As the great philosopher, Lennon once said, “All you need is love.” That seems doubly true if you’re a traumatized witch … or an android elevated to sentience by the Mind Stone.
It’s January 2021, and we’re all gearing up for a new injection of stories told in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after an unprecedented drought. That’s right — for the first time since the ambitious project’s beginning, the Earth has completed a full lap around the Sun without the debut of a single new MCU film or series.
On January 15, however, WandaVision is slated to break that trend, offering the fandom a long-teased window into the domestic life of a witch and an android who love each other.
Yet the most intimate look at the relationship between Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) may reveal even more than fans are anticipating.
According to writer Jac Schaeffer, WandaVision is “a lot of cute, cute … until it’s not.”
WandaVision occupies its own tonal space in the MCU
As you can probably imagine even if you haven’t been following their love story closely, Wanda and Vision aren’t the most likely couple. To call the two star-crossed is probably underselling all the hurdles standing between them and happily ever after.
Although we haven’t seen much romance between the two yet in the movies, their comic book versions certainly do make it work, famously marrying in 1974’s Giant-Size Avengers issue #4.
“Wanda and Vision are, as a couple, a fan favorite,” Schaeffer pointed out during the virtual press event. “Their love story has been so very tragic, but really warm and intimate.” That much seems to track with what we know of the pair from the comics. In the ’80s, the two co-headlined a limited series in which Wanda gives birth to twins. Vision acts as the twins’ father, though they were actually conceived by magic — biologically speaking.
“With WandaVision … we are opening up the stage and space for them and they are in this domestic sphere,” Schaeffer said. “We get to see them doing dishes in the kitchen … all this homebody stuff you would never see a superhero participate in.”
It certainly appears as if the series’ uncanny tone and Twilight Zone style will represent a departure from the multiverse-spanning high action of The Infinity Saga, which concluded in 2019 with Avengers: Endgame. That said, Schaeffer‘s ominous statement that Wanda and Vision‘s sitcom love story would be “cute until it’s not” certainly suggests some darker undercurrents.
Fans have been speculating since the debut of the first trailer that WandaVision may explore elements of the famous House of M storyline from classic Marvel comics. To avoid any potential spoilers, let’s just say that the idyllic family life on display in House of M ultimately proves a domestic Potemkin village of sorts, with some pretty tragic turns hiding behind the narrative iron curtain.
See the next chapter of this epic love story when WandaVision launches Phase 4 of the MCU on January 15 on Disney+.
