When Marvel first attempted to move the Marvel Cinematic Universe to TV with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., it was a semi-disaster. The broadcast model did not lend itself well to syncing up with the big screen films, and the project was soon abandoned, leaving Marvel's TV and movies as two separate universes. The arrival of Disney+ has inspired the MCU to try again, this time with short "limited series" starring the same actors in their big-screen roles. But even before the first Disney+ series for Marvel arrives, fans have questions. These details in Disney+'s first WandaVision trailer might help viewers understand what they're getting into with the MCU's new direction.
The MCU's plans for these shows and movies to be intertwined has already been disrupted. WandaVision wasn't even supposed to be the first Disney+ series from the MCU. That honor was supposed to go to The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, a short adventure series setting up Anthony Mackie as the new Captain America. WandaVision was supposed to arrive in the spring of 2021, just ahead of Doctor Strange & The Multiverse of Madness, setting up that film.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed all that, as did the success of Disney+. With big-screen films pushed down the calendar into 2022, these limited TV series simply cannot wait for the world to restart. Moreover, Disney+ needs content, since that's where audiences are hanging out until the pandemic is over. So, even though WandaVision was supposed to be a Doctor Strange lead-in, it seems now the MCU Disney+ shows will run when they're ready, and the big screen films will have to catch up when they can.
Here are some of the essential details revealed in the show's first promo, which fans should file away for whenever it does premiere:
The most obvious detail is the one staring viewers right in the face. Vision is alive in this series, which makes no sense. Avengers Infinity War and Endgame firmly established Vision was dead, and unlike those who were dusted, he had no hope of resurrection. And yet, here he is, alive and well, and living in various sitcoms with Wanda. The how and why is one of WandaVision's mysteries, though most fans assume Wanda is trying to change her present, hiding in the folds of different timelines and multiverses to bring him back.
When fans last saw Monica Rambeau, she was a seven-year-old pipsqueak staring up in awe at her mother's BFF Carol, newly minted as Captain Marvel. But that was back in 1995. Come the 2020s, she's a woman in her mid-30s, and perhaps a superhero in her own right. Moreover, her 1970s costume suggests she's been barreling into Wanda's little sitcom fantasies to set the timeline back to what it should be. Considering the trailer shows her being thrown right back out, it seems Wanda doesn't appreciate these intrusions.
In the trailer's biggest reveal, fans got their first look at Arthur Heart (Fred Melamed) and his wife (Debra Jo Rupp). They're the show's next-door neighbors, and WandaVision's 1950s era equivalent of Fred and Ethel Mertz in I Love Lucy. Unfortunately, the dinner date seems to raise uncomfortable questions, one Wanda wasn't prepared to answer.
Kathryn Hahn's "nosy next-door neighbor" character has been teased for a while, since WandaVision's panel at D23 in 2019. The trailer is the first chance fans have gotten to see of Agnes, and from the looks of it, Vision may not be as innocent of what Wanda is up to as one might think.
The trailer's most obviously spotted easter egg reference by far though is the Halloween scene, with Vision out and about in costume. But he's not just wearing any costume: He's wearing his own 1960s-era superhero 'fit from when he was first introduced in The Avengers #57. Note the fake Infinity Stone glued to his forehead where the Mind Stone is hidden.
This is both the trailer's least apparent reference and the one that really has fans talking. The trailer makes a big deal over the floating bottle of wine pouring itself out ahead of Wanda's dinner party with the Hearts. It shows both the wine pouring and then un-pouring as things unravel.
But the focus isn't just on the wine or the Bewitched way of serving it. It's the label, "Maison du Mépris," which translates to "House of M."
House of M is one of Wanda's most famous stories. In it, she grants those around her with their deepest desires. Steve Rogers wins World War II, Peter Parker comes home and finds Uncle Ben still alive. As for Wanda? She wakes up to find herself in a happy suburban life, with a mess of kids, not unlike the scenarios shown here.
WandaVision is expected to arrive on Disney+ sometime in December 2020.
