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Wai Ting &WH Park are joined by John Siino to review WandaVisionEpisode 5 as Wanda’s take on the 1980s leads to a real-world confrontation with S.W.O.R.D. and the arrival of a familiar face that carries uncanny consequences for the MCU.
We discuss the ramifications of the show-closing reveal on the future of the MCU, the complicated legal battle for the characters that led us to this point, major developments for Monica Rambeau’s character and her relationship with Captain Marvel, the spectacular performances of Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany in this episode, as well as its homages to 80s sitcoms such as Growing Pains, Full House & Family Ties.
I must say that the podcast pretty much sums up why I don’t like the show.
Everything is now about the next big thing and fantasy booking your comic book show. I had enjoyed the first 3 episodes actually, looking forward to a in itself closed show. With all the references to the real world going on starting from episode 4 … it’s more like a setup to other things, which I think makes the show a horrible “stand-alone” watch. Therefore I’m not to unhappy about my Disney+ sub expiring on Thursday and no longer following the show O:-)
Connectivity to the established universe is arguably the MCU’s greatest appeal. It’s a concept that’s standard for comics but far more novel and impressive to see in live action film/TV.
Like comics, any MCU franchise going forward will have the challenge of balancing reverence for the hardcore audience it has acquired while being accessible enough for casual or new viewers.
Prior Marvel TV series had a reputation of not being relevant enough to the greater narrative of the films. Lack of long-term storytelling or respect for history is something we often complain about in wrestling.
This show probably demands a bigger understanding of the MCU than Ant-Man or other Phase 1 films, but at this point, after Endgame, I think a deeper and more connected story is what most of its audience demands.
I understand that and I actually appreciate it. After watching 5 episodes however, this feels like a show that is just a vehicle for something else. It started with an interesting premise - and I actually enjoyed episodes 1-3 even though I have zero connection to those old American sitcoms and even for the 80s shows: I haven’t seen a single episode of family ties or whatever other shows this was drawing inspiration from - just for what it was.
I assumed that this would be show that also enables the “casuals” to watch and enjoy and being able to stand on it’s own as it’s own mini series (I would assume that this is a one season and done thing). Sure it can and maybe should influence the overarching MCU - but if the goal of the show is just to sell me the next movie … that’s not doing it for me.
But hey since it’s pretty niche and not really marketed (at least here in DE) … maybe it’s just that kind of a show that pays tribute to comic book lovers and is just not there to explain the inner workings and how everything fit together in this universe to somebody who didn’t read the comics
It serves to set up future projects, but I think it’s unfair to say it’s its only purpose. There’s a ton of drama in Wanda’s own character development that greatly makes up for her lack of screen time in previous films. The greater narrative may continue in future projects, but I think you’ll see character arcs by the series’ end.
It’s also very rewarding if you have watched all the previous MCU productions (and if you know the upcoming productions) to spot those references. This was never going to be a stand alone.
So I’m curious…everything I heard going into this show, was pretty much telling you that this show was going to heavily set up for more(the next Doctor Strange in particular.) Why in the world did you enter this, believing it would be anything else?
These are the kind of shows they should be doing, with characters like these, that havent gotten as much screen time.
The only reason I heard of this was Rewand-A-Vision and after the first episode it sounded interesting enough and I still had Disney+ and in general I do like movies/series with a comic book background
EDIT: At that time I didn’t know exactly what this show would entail. You can also create background information/trivia for those characters without just setting up the next movie. So I thought we might go more into the direction of getting to know the story behind Wanda and Vision, why are they together or something like that
As a man who has never watched any of these Marvel movies before…the first two episodes were so hard to comprehend that I almost stopped watching. The 4th was amazing as it unlocked all the questions I needed to know and made it easy to watch this 5th. I equate this to when the WWE acts like we’re all oblivious to how the Royal Rumble works. To me, having watched 20+ of them, it should be obvious…but if I was just tuning in I’d wonder how someone can just roll under the ropes, run around like the floor isn’t made of lava, and then roll back in when they pleased.
Listening to the comments was disheartening a bit as there’s this fantasy to make the show as cryptic as possible to appease the hardcore audience, but it would only shut me out. Thank you Wai and WH for explaining this stuff for me, the person in the back of the class, who wants to learn but at their own pace vs being told to just watching A - Z and then come back when I’m finished (as what happened a few years ago in my life when these movies started to become popular…I was told by many to first tart with Jessica Jones and then someone named the Punisher and then…)
