Written by: Jaden Bouck
Wandavision squandered any and all potential it had. As a huge Marvel fan, I was pretty excited for this show, especially considering there hadn’t been any MCU content for nearly 2 years. However, all it did was disappoint me. Everyone I knew, myself included, disliked the first two episodes. They were utterly pointless, and did little to satisfy the craving of anyone wanting a substantive story or plot for the first MCU entry in nearly two years. But I held out, hoping things would escalate and something would happen to grab my attention and sustain my interest. And things did get somewhat interesting in the third episode, but as I learned would become a staple of the show, every time things got interesting, the episode would end. Then, in the next episode, it would move on as if they hadn’t left everyone on a cliffhanger the episode before. Oh, Quicksilver is back? And he’s played by a different actor? Doesn’t matter, because the next episode won’t address it in any meaningful way.
And speaking of Quicksilver, he was the best thing to happen to the show. He got everyone’s attention, and good thing too, because everyone would have lost interest otherwise. But he doesn’t matter, because it was actually just a random guy, whose big reveal was a crude and unfunny name. Anyway, the show has a serious problem of setting up questions, and never answering them. What are the real consequences of Wanda’s actions? Nothing, she just gets to leave without being held accountable, and everyone has to piece their lives back together. Where did Agatha come from? Why didn’t she stop Wanda earlier? What are her motivations? Who knows, and don’t try to say she just wants Wanda’s power, because that was just offhandedly mentioned in the last episode and was not included in the story arc at all. How did Pietro (Ralph) have any powers? Did Agatha give them to him? Why was he chosen specifically? How did he know such intimate details about Wanda? And WHY did Agatha call him her husband? He looks in his 20’s, not to mention he was mind controlled or whatever. Was he exempt from Wanda’s mind control because Agatha was controlling him? Why did Wanda so easily accept he wasn’t her brother in later episodes, and why didn’t she wonder who he truly was? I could go on and on, but why ask questions you know will never have answers? This plot has more holes than a block of swiss cheese.
The show cannot decide whether to make Wanda the victim or the oppressor. All she seems to care about most the time is herself, but then she acts like she’s the one who’s suffering. She’s a terribly unlikable protagonist, and the only reason she got better is because the creators just decided she would finish her character arc in a matter of in-show hours. She was emotionally broken and insecure the entirety of the 8th episode, then in the 9th she has completely matured. Vision has the tiniest character arc, but still has no way to justify forgiving Wanda for torturing thousands of people, and hiding reality from him. Also, what happened to the white vision? Literally no explanation is given. Anyway, Billy and Tommy have terrible actors; they didn’t give a single convincing performance. That’s giving them grace for being child actors as well. They have less than nothing for a character arc, and the show is lucky they can hide behind the whole “they can age at will” bs. Agatha has a confusing arc, no real backstory, and no explanation for the majority of her actions. Monica’s powers are not explained in the slightest, but I must say she’s probably the most complete character out of the cast. I understand her motivations, and her actions are in line with what is shown about her. Jimmy is handled well as well; they don’t waste any time trying to give him convoluted motivations or confusing backstories. Darcy is just thrown in, and taken out just as quickly. Did they not think anyone would want to see her at all at the end of the season?
As for attention to the comics, the show is pretty awful. The people who made the show have some creative liberties of course, but there’s a point where you alter the characters so much that they aren’t who they’re based on anymore. MCU Wanda doesn’t have even relatively the same personality or powers as her comics counterpart. Wanda is not actually a witch, she does not use magic. I understand they can’t include the whole mutants storyline yet, but they don’t have to make her a witch to explain her abilities. Elizabeth Olsen’s portrayal lacks the fire and moxie that the Scarlet Witch of the comics had. I guess she gets the trauma down pat, though. There are a few easter eggs here and there referencing other superheroes and whatnot, but that’s about all you’ll see cameo wise. Outside of Agatha and the kids, every other character is reused from other MCU projects. I will say Monica is a bit of an exception, though. With a Marvel tv show, you have ample opportunity to include characters and references, whereas a movie cannot really stray from the main cast or story, or the audience might get lost. Why couldn’t Hayward be a SHIELD or SWORD agent from the comics? Was there really nowhere an extra throwaway character from the comics could have been put in? It didn’t feel really like a Marvel show for the most part, it felt like a writing competition entry from a middle school girl. ESPECIALLY episode seven, that was the most I’ve cringed watching anything in my life. The writing was horrific for a multi million dollar production. I’ve seen better scripting in Youtube videos made by small children. As for the acting, Olsen and Dennings did abysmally in The Office style format. Horrible performances. Hahn and Bettany did pretty good though.
I have to say I was proud, however, of the sixth episode, and the comics accurate costumes. Really, the highlight of the whole show for me; they were very nice callbacks. If this was a high school play, I’d be more keen to give it higher marks, but this is a multi-million dollar, MCU level show. There are standards to meet, and the writing, acting, story, CGI, and overall quality do not meet those standards. I am thoroughly disappointed, and I hope that Loki somehow makes up for it somehow, because Falcon and The Political Agenda certainly didn’t. Fortunately for Marvel though, there’s no shortage of mindless 14 year old girls and paid off critics to unquestioningly consume and love whatever they make, good or bad. So there’s no risk in making another terrible series. That’s all for now folks; see you in the next review.
Macro Media Productions 