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"WandaVision" stars Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen: screwball with superpowers
Photo: Disney +
Had it not been for some intergalactic villain fiddling with the
Reality Stone
, the fourth phase of the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) would have long been in full swing: With “Black Widow” and “Eternals”, at least two successors to the “Avengers” blockbuster were already last year »Endgame« started in the cinema.
But with the beginning of the global rule of the coronavirus, the era of billions in sales with the superheroes of the US comic empire and its parent company Disney also ended for the time being.
So the new beginning of the Marvel adventure starts a few sizes smaller, in keeping with the pandemic.
Couch compatible if you will.
The hour has come for the TV series conceived for the Disney + streaming service, which, as MCU mastermind Kevin Feige had announced, should deal with supporting characters from the "Avengers" line-up, for whom there is too little space in the ensemble films, but there is also no option for own films.
"WandaVision", the first of these Marvel series, is dedicated to the unlikely love story between the supernaturally gifted "Scarlet Witch" Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and the android "Vision" (Paul Bettany), who is endowed with numerous super abilities.
The couple moved into the classic American suburb of Westview and settled down in their own home as well as in the neighborhood - without anyone being allowed to find out anything about their strengths, of course.
But wait a minute, the Marvel fan might object: Didn't Vision already die in the penultimate "Avengers" movie !?
That's the way it is.
And so you are right in the middle of the fundamental mystery of this very unusual mini-series, which begins with the most beautiful push-cinema look: as a sitcom in the style of 1960s classics such as “The Dick Van Dyke Show” or “Bewitched” (German: “In love in a witch «), complete with applause, in 4: 3 format and in black and white.
The soundtrack of the almost half-hour episodes is appropriately
cheesy
, one of the biggest hits at the time was the Coasters' annoying »Yakety Yak«, which »Vision«, the robot, has to perform in a scene of the first episode.
It's bad.
The playfulness suits the superheroes well
But it's great too.
Because the playfulness suits the superheroes, who are otherwise drilled for pathos and action.
In addition, there is Olsen and Bettany, between whom a lot of professional dynamism and familiarity has evidently developed in the course of their Avengers missions since "Age of Ultron" (2015), plenty of opportunity to show off their comedic talent together.
Of course, the "witch" Wanda does not put her dishes in the hand, but lets them rush through the air into the showcase, sometimes to the head of her husband who is coming home: "Ah, my wife and her flying saucers!" he and she: "Ah, my husband and his indestructible head!"
When the two kiss each other, the studio audience sighs "Awwww!"
Dearest.
But at the latest when Wanda finds a - colorful - toy helicopter in the garden with a symbol that Marvel comic fans should be familiar with, and a radio suddenly emits distorted messages ("Wanda, can you hear me?"), Is clear that the gigantic suburban idyll has its pitfalls.
Why can't the newly in love remember why August 23 has a heart on the wall calendar?
How can it be that the black Geraldine (Teyonah Parris) sits at the cocktail party of a local society lady in a pure white sixties middle class community, who confides in Wanda that she doesn't really know what to do there looking for?
And what does it mean that the third episode already plays with contemporary colors and hairstyles in the 1970s, even though apparently only a few days have passed?
More and more, a disturbing horror ambience is establishing itself in the ostensibly harmless situation comedy, which suggests that the two superheroes themselves could be caught in a kind of lockdown.
"Vision, is this really all happening here?" Wanda asks her mechanical husband once, confused.
Well who knows?
In her extensive comic history, Marvel's “Scarlet Witch” had to do with alternative realities, sometimes with catastrophic consequences.
You yourself want to pinch yourself between feelings of isolation, vaccination chaos and impeachment in order to check whether all of this can really be true.
Therefore »WandaVision«, this unusual, very weird mixture of screwball comedy, mystery horror and conspiracy thriller, is perhaps the series that fits right into this strange time.
And an unexpectedly lucky coincidence for Marvel.
"WandaVision"
, at Disney +
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