Honestly, it’s been tough for me to follow the various permutations of the Marvel Television Universe and the DC Television “Arrowverse” programs. I watched Supergirl for about a year and then gave up on it. I watched Daredevil and Jessica Jones for about one episode each, and took both of them off my subscription list.
Last year, however, I got hooked on a superhero series featuring the oddest misfits in superheroism, the Doom Patrol. The Doom Patrol are characters with powers that are as dangerous to them as they are to society, and their adventures – and their adversaries – are both trippy and wacky. And profane. This show is for people who think Deadpool movies are too family-friendly. 😀
So while I’m waiting for the third season of Doom Patrol to appear on the HBO Max channel, I tuned in this morning to the newest TV series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a limited series featuring the density-changing Vision and the chaos magic Scarlet Witch. And this show is just as weird as Doom Patrol, if not weirder. Although it is on the Disney+ channel, so it’s not as profane as Doom Patrol, but it is a bit subversive. Meet WandaVision.
What I see here in WandaVision is something interesting, and this happens a lot with the Marvel movies and their interactions with the comic books that inspired them. This WandaVision series seems to follow at least two distinct plotlines from the comic books – the award-winning “House of M” series, in which Wanda’s chaos magic creates an alternate universe where mutants are the rulers of the world and homo sapiens are subjugated to their rule; as well as a 12-issue comic book standalone series in which Wanda gives birth to two children, only to later discover that the children were created as a mental side-effect to her chaos magic, and don’t really exist.
So yeah, this is going to be a very bumpy ride. But I’m intrigued on the series. Disney+ released the first two episodes this morning, and it will hold me over until new episodes of The Mandalorian debut later this year, so I have that working for me. Plus, the show seems to have a knack for showcasing the tropes of televised sitcoms – in the first two episodes, there were plenty of asides and references to shows like I Love Lucy, Bewitched, The Dick Van Dyke Show and Leave It to Beaver. And from the previews I’ve seen for future episodes, we could get The Brady Bunch or The Partridge Family or, heck, maybe even The Girl With Something Extra. Who knows?
Oh, there is one thing about the Marvel series, though, that bugs the bejeebers out of me. Every time I watch one of them, including WandaVision, I’m constantly looking for clues and hints and Easter eggs that could provide hints for upcoming episodes or plotlines. And every time I’m concentrating on that, I’m not concentrating on the story itself. So yeah, when I see a fake TV commercial in the middle of the episode for Stark Industries toasters or Strucker wristwatches, well, now I’m thinking about those instead of trying to figure out the wacky sitcom-inspired plotlines of the episode. But hey, that’s Marvel for you.
Meanwhile, I’m expecting the adventures of Negative Spirit, Robotman, Elastic Woman, Crazy Jane and the rest of the oddball Doom Patrol to return later this year with new episodes. And believe me, the way they ended last season’s super-cliffhanger – which, in itself, may have been caused by them rushing to get the series completed before the production was shut down due to COVID-19 protocols – is going to be very interesting to sort out.
Can’t wait. This should keep my nerd attention going for the next few months. 😀
Chuck The Writer 