#WandaVision Star Promises Sitcom Setting Won’t Feel So Bizarre Once All Is Revealed

No one could have expected that the first MCU long-form series, WandaVision, would be a reimagining of Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch and Vision as suburban homemakers modeled on old-fashioned sitcoms, complete with laugh tracks and wacky neighbors. Still, the clues have been present from the start that the present state of the show is a mere illusion, with something much darker occurring beneath the surface. In a new interview, lead actress Elizabeth Olsen promised viewers will soon learn why the show chose to start with the “sitcom” premise.

“[Wanda and Vision] are just trying to fit in. They’re trying to not be found out by their neighbors that they’re super-powered beings. The reason it’s a sitcom shows itself later in the show. When Kevin [Feige] told me, it didn’t feel so bizarre. It felt like a great way to start our story.”

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Superhero content has perhaps the most rigid format of any genre. You have a hero with superpowers who wants to use those powers to do good, and you have a villain with powers who wants to use them to do bad. The two clash in an epic battle for the ages and the hero ultimately emerges the victor. According to Olsen, that is not what is going on in WandaVision.

“Someone said to me when you watch any of these hero movies, you know when the villain’s about to show themselves, and you also have an idea of who the villain is. With our show, you don’t know what the villain is, or if there is one at all. Wanda is trying to protect everything in her bubble, protect what she and Vision have and this experience. I think everything she does is in response to keeping things together.”

So far, WandaVision has been deeply concerned with the private desires of Scarlet Witch and Vision. The former is an orphan who has spent her life running from those who wish to use her powers for their own ends. The latter is an android struggling to understand how humanity works. The two got together to create one of the oddest romances in all of fiction, and WandaVision explores that romance through every sitcom trope imaginable.

But at the end of the day, Wanda will be forced to accept that the blissful reality she created for herself and Vision is a mere illusion. When that happens, Elizabeth Olsen hinted that the gloves are going to come off, and the real action will start.

“We still live up to what Marvel does. We just tell the story in a completely different way. It’s a very emotional, female story and it’s a story they haven’t told yet for either of our characters.”

Written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, WandaVision stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes. New episodes air Fridays on Disney+. Elle published these comments first.

Topics: WandaVision, Disney Plus, Streaming