WANDAVISION is a blend of classic television and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) – two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives – begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.

We certainly can’t talk about WANDAVISION without first talking about the love story that blossomed between Wanda and Vision in the MCU and what that means for this series. 

Jac Schaeffer: I think that Wanda and Vision are really, as a couple, a fan favorite because their love story has been so very tragic. [B]ut [it’s] also really warm and intimate as we’ve seen them in these really beautiful stolen moments in the MCU. It’s actually been a small amount of screen time but very powerful and very soulful. What we have with WANDAVISION, which is really a treat for all, is we’re sort of opening up the stage and the space for them and they’re in this like domestic sphere. We get to see them doing dishes in the kitchen and being cute, just all the homebody stuff that you would never get to see a superhero participate in. So, we really go from these enormous dramatic moments and frat moments in the MCU and then in WANDAVISION, it’s a lot of cute until it’s not.

It’s apparent from the first frame that the show references famous sitcoms throughout the decades. However, peeking through the cheery, superficial exterior is a much darker tone at play. Kevin Feige and Jac Schaeffer explained where they turned for references and inspirations for the more insidious moments.

Kevin Feige: Well, we often talked about, when we were in our period sitcoms, that when something shifted from say a Dick Van Dyke or an I Love Lucy style into something that was outside of that, that it was going into kind of a Twilight Zone. You know, we were thinking about what were the period shows that addressed the odd and the strange, and how could we embrace that? So that’s a little bit about how we approached the shooting of it initially, and the look of it.

Jac Schaeffer: Yeah absolutely. Twilight Zone is an enormous influence on me personally. I really think that’s actually how I learned to tell stories. You think you’re in one sort of thing and then suddenly it’s slipped on its head and we were all incredibly enamored [by] that. I think there are a lot of current shows right now, like prestige series, that are doing this very exciting thing where you watch a couple [of] episodes and you think the show is one thing, and then by episode four or five, it flips the script. That’s really, I think, where the more contemporary references come in, in terms of boundary-pushing in the genre.

One surprise that’ll have MCU fans geeking out centers around the stylized commercial breaks that seem to hint at the possible involvement of Hydra. When asked if he could give any insight into the Easter Eggs surrounding these commercials, Kevin Feige was tight-lipped. 

Kevin Feige: A little insight…. that was part of something early on. Other truths of the show are beginning to leak out and commercials were an early idea for that. If this is the very first Marvel/MCU thing you’re watching, it’s just a strange version of a ’50s commercial or ’60s commercial that you’ll have to keep watching the series to understand. If you have been watching all the movies, you might be able to start connecting what those things mean to the past.

Prepare to unravel the mystery when WANDAVISION premieres exclusively on Disney+ on January 15th.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Follow Me

Shannon McGrew

Founder/Co-Owner at Nightmarish Conjurings

Shannon is the Founder of Nightmarish Conjurings and a lover of all things horror and haunt related. When she's not obsessively collecting all things "Trick 'R Treat" related, or trying to convince everyone that "Hereditary" is one of the greatest horror films ever made, you can find her designing interiors for commercial restaurants. An avid haunt fan, Shannon spends the entire year visiting haunts and immersive experiences throughout the Southern California area and hopes to one day design her own haunted attraction.

Follow Me

Latest posts by Shannon McGrew (see all)

• [Interview] Sean Konrad for MONARCH: LEGACY OF MONSTERS - November 29, 2023
• [Interview] Matt Shakman for MONARCH: LEGACY OF MONSTERS - November 28, 2023
• [Interview] Eli Roth for THANKSGIVING (2023) - November 16, 2023