Some recent metas have shown a major bias that misinterpret Wanda completely. Wanda clearly wants marriage and children. She was in a relationship with an artificial intelligence who is now dead. By the relationship’s very nature (which is referenced in the nosy comments of being asked why they don’t have children yet), they are biologically incompatible. He’s not human. Do you understand why this desperation to follow the housewife emancipation narrative thus doesn’t make sense?

The show isn’t making fun of housewives who want marriage, children and a normal life or telling them to give up wanting those things because academia has decided for women that a traditional family life with a nurturer and a provider is unfulfilling. It’s also not making fun of historical time periods and their mindsets in a postmodern way (not the same criticism that Pleasantville made), but actually is looking back on those sitcoms and their tropes with a lot of love. The show creators actually had a sit-down with Dick van Dyke because they have affection for these shows and it showed in how accurate they got everything. At no point do they make fun of the eras or sitcoms of old, but rather reserve most of their poking fun (lovingly) at the characters themselves instead. Elizabeth Olsen herself is a sibling of sitcom royalty (the Olsen twins of Full House fame). Wanda herself has a lot of affection for those escapist shows that got her through hard times and she yearns for having a lot of the things depicted in them. Criticism of past media for not being currently relevant enough (this idea that the ‘50s sitcom world or even music of the era is creepy all on its own even before it unravels–sorry, but a lot of people still respect I Love Lucy, et al.) or of women who might actually yearn to imagine themselves into such a “normal” or “traditional” life with things they’ve always desired (yet are explicitly denied to them) or one free of tragic endings (yet at the same time acknowledging that we do suffer loss we have to accept) was completely the opposite of WandaVision’s message.

Wanda has been denied every single one of those things for her entire life and she’s in mourning for the life she thinks she’ll now never have because everyone she’s ever loved is now dead. She desperately wants to have children, a husband and family, to the point where she still hasn’t given up on creating them for real. And do note that she has to create them magically, whether Vision comes back or not.

Before she even lost either of these Visions or her imaginary children, she had already lost her own parents, home and twin brother. She’s been a young woman without family for years and Vision was the one being she had left (she didn’t have many Avengers she was close to and one she spent her entire life blaming for killing her parents), as unusual a couple as they were, until he was taken from her, too.

Hayward pushes her buttons constantly by using language that dehumanizes Vision (phrases like “back online”, rather than “back to life”) as he’s being stripped for parts while she’s using language describing a loved one she wants to give a human burial to. She has been judged for her choice in partner, just as the act of White Vision being stripped of Vision’s memories that were wrapped up in falling in love instead of strict programming without distraction (Vision injured War Machine in an act of friendly fire because he was distracted by Wanda) is deemed by Hayward to be an improvement. He sees Vision as nothing more than a very expensive weapon to be used. He even puts a price tag on him. The relationship between Wanda and Vision with Vision being capable of having feelings or sentience at all is thus treated as a programming mistake.

The denial of Vision’s personhood also mirrors Wanda’s own for years. Hydra and Ultron used her as a weapon, then the Avengers used her as a weapon until they spent more time treating her as a live nuke that needed to be guarded and imprisoned. It’s not much different than Wanda being told that Vision doesn’t even belong to her and even his own desires are irrelevant (he thus doesn’t even own himself); he’s mere property of an organization.

The last thing Vision wanted to be was a weapon and it shows in how he doesn’t defeat White Vision with a battle, but rather an existential philosophical debate.

Consider this when you realize that Vision was ready to flee the Avengers completely with Wanda to go live in a suburban lot in New Jersey when they were pulled into the mess with Thanos. Their attachment was to each other during those stolen moments for two years, rather than to some greater duty. It was Vision who bought that empty lot and was talking about the two of them running away from everything and pretending to be a normal couple. It’s the life that Vision was talking about in Infinity War that was taken from Wanda because he was attacked right after that scene and later died in that movie.

