A Fish Called WandaVision

A spoiler-allowed zone to discuss all of the wacky hijinks of the WandaVision TV program. Filmed before a live studio audience.

Please do precede spoilerific comments with lots of asterisks ************* or some other warning.

45 thoughts on “A Fish Called WandaVision

  1. A Witch Called Wanda.
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    I thoroughly enjoyed the series and it was nice to see Elizabeth and Katherine strut their acting chops. I was kinda hoping the inclusion of the Xmen Quicksilver would have tied into the Multiverse instead of being a local of Westview. I was also hoping we would see a glimpse of some other Marvel comic big bads like “Mephisto” or “Chthon”, but the ending sort of alluded that may still happen. I also sort of wished Agatha displayed a few of her noisy neighbor personalities when depicted as a full-fledged villain. But those are all minor quibbles, “WandaVision” is one of Marvel’s best-realized shows.

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    Really impressive stuff. I think Elizabeth Olsen is the real story. Not just her incredible beauty, but her acting chops. The whole thing would have failed if she hadn’t been that good.

    You want nitpicks? I do got ’em.

    -I did grow up watching lots of sitcoms in reruns and first runs. I have zero nostalgia or fondness for that format. It’s terrible. The gimmick over the first few episodes wore on me. The slow buildup pace was good, but I’d still have preferred that that had been done in a shorter time.

    -Monica Rambeau was a cool comics character when I was a kid (named Captain Marvel. A Black woman as captain of the Avengers – -wow!). She served basically no purpose here, except to get introduced as a new hero. I think she was a little wasted.

    -Agatha just wanted to grow in power, right? That was her only motive?

  3. I Dream of Lizzie.

    One more thing.

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    -I see people griping that the show was telling us that Wanda is the real victim. This one is complex.
    Driven by grief, she did something unforgivably monstrous to a large number of people. Unintentionally, but she still did it. Maybe the show did imply that all is fine, and she just gets a pass on all of that?
    IDK, really – – I’ll just say that I found the finale’s treatment of her satisfying. She looked pretty scary in the final post-credits scene; I think we’re going to see more of her dark side in the future.
    She can’t be painted with one color. That’s a good thing.

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    I pretty much agree with Jack’s comments. I also feel that Monica (Photon?) was a bit wasted, but was a nice setup. The fake Quick Silver aka Ralph was also wasted. Though a friend pointed out he might be the person in witness protection and guessed he might show up in the next Ant Man. I liked that idea. I’ll disagree with Jack since I think Agatha being power hungry is just fine as a motivation.

    I have some minor nits, but overall it was much better than I expected and I greatly enjoyed it. It adapted a lot of comic material in a new and interesting way which is what I was hoping for. Though I knew the kids were doomed, it still was a moving finale.

    If the coming Marvel TV series are half as good as this, I’ll be happy. The bar has been set pretty high.

    I’m glad Mephisto was not the baddie in the show. I think it will be better if he shows up in the next Dr. Strange film.

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    As stated before I’m happy as hell with the away this series turned out, and like ditto I’m very happy there was no big baddie pulling the strings. I’m also very glad there was no F4 or Xmen or anything giant reveal like that that would have taken away from Wanda and Visions story.

    My one gripe! As much as I ADORE the trolling done by Disney and Paul Bettany done toward fanboys who think they know better, I hated the casting of Evan Peters. Now, MAYBE it will go somewhere, but as of now it a literal dick joke. A disingenuous and ultimately mean spirited stunt cast. In this case, they can’t say “oh see what we did? We pulled the wool over your eyes!”. No, you literally cast an Xman knowing full well what people would think – and then laughed at them for thinking it.

    Agatha was complex in the comics…I think we’ll find she becomes complex in the films too.

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    Can we speak about our thought/theories about the second post credit shot, as Jack earlier alluded to?

