![]() ![]() ![]() Director Matt Shakman switches from a classic multi-camera sitcom set-up to a more dramatic single-camera format, bringing the lens right to the dinner table and performing slow, ominous zooms. The best example, however, comes in episode one, when Fred Melamed’s Mr. This is rather striking when Dottie cuts her hand on broken glass, and her response is muted enough to maintain the mystery as to whether the people of Westview are in on the secret or not. ![]() Of particular note are the visual techniques the show uses to deal with this, such as splashes of bright red colour injected into the monochrome palette. While I do genuinely like the sitcom elements and admire the show’s dedication to this unlikely format, the darker side of WandaVision is the thing that really pulls me through this opening act. Perhaps the best example of this is Wanda’s comment on Vision’s indestructible head, which works as a cute housewife quip while also acting as dark dramatic irony, since we as viewers know that his head was torn apart by Thanos in Infinity War. That so many elements in this first half-hour are able to work on both the in-show universe and meta levels is quite a feat of writing. The pair’s confusion about the August 23 calendar date helps provide further fuel for the mystery, while also doubling as a pretty typical sitcom plot to deliver the homage. Through the use of a delightful theme tune and self-aware title cards that use the characters’ names rather than their actors, it firmly establishes the show’s false reality, generating a sense of unease around the vintage styling. In contrast, the ‘50s-set first scenario, in addition to being a loving homage to classics like I Love Lucy, does a lot of heavy lifting to get the show’s rather meta concept off the ground. Of the two episodes, the second is distinctly the funniest, as it spins fewer plates than the opening half-hour, and thus can dedicate more of itself to Wanda and Vision’s talent show ordeal. Who’d have thought the ethereal Paul Bettany from the Avengers could be such a natural comedian? The ‘drunken’ robot performance that follows this, combined with the authentic Hanna-Barbera-style animations, only escalates the humour. Vision’s joke about chewing gum being for mastication, for example, had me howling, both at the wordplay and the old-school response from his friends. Writers Jac Schaeffer and Gretchen Enders provide some fantastic gags, despite working in what can sometimes feel like antiquated parameters due to the slavish replication of the 1950s and ‘60s settings. Yes, there’s also the tantalising mystery that SWORD may possibly be pulling the strings (more on that later), but the majority of WandaVision’s run time - at least in these two episodes - is dedicated to situational comedy. Right out the gate, WandaVision makes it clear that the show is a sitcom. Marvel’s first attempt at a sitcom is a delight, and much of that success is down to Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen’s wonderful handling of its vintage-styled script. But the two-part premiere of WandaVision effortlessly proves why it should have been. Was a scene featuring Vision singing a rendition of The Coasters’ “Yakety Yak” on your MCU wish list? Almost certainly not. ![]()
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