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Contains Minor Spoilers
WandaVision is the first instalment in Marvel’s Phase 4. Phase 4 is the next stage in the Marvel cinematic universe and will feature movies and TV shows such as Black Widow, and Falcon and Winter Soldier.
On the surface, WandaVision presents itself as an homage to the beloved sitcoms from the history of television, however, WandaVision is much more than just a sitcom compilation.
The series presents Wanda Maximoff (the Scarlet Witch) and Vision as we’ve never seen before— as sitcom characters. Director Matt Shakman even described it as a “love letter to the history of television”.
Sitcoms seem like an unlikely fit in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In its first 3 episodes, WandaVision seems like a lighthearted show. However, things take a turn as tensions rise when the fourth episode hints that there is more to Westview, the fictional setting of the show, than meets the eye.
Despite playing with the sunniest and the happiest format of sitcoms, WandaVision explores Wanda’s realization that while The Blip may have brought back half of all organic life in the universe, the man (or AI) she loved isn’t among them. The life she envisioned with him is a fantasy, resulting in the creation of a sitcom life with Vision where she could escape, and that at some point, she’s going to have to exit that fantasy and rejoin the real world, which sadly doesn’t resolve tragedies with a laugh track.
The start of WandaVision takes place in the 1950s and 1960s, with many references to notable sitcoms such as “I Love Lucy” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. As we move through the series, the decade the characters are in also progresses. Throughout the course of the show audiences can see visual references to shows from older ones such as Full House up to more recent shows such as Modern Family and The Office.
WandaVision is extremely different from other shows in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and yet, Marvel manages to successfully bring WandaVision into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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