With the Marvel and Disney+ series WandaVision debuting this week, some folks are wondering what exactly is the deal with this strange new dive into the MCU. Starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany as, respectively, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Vision, WandaVision looks to be a unique and meta outing that pays homage to classic sitcoms like I Love Lucy, The Brady Bunch, and much more. But what exactly is the premise of WandaVision?When WandaVision was announced, Marvels Kevin Feige hinted, WandaVision will be unlike anything we’ve done before. Actor Paul Bettany, who plays Vision, doubled down on that promise, telling IGN simply, It’s super avant-garde and weird.Watch our “In a Minute” video explainer about the show below, or read on for more info.
So what do we know about WandaVision so far? And which books from Marvel Comics could play a part in inspiring it? Lets take a look at the intertwined lives of Wanda Maximoff and the Vision to get an idea of where this unique series might take Marvel fans. These are the topics well be covering here:
- What Is WandaVision?
- Vision and Wanda in the Comics
- Tom Kings The Vision
- What Does It All Mean for WandaVision?
What Is WandaVision?
WandaVision is a TV series that’s kicking off Marvels Phase 4. Both Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen will be reprising their roles as the Vision and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch respectively, along with a few other characters that will be making both returns and first appearances. Kat Dennings is back as Darcy Lewis (Thor) along with Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo (Ant-Man and the Wasp), and Teyonah Parris is making her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the adult Monica Rambeau.The first image that was released for the series seemed to sum up the basic storyline. Andy Parks art is a sunny sitcom snapshot on the surface, but the poster hides hints of foreboding the closer you look. The shadows cast on the wall from the eerie red glow emanating from the television clearly show the outlines of the Vision and Scarlet Witch in their full Avengers costumes, hinting that not everything is as it seems. With Visions fate seemingly sealed in Avengers: Infinity War, its safe to assume that this picturesque suburban home is hiding something far more ominous.
In the comics, both Wanda Maximoff and the Vision have created the normal lives theyve dreamed of having, but at dire costs.
Its safe to assume that this picturesque suburban home is hiding something far more ominous.
Vision and Wanda in the Comics
Wanda and Vision began their relationship in the 1970s in the pages of Avengers. The two fell in love and were married in 1975s Giant-Size Avengers #4. A mutant witch and an android, the pair were an unlikely but happy couple who would go on to star in their own miniseries, Vision and The Scarlet Witch (1982), and continued their adventures together as part of the West Coast Avengers. They would also become parents to twin boys, William and Thomas, until everything unraveled in John Byrnes 1989 storyline Vision Quest.The Vision was dismantled and destroyed by an international network of spies and scientists who deemed him a threat to the entire world. His memories and personality were obliterated as well, and although Hank Pym reassembled him, this white-hued Vision was a new entity that had no emotional attachment to his wife or children.
As Wanda grieved and her world crumbled, she learned that their children werent real themselves, but instead were created by her powers combined with pieces of the demon Mephistos soul. [The children] are manifestations of Wandas will, revealed Agatha Harkness in Avengers West Coast #52. Harkness removed the memories of her children from Wandas mind to defeat a demon and spare her from more sorrow. Wanda and Vision moved apart both physically and emotionally as time went on, but the shock of what she lost would later catch up with the Scarlet Witch in the House of M storyline. (But thats a tale for another time.)
WandaVision Cheat Sheet
First Appearances:Wanda Maximoff – The X-Men #4 (1964); The Vision – The Avengers #57 (1968)Creators:Wanda Maximoff – Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; The Vision – Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, and John BuscemaRecommended Reading:Avengers West Coast: Vision Quest, The Vision Vol. 2 (Tom King)
Tom Kings The Vision
Wanda wasnt the only one of the two who dreamed of a normal life. The Vision would go on to recover his original appearance and his emotions and memories. In the award-winning 2016 limited series The Vision by Tom King, the androids increasingly desperate attempt to make and maintain a perfect family would also end in tragedy.As the White House liaison for the Avengers, Vision decided to move to the suburbs in Washington, D.C. with his new family: his wife Virginia, his daughter Viv, and his son Vin. Vision created his android family himself in an attempt to become more human, using the brain patterns of himself and Virginia to design their children. The family attempted to fit into a normal suburban life, meeting the neighbors and going to a public high school, but it was quickly apparent that the Visions were anything but normal.
When their daughter was viciously attacked in their home, Virginia killed the villain in self-defense, but hid the body from her husband in fear that he would be angry with their perfect life being upended. Virginias mind and their life as a family began to come apart. Ultimately more people would die, and so would Virginia and Vin, and Visions dreams of a normal, happy human existence would be forever shattered. In the award-winning limited series The Vision, the androids increasingly desperate attempt to make and maintain a perfect family would end in tragedy.
What Does It All Mean for WandaVision?
Wanda and Visions longing for a normal, happy life might never be realized, even in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Their brief happiness together was cut short by the arrival of Thanos children in Avengers: Infinity War, and like her comic counterpart, Wanda might be willing to do anything to capture that domestic bliss once again.The sitcom setting for WandaVision evokes the dread found on almost every page of The Vision miniseries as the reader waits for the seemingly ideal veneer of suburban life to shatter. Will the pair have children, and will she lose them as she did before? (We do see twins in the trailer…) Whether it all takes place in Wandas mind to bring the Vision back from the dead, or the cinematic incarnation of the Scarlet Witch finds a way to alter reality, we suspect it wont end happily. With Wandas involvement in the Doctor Strange sequel, Multiverse of Madness, the Scarlet Witch might even end up as broken as she was for a time in the comic books by the time the series comes to a close.No matter what the future holds for both Wanda and the Vision, were prepared for something weird but hopefully wonderful in WandaVision.
Kelly Knox is a freelance writer who also contributes to StarWars.com, DCComics.com, Nerdist, and more. Follow her on Twitter at @kelly_knox to talk Star Wars, Dungeons & Dragons, and comics.