Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Kathryn Hahn, Teyonah Parris, Josh Stamberg, Randall Park, Kat Dennings, Evan Peters, David Payton, David Lengel, Amos Glick, Selena Anduze, Julian Hilliard, Debra Jo Rupp, Jett Klyne, Asif Ali, Ithamer Enriquez, Emma Caulfield Ford, Alan Heckner, Zac Henry.
It is fair to insist beyond unreasonable debate that the two Avengers’ films, Infinity War and Endgame, were such behemoths, both in terms of box office performance and providing the type of thrill that has rarely been captured inside a cinema, that it might be suggested by some that no matter what Marvel put out in Phase Four of their ongoing pursuit of graphic novel turned visual entertainment illustrious dominance, it has already reached its zenith.
The juggernaut, the sense of the uncompromising quest of being true to the ethos set down by founding father Stan Lee, cannot even be stopped, delayed maybe but not halted, by a global pandemic, and as the vehicle of graphic novel adaptation joins the ranks of Disney, it is understandable that with the addition of television shows to the cinema output, series focusing on more of the fringe players of the Marvel comics that can stand out on their terms and in stories that might never have been considered for cinematic release.
The first of these, the incredible WandaVision, is not only a perfect continuance from the events and fall out of the finale of The Avengers’ films, but is, in its own right, a sumptuous affair in which the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe is expanded, given the push of television, and enhances the authority that perhaps no other modern franchise has managed to do in recent times, appealing to both the heart and mind of the fan and the consumer.
The on-screen relationship between Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, as Wanda Maximoff and The Vision, is obvious full of chemistry and trust, there is a nurturing, a sense of the symbolic that drives the point home of loneliness, the desperate need for companionship, and the beauty that comes from acceptance. However, there is, as with all Marvel stories, a greater sense of threat that will undoubtedly lead onwards to the next big reveal as each of the Marvel mini-series is played out during the next couple of years.
As the back story of Wanda’s slow mental deterioration and the weaving of a different reality involving a resurrected Vision, two children, and a neighbourhood that is the visual epitome of Middle America in its heyday, the white picket fences, the sense of community mysteriously plays out over the nine-episode run, WandaVision is surely to be seen as the most courageous, inspired, and seamless television production of its genre to have been placed before audiences.
With powerful support from Kathryn Hahn, Teyonah Parris, Kat Dennings, Evan Peters and Randall Park, there is a lot for the fan to take pleasure from in terms of storyline and continuality, the large lanes of intrigue which take them down rabbit holes and out into a place where the imagination is authorised to run free. Entertaining and compelling, consistent, and complete, WandaVision has cast its own spell on all.
Ian D. Hall