The last thing I was expecting on Monday was to be emotionally moved by the WandaVision trailer unveiled for Disney Plus. The Vision and Scarlet Witch Romance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has never really been something I’ve spent brainpower thinking on but, after this trailer, it became pretty clear that this will be one of the most interesting pieces of content that Disney will be debuting on their streaming service this fall, and that’s alongside The Mandalorian season two!
The trailer begins with Scarlet Witch and Vision living an idyllic ‘50s nuclear family life, even though (Spoilers for Infinity War, although the trailer already says it) we know Vision is dead after Phase Three. We cut to images of this seemingly perfect household cracking at the foundation as it seems that our characters are hopping between reality and fantasy. What has been marketed so far as a story inside scarlet witch’s head (a fascinating premise for a show)- clearly has Disney Marvel taking an unbeaten path in their universe. This looks more akin to a Doctor Strange film set in the world of sitcoms than an Avengers film and I like they are getting a little weirder with their B-level content. This looks like a meditation on grief, and the way we as humans sometimes cope with the brutal realities of death, that just so happens to feature some superheroes with magical superpowers. It’s fun when genre is used to explore some deeper emotional themes.
I am sometimes a Marvel fan, which means I’m not going to give them the benefit of the doubt for everything they do. What interests me so much here is that this looks like a tv show about delusion. Delusion in the Christian worldview is not something to be celebrated and it looks like this show is all about the dangers of delusion and what happens when we remove ourself from God’s reality and place ourself in our own reality (specifically by Scarlet Witch fabricating this idyllic life with her dead lover in her own mind). To see someone struggle with the loss of a loved one is such a human experience and I think that’s why this emotional merchant of a trailer moved me. The first look at WandaVision demonstrated for me that Marvel has covertly built strong connections to even their B-level characters, connections that I didn’t believe existed.
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Description: Blending the style of a classic sitcom with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wanda Maximoff and Vision – two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lies – begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.
Creator: Jacqueline Schaeffer
Starring: Elizabeth Olson, Paul Bettany, Kat Dennings, Teyonah Parris, Randall Park, and Kathryn Hahn
Rating: Not Yet Rated
Release Date: December 2020
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Carter Bennett is a Contributor and Cohost at Cinematic Doctrine. He’s a ravenous cinephile who loves looking at the film industry through the lens of a Christian worldview. He never went to film school, but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming a certified Film Junkie! His ultimate desire is to faithfully give an account of his savior Jesus Christ through the world of filmmaking!
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