WandaVision review: This is the Marvel show we needed

WandaVision review: This is the Marvel bear witness we needed

(Image credit: Disney Plus/Marvel Studios)

Equally I hit play on the first episode of WandaVision, I didn't know what to expect. Equally the credits rolled on episode two, I quickly realized I regretted arguing that shows shouldn't release all at in one case, and so I googled "WandaVision release schedule," to learn how long nosotros have to wait.

Non merely is WandaVision my new favorite Idiot box series (pitiful, The Flight Attendant), but it is exactly what the Marvel Cinematic Universe (aka MCU) and Disney Plus need. Later sad movies filled with the mourning of heroes lost in Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision is the weird, trippy and mysterious side-quest that serves equally a Curiosity palate cleanser on our way to more dramatic things.

How to watch WandaVision online
The best streaming devices

Editor'southward note: Nosotros enjoyed WandaVision so much that it won a 2021 Tom's Guide Award for the Best Streaming Service Original Testify. Few other programs rose to its heights, and left us waiting for next week'southward episode as often.

So, let'due south dive into a mostly spoiler-free WandaVision review of the first two episodes to become y'all properly prepared for Westview, the seemingly-idyllic town where our heroes have constitute themselves living.

WandaVision is a weird, risky romp that works

Unlike some of the best Marvel movies — Guardians of the Galaxy and Helm America: Winter Soldier come to mind — WandaVision does not stand on its own at all. While this may be frustrating to the rare Disney Plus subscriber that skipped an Avengers movie or 2, it'southward not necessarily a bad matter.

Filled with Easter eggs and fan service, harking back to characters from previous movies and entities from Marvel Comics that have yet to hit the MCU, WandaVision is a mystery comedy. Yep, Avengers Wanda Maximoff and Vision seem have plant themselves within of a 1950s sitcom-like reality, and they don't know why, either. Everything, from the black-and-white color to the iv:3 aspect ratio, is wrong to our eyes trained on 4K HDR content. They're confused too, constantly asking questions that don't get answered.

WandaVision review — this story is a bit confusing, and that's the point — (Image credit: Disney Plus/Curiosity Studios)

Up until the end of the kickoff episode, we get little in the way of a traditional Marvel story, but it even so works. Instead, we go a traditional sitcom story where defoliation almost a dinner political party leads to calamity. And past existence and then different than everything else the MCU has given u.s., WandaVision feels much more original, fifty-fifty with its derivative sitcom-referencing premise.

I just wonder what the younger folks — who didn't watch re-runs of I Honey Lucy on Nick at Nite — will recollect of the format. That being said, the writing is solid, the pacing and dialogue are snappy and everything simply fits well, even as nothing is "correct."

Paul Bettany is a revelation and delight as Vision

Say you lot're like me, and your previous exposure to Paul Bettany, who plays Vision, was minimal. The android Avenger never truly took center stage, and that changes in WandaVision. While Vision has his corking moments in episode ane, Bettany truly shines in a series of hilariously awkward scenes in episode 2, where he'south trying to alloy into the neighborhood to calamitous results.

Wandavision review: Bettany thrives — (Image credit: Marvel Studios via Twitter)

Bettany's comedic timing, and Vision's excellent banter with Wanda, are elements that were seemingly in one case reserved for the likes of Paul Rudd'southward work as Scott Lang (aka Ant-Man).

This is besides enabled by the fact that Vision is in his own Incognito Mode throughout the series, as Bettany goes sans-makeup to fit in. This allows for a more than expressive performance, which is necessary to the story and for audience enjoyment.

WandaVision is definitely an MCU show

Throughout the first two episodes, y'all'll see and hear Easter eggs referencing characters and organizations seen in previous films. And nosotros get our third MCU return with the grapheme Monica Rambeau, last seen as a footling girl in Captain Marvel and now an adult played past Teyonah Parris.

Just eagle-eyed viewers volition be able to detect clues that can open a lot of theorizing virtually what comes adjacent and who's responsible for putting Wanda and Vision in this creepy cul-de-sac. And as was the case with Marvel movies, yous won't want to plow off the beginning episode when the kickoff credits hit, as at that place'southward a tease before the second set up of credits roll.

A fantastic supporting cast completes the bear witness

Kathryn Hahn (Parks & Recreation) is first-class as the gossipy Agnes, the first friend Wanda makes in this new town. And she's utterly essential to the storytelling, since Wanda doesn't really understand much about the era she'south been dropped into, or what's going on — but Agnes knows everything, and can guide her along.

Episode 1 also introduces characters played by veteran actors Fred Melamed (A Serious Man) and Debra Jo Rupp (That lxx's Show) who help ground the '50s retro vibe of the show with true-to-era performances.

And then in episode 2, Emma Caulfield Ford (Buffy: The Vampire Slayer) shows up every bit the blastoff housewife of Westview. As Dottie, Caulfield Ford threads the needle of beingness domineering yet aware of something afoot.

Just don't wait MCU mainstays Kat Dennings and Randall Park, who were previously announced for the series, to already exist in that location. Seems similar nosotros have to await for Darcy Lewis and Jimmy Woo.

WandaVision is not staying in the '50s for long

Don't worry if the showtime episodes are too retro for your taste. As you lot may have seen in the promo material, the series' colour palette isn't permanently stuck on black and white. And I'yard thankful, because besides much of the aforementioned thing would get a bit stale after a while.

Somehow, the series will jump to what appears to be the 1960s and '70s, as seen in The Brady Agglomeration. Here'southward hoping nosotros get to run into Wanda and Vision at a Central Perk-like coffee house or the Seinfeld diner by the finish of the season.

Henry is a senior editor at Tom'south Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past vi-plus years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.