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    I disagree with Jack on the sitcom takes. I liked how they satirized all the sitcom era tropes, but spun it in a Twilight Zone sort of way. I had a genuine laugh at Agatha’s “I bit a kid once”. I agree that Monica’s character was underused. I think she was there as a lead in for Captain Marvel 2. The inclusion of Evans Peters was unexpected, so by that standard alone I think it succeeds. I don’t think it is a sure bet that he is just a rando in Westview, but even if he is I liked his chemistry with Elizabeth. I agree with ditto that if the other Marvel shows are half this good, I’ll be extremely happy.

    Lo wanted to discuss the end scene. My take is that Wanda’s use of Chaos magic is attracting the attention of the author of the Darkhold. Agatha warned Wanda she didn’t realize what peril she was putting herself and everyone else in by using her power. Per the comics, this should be elder god “Chthon”, i.e. Marvel’s Cthulhu. Also in the comics, Wanda’s chaos magic was tied to Chthon, via shards of some type of crystal. So my guess is that Wanda will find her children imprisoned by Chthon or some other Marvel dark cosmic entity. It could be the plot of Dr. Strange 2 would be Dr. Strange trying to stop Wanda while she does Chthon’s bidding so she can ultimately free her children. Or not, who knows what Marvel will pull out of their hat?

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      I agree with your disagreement with Jack on the sitcom takes. Sorry Jack. This’ll teach you to have a different opinion!!!!!

      Ok Rhett, I agree with all of what you said. However, we clearly saw TWO Wanda’s in the cabin. So…. is “tea drinking Wanda” the Wanda from t his universe, or one she pulled out of another for some reason. As y ou say it’s clear she’s trying to use the Darkhold to find another version of her kids… so who is THAT Wanda? Is that ‘our’ Wanda? Are they one in the same? Is tea drinking Wanda ‘our’ Wanda and Darkhold Wanda is a part of her she’s projecting? TELL ME! TELL ME SWEET MARVEL!

      • I actually agree a bit with Jack about the sitcoms. It was a bit grating and cutesy, but fortunately didn’t run overlong, imo.

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          How DARE you!!!!!!!!

          I kid.

          To be fair, while a disagree with the grating comment, I agree parts were cutesy and I believe 100% if you were trying to create a world based off what you were comfy with, you’d add a lot of cutesy too. To me, the sitcoms made this show something special

      • I believe the two Wanda’s is just showing that Wanda can astroproject a version of herself to study while she does something else. This is similar to how Doctor Strange would astroproject himself into the library and study while also sleeping. I think this is Marvel’s way of saying Wanda is as (if not more) powerful than Doctor Strange.

          • I say HMMMM!!!!!!!!!

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            IUOKDAS!!!!

            (*E#*#$($#*$(#$*

            This does fit, but why bother projecting in the middle of nowhere? Tho I guess in the MCU, nowhere is really the middle of nowhere. Or Knowhere, Or…

  8. Oh… and can I just say

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    The scene of White Vision walking away from the burning RV in the exact way the T-1000 does made me cry actual tears of nerd joy.

  9. Ima just keep babblin’

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    One thing that did sadden me was that since it’s confirmed the book is the Darkhold, this automatically makes Agents of SHIELD and Runaways no longer canon. I know there’s not many fans of those shows here but I adored both. I’m hopeful that Marvel finds a way to at least make them multiverse canon.

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    Since white Vision has Wanda’s Vision’s memories, will he try to create a relationship with Wanda at some point in the future?

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      Missed the * on my last comment. Whoops! Anyway, White Vision now has access to all his old memories, so I believe that a future reunion is a possibility.

    • Did that happen in the comics as the few comic images I’ve seen show white Vision telling Wanda that although he has the memories he is not her Vision.

      • Bable bable Bable
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        I’m not an avid comic reader to be up on all the backstory. The few Wikipedia entries said something about the White Vision needing new brain powers to be complete. Apparently, the comic Vision got them from Wonder Man. When approached by White Vision, Wonder Man turns him down (from using his brainwaves) because Wonder Man had a thing for Wanda and wanted to pursue her for himself. I doubt that will make its way into the MCU. I also wanted to mention that Chthon being the big bad in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, may be given in the title itself. With Chthon being based on Cthulhu and Cthulhu inspiring madness.