Interesting thing to note about Infinity War is that Vision was using a human form at the beginning of the film even when there was nobody around (even alone in their hotel room and even when the Mind Stone is bothering him–he doesn’t change form when she’s connecting with the stone in his forehead either). Throughout WandaVision, Wanda is constantly asking Vision to remain in his true form with her, such as when meeting his children for the first time. It actually contradicts the real Vision that we saw at the start of Infinity War who seemed to be wanting to be seen as a man instead, even in only Wanda’s presence alone.

As someone who had only seen a single Marvel movie (The Avengers) and only watched Jessica Jones season 1 for David Tennant (while hating nearly every other character in it), which had none of these characters, I only watched WandaVision precisely because it dared to break the mold and be even remotely ambitious instead of doing the same old CGI cartoon fest over and over. And somewhat because of what Marvel has done to the film industry, television has completely and utterly overtaken film as where emotional, dramatic storytelling now happens.

And okay, I happen to have had a major TVLand addiction growing up and binged a ton of the shows referenced in WandaVision long ago (yep, those very same ‘50s-'80s sitcoms). I couldn’t pass up the retro. Love at first sight. Combine that with what promised to be a tragic, human/non-human romance. Sold. I knew little else about the characters.

For a long time, I’ve seen female fans (in particular) comment on how part of the reason they write fanfiction for Marvel is that they have to read between the lines just to add the implied dramatic content of the relationship focus variety that never quite gets developed in canon (certainly not up to the standard of what a fic reader expects). I saw a few comments that pretty much described WandaVision as exactly that: a fix-it fanfic before tragic reality invaded Pleasantville. Wanda’s whole Hex was essentially a glorified fix-it fanfic.

For this reason alone, I can only hope the success of WandaVision gets them to create a season 2 that is dedicated solely to Wanda trying to put her family (Vision) back together that does the tragic romance justice in a way that giving them side parts in other people’s movies just isn’t going to cut it.

I feel like Vision’s ultimate resurrection or even Wanda’s struggle with her grief is better left to her own headline story, whether be it film or television. Television is the only medium that is going to allow the actors to really sink their teeth into this sort of star-crossed, tragic drama and not have it relegated to a minor side-character plot. Either give Wanda and Vision their own movie (hopefully, with heightened focus on character development as a lesson learned from television) or wait to integrate the mind and body of Vision in another season that gives both of them center stage with room to develop it.

Them having their twins for real might also be worth a season 2 in a way that probably wouldn’t even work on film, as showing such a feminine pregnancy storyline would be a helluva departure for a Marvel movie that goes from action set piece to action set piece.

I wouldn’t even hate it if Wanda’s sitcom comfort zone made a few more appearances, even if it is merely the occasional domestic fantasy or dream/nightmare, so there is a way to not completely divorce a potential season 2 from season 1’s “gimmick”. It could be merely as simple as her pointedly doing something Sam/Jeannie-esque with her magic. Cooking with floating kitchen items would be an easy nod.

Probably not what Marvel is thinking of doing, but as a non-Marvel fan, WandaVision has a real opportunity to pull in new viewers with very different tastes that have so far managed to give the films a wide berth. It would do so much better as a show.

Go the route of giving these characters their own headlined projects and Marvel could have a real juggernaut of a 'ship, as well. My impression was that WandaVision got a lot of fans talking about the characters and their relationship in a way that the previous films and comics had not; some even making comments they had barely paid attention to the characters before the show.

IMO, the mere character descriptions sound like some of the most interesting and fleshed-out characters Marvel has got right now with real opportunity for real dramatic depth. And that’s putting aside that Scarlet Witch is one of the most powerful characters on the entire Marvel roster. Making a whole television season about a character going through the stages of grief and about a woman who just wants the family she lost back (a woman who desperately wants a husband and children, no less) was very different territory for Marvel. Human/non-human, in addition to having the level of doom that makes tragedies very, very memorable.

