The first two episodes of Marvel’s newest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, WandaVision, came out this past weekend after much anticipation. In the hectic year that was 2020, Marvel did not put out any movies for the first time since 2007, pushing  its sole release ( Black Widow) to 2021. The world of film, and the box office has been dominated by Marvel and superhero films for over a decade with no signs of slowing down, yet the complaint from some was that eventually audiences would get tired of action-packed films. Some in the world of film believed Marvel films lacked artistic touch, and individualism. If there was ever a way to respond to these criticisms, WandaVision would be it.

The minute you begin your viewing experience, you’re greeted with the grandiose intro all Marvel films begin with, but with one distinction, it’s in black and white. The show wastes no time introducing the tone and style of the show, going directly into a Dick Van Dyke inspired show open, framing WandaVision as a 60’s sitcom. As a viewer, with at least some knowledge of the world of superheroes, you know this isn’t the ‘norm.’ There is no action sequences that bring the viewer back to the format they’ve. become comfortable with, the show starts and ends, as a sitcom.

Personally, I’ve always been a sucker for campy romance, and 50 and 60’s music and entertainment, I grew up watching Bollywood which pulls heavy influence from the ‘golden age’ of its Hollywood counterpart. It’s dreamlike, because you know things aren’t, and weren’t as they were presented, but the idea of this perfect world where true love exists, and the biggest problems we face being microcosmic is the appeal. I feel, this style has always lent itself to this idea, this fantasy. Often, with film and media, I can imagine the world of these stories. With this style of storytelling, that Bollywood and the ‘golden age’ of Hollywood, I don’t have to imagine the worlds because it simply is my imagination.

When you’re experiencing these worlds as a viewer, there will always be a nagging feeling that you know this simply could not be reality, but you ignore it. WandaVision’s writing absolutely understands this concept, and uses it brilliantly. From the start of the show until the end of the second episode, you know things aren’t as they seem, but you believe in it, for sanity’s sake. Wanda (Scarlett Witch), is the most aware something is amiss in this world, though it’s not fully apparent initially. She has hints that this reality isn’t as it seems, yet she denies it, and actively chooses to keep living in it. I think, though it may not explicitly be the writers’ intention, WandaVision perfectly captures gaslighting, and how people deal with trauma.

The world of WandaVision is a strange place, with darkness hiding behind its’ smiles. The world of the show often influences the two main characters’ (Wanda and Vision’s) thought process. Wanda and Vision both struggle with remembering the events of their past, and what they”re even doing in this new environment in general. The world insists things are a specific way, and the style of the show reflects this. The viewer knows this is not reality, and in some reactions to these new episodes I’ve seen, insist things are going to change, despite what the show tells them. That is the genius of WandaVision. Even if it’s unknowingly, the viewer is gaslit, you know for a fact things are one way, but are told persistently that it’s another. In the most basic terms, that is what gaslighting is. Wanda may know things to be one way, but the characters in this show insist it’s another, that she’s apart of this world.

In the most recent events of the films, Wanda has gone through the traumatic experience of losing her partner (Vision) and, unlike most people who were able to get loved ones back from the events of Infinity War (where half the population was ‘dusted’ from existence), Vision did not return. He was murdered in front of her. Dealing with trauma, often leads to certain memories being blocked off, and people struggle with continuing on normally following traumatic events. So, despite her possible knowledge of the truth, Wanda chooses to live in this reality. This is incredibly apparent in the events of the end of the second episode, a mysterious beekeeper arrives from a sewage lid, posing a threat to her reality. Wanda then utters one word, “no,” and sets the time back to just before his arrival. Wanda is revealed to be pregnant, and she asks Vision if this is really happening, in which he assures her, and her black and white world gains color.

There are more elements of this show that is done masterfully,  such as combining mystery, horror, and comedy perfectly. Along with this, WandaVision builds onto the world of the MCU, and possibly into the multiverse of the Marvel universe. There is still much more of WandaVision to come in the next few weeks, and I will be anticipating it greatly.

WandaVision is streaming now on Disney Plus.