        • I cry Babel! Babel! Look at me now
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          Yeah, I wondered that myself about Chthon. I guess we’ll see who the baddie is. And of course, there’s the hint hint hint that Agatha will be back for that movie.

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    Why 8? I DUNNO!

    So to me this sets up Wanda as the main bad in Doc Strange 2 with, maybe, a little help?

    Yes White Vision in the comics has the memories but no emotion. I def think there will be a reunion, but not an emotional or romantic one. In that sense, Vision is truly dead.

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      Honestly, I think think White Vision will show up in a different MCU movie or show, not Dr. Strange 2. I wonder if it will be in Secret Wars, tbh.

  12. Man, this show really struck a chord, didn’t it?

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    I come to the whole MCU with essentially no background in the comics. Overall, I’ve generally enjoyed the movies, really dug Agents of SHIELD, but never connected with any of the Netflix Marvel shows.

    I was rather skeptical about Wandavision when it was being sold as some kind of alternate reality/alternate history side project. But, I’ve already paid for 3 years of Disney+ and it was new content, so I gave it a shot.

    It has proven to be an amazingly compelling ride and allowed for Marvel to deal with some of the consequences of Endgame in ways that don’t really lend themselves to a movie treatment.

    I read various summaries and predictions after each episode with interest, but without investment or attachment. Is Pietro the X-men universe version crossing over? That’d be cool…or whatever. I was able to just enjoy the ride and experience it as it was presented.

    It was nice to see some of the bit characters from the movies get bigger roles in this…and that’s actually the way I see Monica Rambeau and even Agatha Harkness to a degree. The focus was Wanda and Vision, but it took the opportunity to introduce these other characters that will have much bigger roles later. I see it the way Phil Coulson started in Iron Man, or Black Widow in Iron Man 2.

    As for Wanda and the question of if she’s the hero or villain of the story….seeing this play out reminds most of the character of Kevin from Star Trek:TNG –

    https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Kevin_Uxbridge

    Both in their deeply human reactions to loss and grief, and the unimaginable power they wield in their responses. As Picard declarers to Kevin that they have no law by which to judge him, so I think we’ll find a similar fallout, or lack thereof for Wanda. Even if the rest of the Avengers decided that she needed to be brought to “justice” it seems like it would be a pretty tall order to even pull off.

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      Eloquent Edward Elucidates!

      So, like you I adored Agents of SHIELD. As stated before, the handling of the Darkhold pretty much wipes it and Runaways out of MCU existence. Thoughts?

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        I think with them (very likely) introducing the multiverse, the other shows can still live within the MCU overall.

      • The one thing I do know about comics books – everything/nothing is canon.

        Which death of Superman is canon? Which origin story of Joker is canon?

        How many reboots have Marvel and DC done in their universes? Do those really eliminate what came before or make it impossible for us to enjoy them?

        As much as I thought the tie-in between AOS and Captain America: The Winter Soldier was masterful, AOS really came into its own when …it went it’s own way and didn’t really try to connect to the MCU events anymore.

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    I’m aware of the “House of M” comics storyline, but I haven’t read it (or I started, bailed out, and forgot about it). In it, all of Earth’s heroes start off in some kind of super-altered apocalyptic reality, which it turns out, was caused by Wanda subconsciously using her powers to their full extent. (And I guess Magneto is eventually revealed as pulling the strings. . . ? IDK. Am I describing that correctly).

    I *did* read an incredibly good, incredibly dark Twilight Zone/David Lynch Marvel comics series called “Vision” about Vision trying to blend an android family into actual suburbs – – but Wanda is only mentioned in it; she never shows up. I’d expected this show to use elements from that storyline, but there’s no relation at all.
    This would only be a complaint if the show had failed. We’re good.

