WandaVision: Vision turned into mission

Julie
Jul 25, 2021
5 min read

“The visionary lies to himself, the liar only to others.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

As someone during whose childhood Marvel Cinematic Universe was at rise, I can never say that I did not enjoy the movies they made. They were distractions from real life, they gave you the sensation that you could do anything with good jokes and a few magical jumps and punches here and there, they made you forget about the reality the moment you watched them. Yet I never felt connected to any of the movies MCU has produced. I do not know whether it is the same music ringing in my ears all the time, or the obvious endings, or the complicated concepts being told in such simple manners that it makes me sick.

WandaVision, however, did not initiate with the methodology Marvel has set for itself. It was visionary. It was like listening to that song your Spotify shuffle constantly skips in between repeated songs.

It is highly recommended to watch it before taking a look at this piece of writing but I will give a short summary: In the series, Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet Witch creates her own little universe in which she seeks to find the peace she has always wanted to have. But things do not turn out the way she desperately hopes for(such a Netflix way to end a summary, sorry)

Link: Formed

I finished WandaVision in approximately 3 days, maybe less. I totally binged on it, it was striking. The main element that connected me to the show was that it did not involve anything unknown but it just filled the gaps we never realized during the previous movies in a quite unique way. Just like the song in your Spotify playlist which you see all the time but never get a listen to and eventually forget; Marvel was playing the same melodies to us(Literally, why add that Avengers theme music to Black Widow trailer?!). This time, they played the song they have always missed out and showed us that it was great.

I was suddenly linked to the series because it was deeply psychological too. I think that Elizabeth Olsen deserves a big applause for this because as she was smiling throughout those smiley moments in classic sitcom episodes with the pain in her eyes, it was brutally buried and waiting to be discovered.

Not only a superwoman but also a visionary mother

Speaking of Elizabeth Olsen... As Wanda suffered deeply inside trying to hold everything glued together, she was getting stronger. It is quite contradictory I know but she was actually gaining more resilience and power from her little universe. I want to interpret this as a way of how women gain power or discover the power within. Talking as a female, I can say that Wanda is a hella strong lady. It was the right step for Marvel to finally reflect a woman with integrity of her past, her present and dreams rather than just giving a glimpse of how strong and equally beautiful she is.

One of the most important things in the series is quite underrated to me which is being a mother. When Wanda became a mother and literally created her kids; her whole ambiance changed. And after learning that she built the whole WandaVision sitcom universe out of pure misery and pain without control, it was even more interesting to watch how she held on to this place with whole hands. Marvel did a good and subtle job here creating the image of a mother trying to protect her family no matter how real or unreal they are. They showed us that Wanda was not selfish but actually protective. She only lied to herself. She was not a trickster or a liar or a villain; she was in a desperate situation so as a necessity of the strength of her power, this was the way she stabilized herself. The people under her power, suffering, should not be under her responsibility since she did not have full awareness of her power within. Agatha, shame on you for that. This is a deep ethical issue so I am leaving it to you judgment here.

Link: Broken

Some may say the jokes in sitcom episodes were weak, some may not have liked the editing but what I hated the most was the way S.W.O.R.D agents came into the equation. The mysterious elements, the unexplained but logical references, Vision's slowly increasing awareness of the situation were perfect in the first few episodes. However, when Marvel abruptly disturbed the flow of the series with weakly developed characters, the bond I have formed with the series weakened. Were they supposed to link it to the real universe at a point? Yes, obviously. This could have been done in a more complex way, though. I am not the producer or the writer here. However, I can confidently say that a visionary work of art with a high potential lost all it got to friction and the final product was just a mission complete sign blinking on the screens for me.

And they lived ... ever after

The last but definitely not the least, sitcom references. Marvel decided to spice up the song a little with a mix with the idea of a sitcom universe. Honestly my favorite thing about sitcom episodes were not the jokes or neighbors but Vision. How humane an android could be in Wanda's mind, it was fascinating. Paul Bettany, thanks a lot for making me love Vision again. Such a subtle character. One complaint about Vision, the last episode; white Vision. Despite the philosophical scene between two Visions, I strongly believe that this deserved its own unique setting; it should not have happened in the middle of a war between two bad-ass witches and SWORD staff. Back to sitcoms, they were quite psychological. They reflected how a person in misery wants to hold onto the most ideal version of inner world s/he desperately longs for. Wanda was the metaphor for all the people living through this and sitcoms were her escapades. She was the visionary here, like I have already mentioned; not the liar.

ree — Me when I watched the episode with S.W.O.R.D agents

I won't be commenting on the post credits or possibilities the near MCU future holds because I will not do what Marvel does all the time; turning mystery into misery of mind.

Here is the plain but honest review I have poured into the keyboard with the left out memories and reality pieces of the show. (The ending tho...)

RECOMMENDED: Watch the video below to find out where all the sitcom references were from, it is pretty cool.