Series Review: "WandaVision" (2021).

"Marvel Studios presents a visionary new age of television" with WandaVision. This television miniseries created by Jac Schaeffer, based on the Marvel Comics characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision, and produced by Marvel Studios. Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it shares continuity with the films of the franchise and takes place after the events of the film Avengers: Endgame (2019). Wanda Maximoff and Vison - two super-powered beings living idealised suburban lives - begin to suspect that everything is not at it seems.

By September 2018, Marvel Studios was developing several limited series for its parent company Disney's streaming service, Disney+, to be centered on supporting characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films. Actors who portrayed the characters in the films were expected to reprise their roles for the limited series. The series for Disney+ were expected to be six to eight episodes each, and be produced by Marvel Studios rather than Marvel Television, which produced previous MCU television series. By the end of October, Paul Bettany's Vision was expected to play a significant role in the series, which would focus on the relationship between Maximoff and Vision. In January 2019, Schaeffer was hired as the head writer of the series. In April, Disney and Marvel officially announced the series as WandaVision. In August, Matt Shakman was hired to direct and serve as an executive producer. Feige said the series would tell the story of Maximoff and Vision, show Maximoff's full abilities, explore who Vision is, and introduce Maximoff's comic book name Scarlet Witch to the MCU in ways that are fun, funny, and "somewhat scary". The series would consist of nine episodes, varying from a half-hour comedy series format to fifty minutes long, totaling approximately six hours of content. During development, the budget was reported to be as much as $25 million per episode. Shakman and Schaeffer said the series was a "love letter to the golden age of television", though it pays tribute to sitcoms from many eras of American television. By early November, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Randall Park and Kat Dennings, reprised their roles, with Debra Jo Rupp, Fred Melamed, Kathryn Hahn, Teyonah Parris and Evan Peters rounding out the cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in mid November 2020 under the working title Big Red. Filming took place throughout Los Angeles, California and Atalanta, Georgia, USA. In mid March, production was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed in September 2020. The series was shot with the Arri Alexa 4K HDR cameras and forty-seven different camera lenses for the seven time periods.

The series stars Olsen, Bettany, Park and Dennings, reprising their roles, with Rupp, Melamed, Hahn, Parris and Peters as newcomers. Olsen and Bettany, as well as the rest of the cast, are great actors who are now given the chance to really shine.

This series does a fantastic job of connecting the MCU to an intriguing new plot line designed especially for television.

Simon says WandaVision receives:

Also, see my review for Avengers: Endgame and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.