In the recap for the debut of “WandaVision,” Wanda finds herself living an idyllic life alongside her husband Vision in a black-and-white sitcom setting but there’s more to this story than meets the eye…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Marvel Studios makes very few mistakes.
You could argue that “Iron Man 2” wasn’t the studio’s best effort and the same could be said for “Thor: The Dark World” but even those aren’t bad movies — they just don’t compare as well to many of the stellar films that Marvel Studios has produced over the past 12 years.
But after watching the first two episodes of “WandaVision,” which debuted on Disney+ on Friday, it seems rather evident that Marvel make a rare mistake.
Now to make this clear — the mistake isn’t what they’ve done creatively with “WandaVision.”
Instead, this new series could be one of the bravest and most unique ideas that Marvel has ever put on the screen, big or small. But the problem is after two episodes, there are far more questions than answers with Wanda Maximoff and Vision largely living out a 1950’s sitcom existence with a few random Easter eggs thrown into the mix to let you know that something weird is happening without actually letting you know any real details.
The mistake that Marvel made with this series was not releasing the entire season at once so fans could binge watch the entire story from beginning to end before making any judgments.
The reality is “WandaVision” — for lack of a better word — is such a mindfuck that there are going to be a lot of people who tune out after just a few episodes because the bizarre backwards sitcom world where Wanda and Vision are living doesn’t involve any explosions, punches, kicks or general superhero action. Instead, Wanda and Vision are literally living out episodes of “I Love Lucy” and “Bewitched” with hints that the entire series will serve as an homage to classic sitcoms throughout history.
With only a little bit of information being dished out to the audience in these first few episodes regarding the real situation happening behind the scenes, viewers might not be all that interested in watching Marvel’s version of Nick-at-Nite.
That said, our recaps will do as best as possible to dissect what’s really happening throughout each episode of “WandaVision” to hopefully help understand the warped reality that Wanda Maximoff is living through.
Without further ado, let’s get to our recap for the series debut of “WandaVision” for Episodes 1 and 2…
Who’s Doing This To You?
Let’s get this part out of the way right now — it would appear what we’re watching throughout “WandaVision” is a new reality that Wanda Maximoff has created in her own head in the wake of the events in “Avengers: Endgame.” Remember, Thanos may have snapped away half of life in the universe but those living organisms were all brought back — sadly that didn’t mean others killed during “Avengers: Infinity War” returned.
That included Vision, who had an Infinity Stone ripped from his head in order for Thanos to complete his Infinity Gauntlet. Vision died instantly and Wanda was on a mission of vengeance after confronting Thanos in “Endgame” and she very nearly put an end to him without any assistance.
Fast forward to “WandaVision’ and it’s clear that Wanda is not actually living with Vision in some 1950’s sitcom so all of this is happening in her head or she’s created some alternate reality where she’s found a way to be reunited with the man that she loves but obviously it’s not really him.
When the show begins, Wanda and Vision are moving into a new house in the town of Westview.
Wanda is a stay at home housewife, who uses her powers to move objects around while cleaning and organizing and Vision maintains his cover by transforming himself into a regular human being before going to work at a company where he spends all day crunching numbers. Unfortunately, Vision has no idea whatsoever his company is actually producing or the business that they’re in other than constantly punching in figures through calculators.
The first order of business in the debut episode is a date marked with a heart on a calendar and neither Wanda or Vision are able to remember what this is supposed to symbolize or why they are apparently celebrating.
At work, Vision discovers that the heart stood for his boss Mr. Hart, who has been invited over to dinner along with his wife in order to get to know the new guy at the office. Back at home, Wanda — with help from her new nosey neighbor Agnes — decides the heart must mean their anniversary, which means she needs to spruce up the house and get ready to seduce her husband when he returns home.
When Vision returns home with his boss and his wife in tow, he finds Wanda dressed in 1950’s sexy attire thinking that this is actually their anniversary. Hijinx naturally ensue as they scramble to create a dinner for Vision’s boss, which requires Agnes to pitch in because who doesn’t have a five-course meal just hanging around the house after all?
