'WandaVision's first two episodes are a wild, daring love letter to classic sitcoms.

Personally, I’ve never been much of a Marvel fan. I tried to jam the Avengers movies down my throat, I sat in front of the battle scenes and ‘iconic’ moments, but something never quite clicked. I couldn’t connect with the characters, only ever finding myself caring about Peter Parker (and even at that, I’m still a Toby Maguire girl at heart).

 

Like it or not, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown exponentially in recent years, and WandaVision is the first instalment to take the form of a TV series. The first two episodes became available to stream on Disney Plus yesterday. Starring Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany as Vision, we see these two characters arrive in a seemingly picture-perfect, idyllic neighbourhood in the form of a 1950s sitcom.

The best thing about WandaVision is that you have no idea what’s really going on. As someone who isn’t too familiar with these characters or their background, that suits me perfectly – because I already have no idea what’s going on. The show can be taken as is, and it almost reminded me of The Twilight Zone or BBC’s Life on Mars. We don’t know how these characters have come to be in this situation, or what’s real; there’s a sinister undertone to everything, from the nosy neighbour played by the impeccable Kathryn Hahn, to the slick advertisements that we are shown in the ‘ad breaks’ at the episodes’ midpoints.

The show’s design screams retro, and by episode two we have moved forward in time to reflect a more 1960s aesthetic, without any acknowledgement from the characters that anything has changed. This eerie, dreamlike atmosphere intensifies as we see increasing moments where the spell is broken, through dashes of colour intruding into the black-and-white world, or when Wanda appears to ‘wake up’ and hears a far-off voice calling to her.

 

The episodes are also littered with an array of Easter eggs and Marvel references, which I’m sure will get fans varying from casual to die-hard jumping out of their seats. But as a stand-alone piece of entertainment, these first two episodes are vibrant, daring, and absolutely bonkers. I cannot wait for more.