Finally, WandaVision, the first ever series or story from Phase 4 of MCU, ended after some incredible 9 episodes. And just like a usual Marvel Flick, it set up future movies. The stories of Monica and Wanda herself would be continued further in MCU. But many people are rather disappointed from the show. They were disappointed at first few episodes but then they started to enjoy the show, but now after the Finale, they are again disappointed. It’s like a wave of disappointment. But the question is, is it really that disappointing? Could this show have been a little better? Was this show really needed in the first place? Let’s try to find out.
But if you’re in a hurry, then here’s my final answer – No, the show was not at all disappointing. I personally really enjoyed it. Marvel tried something new and unique and that’s exactly what it should be doing. If you want to find out, why? Then read on further.
But again, obviously there are going to be some huge spoilers for the show below. So, if you haven’t yet watched WandaVision, then please just stop reading. I don’t want to be the one ruining your experience. Also, this article is a little long, so have some patience, sip some coffee and read on.
WandaVision for me was not just a show, it was sort of an experience. It’s the first show for which I followed the weekly schedule. I just couldn’t help myself to wait for the series to end so that I can watch all episodes at once and I’m glad I followed the weekly episodes.
For other shows like The Boys Season 2, B99 Season 7, Barry Season 2 or even Defending Jacob, I just waited for these shows to end and then I watched all episodes at once but for WandaVision I just couldn’t do the same. The concept itself was so fascinating and I knew since this is a stuff from Marvel, there are going to be theories and predictions regarding this show and that made me a little excited as it’s always so fun to read theories and stuffs. But in this case, this particular thing made my experience more interesting as well as a little worse. I will talk about this later in the article. But first let's understand what WandaVision was all about?
What WandaVision was all about?
WandaVision was all about Wanda and her grief. The show follows some strong themes like grief after death of loved ones, coping up with that grief and importance of family. Wanda lost everything, in her childhood she lost her parents, then in the Age of Ultron she lost her brother Pietro and finally in the Infinity War she lost the love of her life Vision, whom she herself had to kill and then watch Thanos kill him again. How can someone live with this much trauma?
Look, Wanda is really a big thing in comics. Comics such as House of M and Avengers: Disassembled have shown Wanda as one of the most powerful superheroes in the Marvel Comics. So, after Age of Ultron, many avid Marvel Comic fans felt that the character of Wanda Maximoff was not developed or utilized in a proper way. Wanda needed her own thing, her own story in the MCU and Kevin Feige realized that, the result of which, is this show WandaVision.
The fact that the entire episode 8 purely focused on Wanda's past proves my point. This is Wanda's story and if there was indeed a cameo of Magneto or if the big bad was Mephisto all along, then the central focus on Wanda would have shifted.
But Why are People disappointed with WandaVision?
This show is the best case about the over expectations of people. People want to see what they have expected from this show in the first place. From the very first episode, and god knows why, they’ve expected some heavy MCU action. They were like “I thought there would be some bits and pieces of Sitcom in WandaVision, I didn’t expect the whole show to be like a sitcom. And what’s all this black and white?” A real facepalm moment, for sure.
This show wants your patience. Every episode instead of giving answers, left even more questions. And some people just lost their patience and became frustrated because of this sole reason. Not only viewers, but also some big websites lost their patience and wanted answers as soon as possible (you know, if you know).
And at last, all those theories, predictions, anticipation and leaks created a new path that led to people’s disappointment. Ooh, those theories and leaks, those damn theories and leaks. There were so many theories like:
Mephisto or Nightmare is the main big bad behind all of this
Evan Peters’ Quicksilver is from the Fox’s X-Men Universe
The cameo Paul Bettany was teasing would be Patrick Stewart’s Professor-X or Magneto or Doctor Strange or even Al Pacino, I can just keep going.
Charles Murphy’s claim that the Mutant word will be uttered in the show.
In last episode Wanda will create alternate realities opening the door to Multiverse and that will lead to Doctor Strange's cameo.
But none of this came close to being true. And that’s what bothered people. Our expectations were so high after reading all these theories that when the final episode was presented to us, we felt let down. Now tell me, whose mistake was that?
But is making these theories bad? Should we just stop making these theories and predictions?
No, I didn’t say that, and I’ll never say that. I just love reading these theories. It’s an integral part of any show or movie, especially stuffs from MCU. This helps us to keep that spark going on. I am also not saying that all the theories and speculations were wrong. Some were indeed right, like:
From the very start, we guessed that Kathryn Hahn’s Agnes is none other than Agatha Harkness and yes, it came true in the Episode 7.