Sadly, Wanda’s powers can move things around the house but it doesn’t make her a better cook so she ends up making breakfast for dinner, which seems to be a delightful change of pace for Mr. and Mrs. Hart.
But once dinner actually begins, the Harts begin asking Wanda and Vision to tell them more about how they met and the origins of their relationship. Both Wanda and Vision are completely dumbfounded without a single memory pertaining to their history together.
Things are starting to get uncomfortable until Mr. Hart chokes on a piece of food, which may or may not have been caused by Wanda as a distraction. Vision eventually has to use his phasing powers to pull the food from Mr. Hart’s throat and once he’s back on his feet, the subject has thankfully been changed.
Once Mr. and Mrs. Hart leave, Wanda and Vision sit down on the couch together and decide to create some history together including an anniversary date, some new wedding rings as well as a song they share together.
All seems well in the world until the sitcom fades to black and we realize that somebody is watching all of this unfold on a television screen before clicking it off with a remote. What does this mean exactly? Stay tuned…
Episode 2 seems to reveal even more hints at what’s actually happening with this one jumping ahead a few years with a “Bewitched” feel to the scenes. The episode begins with Wanda and Vision in bed — separate beds of course — until they hear a loud banging on their window. They eventually discover it’s just a tree branch clanging on the house but Wanda is rattled so she transforms the two beds into one and the couple are quick to jump into a roll in the sheets.
The theme in this episode is a charity talent show that will feature couples from around Westview including Wanda and Vision, who will be putting on a magic show.
Before the talent competition begins, Vision decides to check out a local meeting of the neighborhood watch while Wanda goes to meet with the rest of the wives to talk about the charity efforts with the show.
As she prepares to leave, Wanda notices a strange object lodged in the bushes — and what makes it even stranger is that the object is in full color in a black and white world!
It’s a toy helicopter painted in red and gold — perhaps similar colors to Iron Man’s previous armor — but more telling is the symbol on the side. A sword inside a circle seems to hint at S.W.O.R.D. — the Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Division — which is essentially an outer space version of S.H.I.E.L.D. In the comics, S.W.O.R.D. was an offshoot of S.H.I.E.L.D. until the two organizations became strained and broke apart completely.
There’s been a ton of speculation that Nick Fury’s appearance at the end of “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” where it was revealed that he had been in outer space on a Skrull ship was actually a hint that he was organizing the first version of S.W.O.R.D. following the galactic battle with Thanos that nearly demolished half of life in the universe. It seems entirely possibly that S.W.O.R.D. is somehow involved in whatever is happening with Wanda Maximoff right now in this alternate reality.
Before she can figure out the meaning behind the toy helicopter, Wanda is interrupted by her neighbor Agnes as they prepare to meet with the rest of the women organization the talent show.
At the meeting, Wanda is befriended by another new person named Geraldine but this is also a hint at something deeper happening in this weird sitcom world. Geraldine is actually Monica Rambeau, a key character previously only seen as a child in “Captain Marvel.” It had previously been revealed that a grown up version of Monica Rambeau would be showing up in “WandaVision” but why she’s named “Geraldine” in this sitcom fantasy remains unknown.
Is it possible “Geraldine” has been sent into this fantasy to rescue Wanda?
As for the rest of the meeting, Wanda ends up in a strange encounter with Dottie, the leader of the group, as she drops the friendly façade during a conversation. While introducing herself, Wanda oddly adds that she’s not there to hurt anybody and Dottie returns with a deadpan stare saying she doesn’t believe her.
A static filled radio then begins blaring “Help Me, Rhonda” by the Beach Boys with an interruption breaking through as a voice asks “who’s doing this to you, Wanda?”
