The Disney+ television series, WandaVision, has reached its end. The show, I will admit, was slow to start, but picked up steam by Episode 4. After that point, the show kicked on the afterburners, leading us on a twisting journey. Lots of fan-made ideas began floating around the internet, adding more fuel to the firestorm of press around the show. And when it all wrapped up, some were mad, while some were sad. But we all shared one thing in common: We need more WandaVision!
When I first heard of the show’s premise, I was a tad bit skeptical. The show was touted as Wanda and Vision living through different classic television sitcoms. The trailers showed sets devoted to I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show and Malcolm in the Middle. I have to admit, I was saddened to not see an episode set in the beautiful city of Chicago, with Vision playing a former high school football star-turned shoe salesman. Or maybe we needed one in a cartoon town of Springfield, giving Wanda a tall, beehive hairdo while Vision puts on a little weight. We could have gone many places with more time, giving even more praise to the previous classics. The lack of homages to the great sitcoms of the past is but one reason we need more WandaVision.
Wanda Maximoff has been known in the Marvel Comic Universe as the Scarlet Witch for as long as I can remember. To be honest with you, she was never a favorite character of mine. I always looked at her as one of Magneto’s kids. She was just a minor character. Now, I know many are going to point to the “House of M” storyline and how she completely augmented reality to make her perfect world. And I shall also be reminded of how she merely said a word and removed the powers of thousands of mutants. But in the grand scheme of things, what else has she really done? The Marvel Comic Universe continued on. Some things changed, but most things pretty much stayed the same.
Contrast that to the Wanda Maximoff that we are treated to in WandaVision. I felt her pain. Actress Elizabeth Olsen and director Matt Shakman weaved an incredibly moving story of heartache and pain. Honestly, I kinda teared up during the first few episodes, knowing her “dream world” was just an illusion. Those installments to the story were not meant to be heart wrenching (unlike Episode 8, “Previously On”), but they touched something inside me. As I am recently divorced, I find myself dreaming and remembering about the good times I had having a family. The house that was filled with the sounds of a toddler running around and a wife working on something is now silent most of the time. My world was destroyed in the “real world,” but in my dreams, I could have the family I wanted. That I need. It’s only when waking up from this dream that the real nightmare of being alone is there.
Wanda is going through the same in WandaVision. She created the hex world so she could still have her love. She was even able to create children, building the family she wanted after losing her parents and brother. As the series ends, Wanda has to deal with loss, yet again. But we are left with a cliffhanger on how exactly she is going to deal with that pain. While I may have to use anti-depressants and therapy sessions, Scarlet Witch has a book of pure evil called the Darkhold. Wanda will be in several films in the MCU going forward, but I want to focus on her struggles exclusively. We need more WandaVision to see her evolution.
Finally, we have to talk about Agnes. Besides the wonderful performance by Elizabeth Olsen, Kathryn Hahn was utterly fantastic as Agatha Harkness. In the early episodes, she was just the nosey neighbor. Not quite the Ethel to Wanda’s Lucy, but someone Wanda could vent things to. Even in these episodes, there was a feeling around Agatha/Agnes that she knew more than anyone else. This led to the speculation of who exactly she was (before we knew her real name). While the internet speculation was on point with her character, this led to the wild ideas of who else would be revealed in the show.
While the show ultimately did not meet some of the these expectations, it did give us the evil Agatha. Her powers were great, and she was able to outmatch Wanda throughout much of the final battle. When the tides turned, I got anxious. Would Marvel kill off this extremely interesting character? Thankfully, they did not. However, a plot hole emerged in her defeat (Spoiler Alert). Wanda cursed Agatha with always being the “nosey neighbor” character she played during the beginning of the series. But when Wanda destroyed the hex, would it not also free Agatha from the curse? We don’t know. Agatha Harkness needs more screen time, which is yet another reason we need more WandaVision.
I am sure I could sit here for hours writing more reasons why WandaVision was the perfect opening for the new phase of the MCU. I didn’t even get into the new Vision having his hard drive basically decrypted. Nor did we even go into the many other characters that graced us with their presence in the show. We all have our opinions about what was great and confusing about WandaVision. But one thing is sure: We need more WandaVision!