At the end of episode 7, in Agatha’s basement there was a mystical book. People were speculating the book to be “Darkhold”, and yes it was confirmed in the finale.
When we first heard about Monica Rambeau, we knew that she is going to get her powers in this show. She will become Photon (or Spectrum) eventually. And she indeed got her superpower in Episode 7.
But the problem is that some theorist or leakers were so sure of their theories that people blindly believed them and set some high expectations and when these theories or expectations didn’t come true, they were left disappointed. High expectations always disappoint, both in life as well as in entertainment and people need to understand this.
Marvel was making a rather simple show with WandaVision. No complicated plot, no unnecessary characters and subplots, just a show about Wanda and her coping of grief. Even if the Multiverse will be the main theme of Phase 4, Marvel would not introduce it from the very first show of Phase 4, it will build up to it just like it built up to the introduction of Thanos or infinity stones. Infinity stones were first mentioned in Thor: The Dark World. So, just keep a little patience, Marvel will introduce the Multiverse and the big bad of Phase 4, but it will take time.
My thoughts on WandaVision Episode 9 - The Series Finale
Now, let’s talk about the Finale because it’s the one which disappointed people. Honestly, for me the Finale was quite good. Mind you, I said 'QUITE' Good, I have my own problems with the Finale, which I’ll talk about a little later.
The finale did a fantastic job in winding up Wanda’s sitcom reality story but still setting up her future in movies. Wanda’s sitcom reality came to an emotional end in this finale. It absolutely broke me when Wanda tucked the twins in their bed and said this line “Thanks for choosing me, to be your mom”. And the way Lizzie (yes, I am going to start referring Elizabeth Olsen as Lizzie from now onwards, because her performance just stole my heart) delivered this line, it can bring tears even to the hardest of hearts.
The finale also connected some loose ends. What I liked the most about the finale is the difference between the fight sequences. The fight between Wanda and Agatha was so contradictory and different with that of between Sitcom Reality’s Vision and White Vision. On one hand where Wanda and Agatha went full rogue in their fight with whole lots of special effects and CGI used, the two Visions on the other hand started their fights just like typical superheroes but ended it with sharing philosophy, in this case “Ship of Theseus”. Isn’t that just wonderful? Two androids ending a fight with philosophy while two grown women fighting till they are out of breath. But yes, that was necessary so, no complaints.
The scene with Wanda finally becoming Scarlet Witch was so pleasing and Lizzie looked so good in that costume. The finale had its own high and low moments. And I had some problems with it. No they are not related to theories and all, these are some flaws I noticed in finale.
Firstly, Dude! Darcy. I (and you too) started to love the character so much but Marvel showed her just for 10 seconds in the finale. She was even absent from episode 8. 2 weeks without Darcy! I know, that hurts. But jokes aside, they could have given her a little more screen time.
I was so disappointed with Evan Peters’ character. Marvel really pulled a fast one with him. They knew exactly what they were doing, playing with our emotions or why would they introduce Evan Peters as Pietro at the end of episode 5 and making it a major cliff-hanger. Why would you raise hopes of so many people and just backstab them at finale? They could have utilized the character so much better.
And what’s with Hayward again? I know he wanted the hex Vision, but why? Why did he want to enter hex so badly? You are showing him so evil and wicked in past episodes and instead of showing something about the character in Finale, you just get him hit by a vehicle and arrested. What was his motive, dammit? If any of you know, please tell me in the comments.
I have so much more to say about finale, but then this article would become very long. This topic requires another article.
My Final Thoughts on WandaVision - Conclusion
So, WandaVision is not at all disappointing as people are claiming it be. There are certain aspects of finale that were a little bit of let down but watching this show as a whole season, it is really something incredible. A rather unique piece from Marvel.
I enjoyed WandaVision to the core. Every week after finishing each episode, I would read breakdowns then head up to r/marvelstudiosspoiler or r/wandavision to read up theories and stuffs. But I did not let these theories get over my head. I also, like others, wanted to see Mephisto, Doctor Strange and Evan Peter's Pietro as X-Men's Quicksilver but still I drew a fine line between these and did not let them take over my fun. And that's why I was able to enjoy this show so much.
Marvel has become a big company in these past years producing back to back blockbuster and literally kudos to Marvel Studios for giving us fans something so unique and so special, something this close and emotional, a show which leaves a warm feeling in the heart.
Marvel just like any other company could be just making those action-packed movies and make huge money from it, but it rather chose to diversify its portfolio with some unique and refreshing content. And that's what I love the most about filmmaking. Filmmakers doing what they want to do.
If you've managed to read till here, then thank you so much for giving me your time. And let me know what do you think about WandaVision as a show?