A second later, Dottie crushes a glass with her hand and the radio explodes. The blood on Dottie’s hand is very red while she’s still stuck in black and white. After a moment of silence, Wanda and Dottie erupt into laughter and the whole previous interaction is seemingly forgotten. This is yet another hint at something odd happening inside this sitcom fantasy.
Meanwhile, Vision tries to befriend the guys in the neighborhood watch and he ends up eating a piece of Big Red chewing gum but accidentally swallows it. Because Vision is an android, the gum just jams up his insides and somehow transforms him into a drunken buffoon. That creates all sorts of mayhem at the talent show as Vision begins using his powers to do all the magic tricks, which then forces Wanda to use her own powers to make sure everything looks staged so none of their neighbors are the wiser.
After winning the best comedy routine at the show and Vision getting the gum out of his insides, he returns home with Wanda where they are soon confronted with another loud banging sound outside their home.
This time, Wanda and Vision watch as a man dressed in a beekeeper’s outfit, with bees swarming all around him, emerges from the sewer below the street. The man in the beekeeper’s outfit turns towards Wanda and Vision but his face cannot be seen. The emblem on the back of his outfit seems to match a similar group from Marvel Comics called A.I.M. — Advanced Idea Mechanics — which was a group founded by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker with their entire purpose to use technology to gain power in order to conquer the world.
Of course as seen in “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Baron von Strucker was the HYDRA scientist and leader, who experimented on Wanda and her brother Pietro when they were children, which eventually led to both of them receiving extraordinary powers.
Additional ties to Strucker came during a “commercial break” that advertised a new watch called Strucker that featured the HYDRA symbol and logo. A different commercial that ran in the first episode featured the “Toast Mate 200” by Stark Industries, which is obviously another tie back to the larger Marvel universe.
The beekeeper’s outfit is very similar to those worn by the agents of A.I.M. so it would make sense that’s the version of the character who shows up in Wanda’s fantasy land.
But one look at this strange character has Wanda simply say “no” and the entire scene just rewinds as if it never happened.
In the new reality, Wanda and Vision cuddle up on a couch and celebrate their good work at the talent show, which was benefitting Westview’s children. A moment later after standing up to embrace, Wanda suddenly has a giant baby bump as if she’s been expecting for months.
Wanda kisses Vision and then suddenly both of them transform into full color characters as well as the rest of their house goes from black and white to color. As the scene comes to a close with the traditional sitcom ‘The End’ there’s once again a voice in the distance heard saying ‘Wanda .. who’s doing this to you? Wanda?’ before the final credits roll.
Based on these interludes, the early assumption is that some organizations, possibly A.I.M. is experimenting on Wanda to understand the full extent of her powers, which obviously includes the ability to warp reality. While Wanda is locked in this alternate reality, there are people trying to reach her, which would explain the toy helicopter and the voice that’s broken into the dream world asking who is doing this to her. That might also explain why Monica Rambeau is appearing as a random character in Wanda’s fantasy world.
It’s also important to note that “WandaVision” could be a precursor to an even bigger event based on a famous comic book event called “House of M.”
During that story, Wanda’s fractured mind was so dangerous because she was so incredibly powerful that members of the Avengers were convinced that perhaps killing her was the only solution to stop a potential disaster. Once Wanda gets word of this, she uses her power to warp reality where mutants are suddenly the superior lifeform on Earth and the humans are the ones living in the shadows out of fear of being discovered.
Eventually, Wanda’s damaged mind lashes out and she screams “no more mutants” before returning the world to normal except in the new reality, almost every mutant on Earth has been wiped out. If that’s the direction “WandaVision” is heading, it could be possible that the end result of this sitcom fantasy reality is that Wanda actually creates mutants in her own image, which would then explain the origins of the X-Men.
Those are all just educated guesses but obviously something really strange is happening as Wanda remains trapped in this alternate reality and judging by the transformation at the end of episode 2, we’re now going to be moving into a sitcom from either the late 1960’s or perhaps the 1970’s.
“WandaVision” will return with a new episode on Friday on Disney+