There’s tropey drama potential there that hasn’t been mined with the non-human who becomes more and more “human” (it’s the stuff of fairy tales and sci-fi both). Hayward or someone like him could easily be used as a character who doesn’t see Vision as equal to humans, for example. Delve into the sort of existential questions about artificial life achieving consciousness no less feeling than a human’s that stories like Data on Star Trek, Blade Runner and Bicentennial Man pose. That species difference without the magic of sitcoms could be mined for a gorgeously dramatic plotline. What it means to be human explored through the non-human–one of my favorite tropes.

And of course, it’s the stuff of fairy tales–most notably Pinocchio (the once-inanimate learning to and desiring to become real by proving himself worthy and because it fulfills the greatest wish of the person who loves them most), combined with the interspecies romance elements of The Little Mermaid (tragic ending or not–see also the desperate acts taken to achieve this cosmically-denied togetherness, only for such a tragic ending to come of it in the original work).

Given that the MCU movies just lost a bunch of their A-listers, they need something big like this. Marvel needs philosophical and character-driven meat on its meager dramatic bones. Here are two actors who could carry something more ambitious and pick up an entirely different audience. Marvel could get an even bigger female audience with these two, IMO. And it wouldn’t be cheap girl power pandering either (I say this as a girl). These characters are legit with incredibly warm, likable, endearing performances behind them. This chemistry works 100%.

I think White Vision having an existential crisis where he’s questioning what he is if he has all the memories of a being who clearly can feel every human emotion (the idea that we are our memories), but at the same time knowing that he’s only artificial life, would be an interesting lead-up to Vision being fully restored with his full consciousness in addition to the added memories of what he experienced inside the Hex.

A restored Vision would have to reconcile what Wanda did in her grief over him and her family. It’s also a glimpse at the life Wanda wants with him, which included something that isn’t biologically possible, though it likely is through her own abilities of creation. There’s also the idea of balance that he’s the one who might hold her back from the brink of going down any further dark paths as a figure of ordered stability for her, while she is key in the chaos of his becoming more “human”. The to-be parenthood story is obviously hanging over them.

The situation with Hayward intending for White Vision to remain a mere machine that can be manipulated and used as a weapon in a way that an independently-thinking Vision can’t be is also a path to go down. As I said, there’s a potential storyline about prejudice regarding artificial intelligence, even if it has all the emotional capability of humans.

And on top of that, Vision is in a relationship with a human, even if it’s one who could potentially be the key to restoring his consciousness through her own link with the original Mind Stone. It also furthers Wanda’s role as a mother and creator if she can give him back his life in this way. While the heroic Avengers might not question them being “an unusual couple”, who says everyone else would be so kind?

I really think he needs to be brought back. Wanda desperately needs him for her story to continue.

okay so this might be the same scene?

STRANGE IS WEARING THE SAME OUTFIT THE PLACEMENT IS THE SAME AND THE RED SCENE HAS THE DECAYED TREES IN THE BACKGROUND??

IS SHE IN THE SANCTUM??

So I just saw a rumour that Elizabeth Olsen has signed a 7 year contract extension with Marvel Studios… You guys, if it’s true, I will ascend into the heavens

I think this will always haunt me…

arcticcanyons:

WandaVision streaming January 15th, 2021

Another good thing that came out of WandaVision is that now in Wanda/Vision tag on AO3 there’s actually Wanda/Vision fan fiction? This is wild!

Can I now imagine that White Vision is meditating on his existence in a small cabin on a lake shore somewhere, in the mountains maybe? And maybe there is a woman living in a cabin across the lake, who knows? Maybe they meet maybe not? But they probably do.

Anyone realized that these scenes have similar music score????

When Wanda meets White Vision, the background music is very similar with when Wanda was destorying the mindstone in Infinity War??? This was the last time they saw each other and this OG Vision came back to Wanda with his memory wiped & intend to destroy her. Fuck that’s messed me up

Um, excuse me Marvel. I demand the Wandavision gag reel ASAP

I need Lizzie and Paul goofing around to recover fron the trauma