    As far as Wanda’s ultimate fate: MCU is trying to get caught up with more female heroes. . . Wanda is one of the highest profile and most popular (especially now), so I can’t imagine they’ll dare turn her villainous or push her beyond redemption. I think they’ll just toy with her dark side.

    • I’d read that in single issues years ago. Just bought the hardcover of The Vision. It’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long long time.

      • Cool, I’ve been thinking about getting House of M, still working my way through Secret Wars as a graphic novel, even though I listened to an audiobook version last month.

  14. Is White Vision in the Secret Wars book? Is that as terrible as everyone says?
    (I loved the original Secret Wars as a kid, but I reread it a few years back, and hoo boy. . . .)

    I was a bit unsure about what became of him after the philosophical debate. I guess he just flew off into the world somewhere. I do assume he’ll eventually just be the Vision character we know and love, and that he and Wanda will live happily ever after.

    That Vision miniseries by Tom King is possibly the best Marvel book I’ve ever read. It’s up there.

    • Yeah, I’m reading Secret Wars because it seems like something I need to do. It’s no Watchmen. I’m not up on the backstory, but the Vision in Secret Wars was regular colored.

    • Unfortunately, Secret Wars is bad. It’s a nice nostalgia trip, but its not good. The Secret Wars massive crossover from 2015 is one of my favorite events ever. But its a LOT.

      I believe White Vision was from West Coast Avengers from the late 80’s. I’ve never read

      • A Wish Called Fonda.

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        It’s the current Secret Wars that I’ve been told is terrible. The negative reviews and the fact that the storyline was spread out across 25 different titles are what kept me away.
        If there’s one omnibus edition, then I might check it out.

  15. I finally finished WandaVision.

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    Favorite line: “And I killed Sparky too”

    I’m in the camp that has no real knowledge of the comics. I understand who Iron Man and the Hulk are, but haven’t read any of them. Characters like The Scarlet Witch and Agnes Harkness are only revealed to me when I see them on the big screen.

    That being said, I think they did a really good job of hand holding people like me. They aren’t ham fisted about it, but they give you all the background you really need to make sense of the story.

    One of my favorite things is (like in real life) people always thinking they are doing the right thing even if they are being evil. So the question of whether Wanda was doing bad or good was fantastic for me. She was both horrible and fine at the same time. And that kind of grey is far more appealing to me than someone purely one way or the other (like Agatha). Although I actually really dug the reveal of Agatha.

    Here’s my “How it should have ended” nitpicky take on things.
    1. She owned the plot of land where she made her house. Why didn’t she just make a small hex around the house itself? She could have had her cake and no one would have even noticed.
    2. When she was collapsing the hex, why couldn’t she just have stopped it at the edge of her property? Same concept at (1).
    3. Why wouldn’t she just run off with colorless vision at the end if her ultimate goal was to have Vision back?

    I’m in agreement that it was a dick bait-and-switch move to introduce the actor that played Quicksilver show up just to be a ruse. Even I was impressed when he showed up and disappointed to find he wasn’t Quicksilver.

    I also agree that having some of Agnes personality showing in Agatha would have been awesome. I think we saw a brief hint when she was making fun of Pietro being so loud.

    If fake TV Vision was working off of the piece of the mind stone that Wanda absorbed, what was colorless Vision running off of. Not sure I like the concept that any computer chip could take the place of an infinity stone.

    I’m with the crowd that liked the setup of making fun of the sitcoms. It didn’t overstay it’s welcome and we got to real plot fast in the right amounts in each episode. I also like that it was related to Wanda’s constant evolution of turning to these sitcoms for comfort all through her life.

    Sometimes my favorite characters are not the most focused upon. Kat Dennings is freaking awesome.

    Who the hell is beckoning Monica into space in the first post credit scene?

    • Wand of Vision
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      Yes, not enough love for Kat Dennings. I never saw her diner sitcom, but she’s been pretty great in everything else. I’m glad she’s (slightly) more than comic relief in WandaVision.

    • “Who the hell is beckoning Monica into space in the first post credit scene?”

      That would be the one and only Nick Fury, my friend!

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