow up Endgame. Peter Parker’s exploits gave a slightly lighter tone compared to the fate of half the universe being on the line while his proximity to Mr. Stark allowed an elegant exploration of a post-Iron Man Earth. I can’t call Far From Home mind-blowing, but it was satisfactory, and I had looked forward to it.

However, I wasn’t nearly as excited for the MCU’s next installment: Black Widow. I loved Scarlett Johanson’s portrayal of the character, especially the bits between herself and Hawkeye. I would have been thrilled for a Black Widow movie pre-Endgame. But Natasha had sacrificed herself to obtain the Soul Stone. Black Widow took place before Endgame, and I just didn’t care. Part of the MCU’s appeal was its forward momentum.

That momentum had come to a screeching halt. Far From Home felt like a reflective movie. It didn’t advance the next stage of Marvel so much as explore a traumatized world with its most relatable character. It was a welcome breather, but I wanted to see more. More of the mess that came from a world that had been broken, then gotten a bandage after the Avengers brought back the dusted. More about what would come after Thanos.

Black Widow wasn’t going to do this. I enjoyed other MCU movies that occurred in the past such as Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain Marvel. The critical difference comes from those films being origin stories, as well as covering events that were foundational to the mythology of the MCU. Black Widow was doing neither of these.

Of course, I haven’t seen Black Widow. These aren’t criticisms of the film itself, just my thoughts on its release. I will still see it, and there’s a good chance I’ll be pleasantly surprised. The biggest problem came from not being able to see thanks to the small pandemic that shut theaters down across the globe. The release date kept get pushed back again and again. With each push, my interest in the MCU likewise faded away. It would be months before we’d get to see new MCU stories on our screen – this time our televisions (or laptops).

WANDAVISION

Rather like the MCU, I came to Wandavision a little late. I started watching five weeks in, just after “In A Very Special Episode…” aired. I’d seen people raving about it on Twitter but didn’t know much about it. I knew it was about Wanda and Vision, and I had a fuzzy recollection of an article promising some connection between Wandavision and Doctor Strange 2.

I assumed Wandavision would be like ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. A fine show, but nothing I was racing to my computer to watch. I saw people raving about the show, but sort of shrugged it off. I tend to come to these things late; it wasn’t until a month had passed that I got around to watching The Queen’s Gambit.

I found myself with a few free hours, however, so I watched the first episode. Then the second, then the third, then suddenly Evan Peters was on my screen and the implications of what Wandavision meant for the rest of the MCU was blown wide open. There it was, that forward momentum I’d wanted!

However, Pietro’s reveal came at the end of episode five. I tore through the preceding episodes, even without the promise that this show would have groundbreaking implications – the connection to Doctor Strange 2 could easily end up as a wink and a nod to the Sorcerer Supreme. But I watched it as eagerly as any other installment in the MCU that captured my eye.

Wandavision had more than momentum. It was an amazing story, filled with mystery and hidden twists I didn’t expect. Beyond that, it had some of the most masterful acting I’d seen in months as Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany both shone with skill, seamlessly acting as their characters while adapting to the show’s current time period. The skill of writers, actors, cinematographers, and directors was on full display as the episodes moved through the decades of sitcoms.

Wandavision was far more than I could have expected. It’s not just brilliant. It’s not just consequential to the MCU as a whole. It’s an exploration of grief through fantasy and a show that stands on its own merits. Brimming with talent and personality, the show was the perfect way to reintroduce audiences to the MCU after the extended period between feature releases thanks to the pandemic. On a more personal level, Wandavision was the perfect show to reignite my passion for the cinematic universe that’s given me so much pleasure over the past years. As such, I can’t wait to see how it concludes – or what happens next.