Marvel just announced a whole lot of movies and TV shows as part of Phase IV of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Out of all of the announced projects, the WandaVision TV show on Disney Plus is the one I’m most excited for. Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, and the super-android Vision are two of my favorite Marvel Comics characters, and I love the way they’ve been adapted in the movies. The romance between Wanda and Vision was undoubtedly my favorite part of Avengers: Infinity War.
The series is scheduled to come out in the spring of 2021. With a release date that far out, there hasn’t been a lot of information released about the series. We know the show will star Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany as Scarlet Witch and the Vision, and we know Kat Dennings and Randall Park will reprise their roles as previous MCU side characters Darcy Lewis (Thor and Thor: The Dark World) and Agent Jimmy Woo (Ant-Man and the Wasp). The cast will also feature Kathryn Hahn and Teyonah Parris. Director Matt Shakman has said the show will feature sitcom elements, which matches the theme established in the series’ one released poster. The poster features Wanda and the Vision dressed in 1950’s fashion, sitting in front of the TV in a well-kept suburban home. This hints at WandaVision being influenced by traditional 1950’s sitcoms such as Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best. In this post, I will explore other likely influences on the series, and make some guesses as to what the show will be like based on comic book history.
Vision Returns
Let’s get this out of the way: Vision is dead. He was killed by Thanos at the end of Avengers: Infinity Way and did not appear at all in Avengers: Endgame. So, how is he back amongst the living and costarring in a TV show? There are some comics that might provide the answers. In West Coast Avengers 43, written and drawn by John Byrne, Vision is kidnapped and fatally disassembled. His parts are eventually rescued by a Wanda-led Avengers team, and he is reassembled by Hank Pym. However, the new Vision is entirely a ghostly white, and shows no human emotions or feelings. This is a blow to Wanda, who was married to the old Vision and had two sons with him (more on them later). I think we might see aspects of this storyline in WandaVision. Wanda and the revived Vision struggling to restore the emotional connection they once shared would be a relatively simple conflict for the series to adapt.
I’m not sure if Vision and Wanda will have children in the TV series, but one of the characters involved in their creation certainly might. Shortly after Vision is rebuilt, John Byrne changes Avengers canon to reveal that Vision and Wanda’s children are nothing more than figments, unknowingly generated by Wanda’s magical powers using two fragments of the demon Mephisto’s soul. Mephisto is a Marvel mega-villain with vast demonic powers, known for making Faustian bargains with Marvel heroes and stealing souls. In order to restore Vision to life in WandaVision, Wanda could use a soul fragment, setting up a conflict when Mephisto comes to collect. Or, she could strike a bargain with Mephisto, paying a dear price for Vision’s return. The haunting red glow emanating from the TV in the poster might be our first evidence of Mephisto’s involvement in the MCU.
Of course, given that Mephisto is basically a pastiche of Christian depictions of Satan, Marvel Studios might not want to use him and jeopardize their family-friendly image. In that case, there are a number of characters they could slot into his role. They could bring back the dread Dormammu, the Doctor Strange villain whose powers rival Mephisto’s. They could also use Nightmare, another nemesis of Doctor Strange who is rumored to appear in the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness film. When WandaVision was revealed, it was said that the series would tie into the new Doctor Strange movie. A shared villain could be the source of that connection, and of the new Vision’s power, since his Infinity Stone was destroyed. I could see WandaVision ending with Vision, his soul, or the robotic equivalent thereof being taken captive by one of these villains, forcing Wanda to follow Doctor Strange into the Multiverse to save him once again.
Two possible villains, Dormammu 
and Nightmare. Art of both by Steve Diko
The Powers of the Scarlet Witch
In Endgame’s climactic battle, Wanda puts a pretty good beating on Thanos singlehandedly, cementing herself as one of the most powerful Avengers. However, the movies have only begun to scratch the surface of her true powers, powers that could come into play in WandaVision. In the comics, Wanda is understandably distraught after the loss of her children. In the “Avengers Disassembled” and “House of M” crossover events, while being manipulated by Doctor Doom she uses her reality-warping powers to tear the Avengers team apart, destroy the entire Marvel Universe and remake it into a fantasy-paradise of her own design, and then return it to normal at the cost of depowering millions of the world’s mutant population.
Having demonstrated the ability to create entire universes with nothing but willpower, it is conceivable that in WandaVision, Wanda creates a pocket universe where she can live her ideal life with Vision, subconsciously using the idealized lives of 1950’s sitcom families as a model. This would explain the poster, as well as the presence of Darcy Lewis and Agent Woo. They are two of Marvel’s more comedic side characters and would fit well in a sitcom-type environment.
Tom King’s The Vision
Covers by Mike Del Mundo
The Vision, the 2016 miniseries by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta, is one of the most critically acclaimed Marvel comics of the last decade, and I predict that it will have a big influence on WandaVision. The series is a modern Shakespearean tragedy, telling the story of Vision’s doomed attempt to make a normal life for himself, not with Wanda, but with an android family made in his own image. Of course, like Vision himself, these androids feel, hope, and dream just like humans, making it all the more heart-wrenching when their newly-created lives come crashing down. The series deals heavily in themes of persecution and loss, and I consider it a must read for any comic book fan.
The art and designs of The Vision, especially the covers, make subtle use of the 1950’s aesthetics that are more obvious in the WandaVision poster.When the trappings of the idyllic suburban life are used in contemporary art, we often think of it as a stylistic choice to portray happiness that masks some hidden pain or dysfunction. That contrast is a core driving force of The Vision, and I would expect it to be a central theme of WandaVision as well. The apparent use of sitcom tropes in WandaVision is clever, and I am glad to see that they appear to be using some good comics for inspiration. I think the series’ biggest success will come if they are able, like The Vision, to give proper importance to the internal conflict within the main characters, rather than focusing on an outside villain too much. If any of my predictions end up coming true, WandaVision has the potential to be one of the most unique and tragic entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
