I was incredibly fortunate to get a chance to check out the first 3 episodes of #WandaVision yesterday.
My non-spoilery reactions to what I saw follow in this thread.
#Marvel #MarvelStudios #DisneyPlus #Phase4 #Wanda #WandaMaximoff #TheVision #ElizabethOlsen #PaulBettany

After a year in which they were absent from theaters & streaming services, #WandaVision serves notice that Marvel Studios is back in 2021. I found myself caught off guard more often than you might think; in parts it’s exactly what we’ve been told it is, it’s also more than that.

Olsen and Bettany are charming, hilarious and work perfectly off one another. There is real magic here between these two and it’s at its best and most noticeable when they were in front of the live studio audience.
#WandaMaximoff #Wanda #TheVision

However as the series progresses, the couple continues to become aware that there is something not quite right about their idyllic existence. What’s brilliant here is the audience is left to ponder the mystery alongside the unusual couple.

There’s no sense of dramatic irony here...each episode leaves both the characters and the audience in suspense.
#WandaVision

Feige, Shakman and Schaeffer deserve a ton of credit here. They don’t just pay lip service to trip through the decades, they make every effort to ground them in that time period: the audience reactions, the camera work and lighting and even the cultural sensibilities are on point

#WandaVision is the perfect way for Marvel Studios to reintroduce itself. While we know this series is destined to turn into a full-fledged spectacle, the time spent with these characters in the intimate setting of these shorter episodes is time well spent.

Perhaps the real treasure here is the discovery of Bettany as an A+ comedic actor. We see him do it all from corny jokes to slapstick physical bits and he pulls it all off effortlessly.
#TheVision #PaulBettany

Olsen’s range as an actress is on full display. Like Bettany she’s essentially playing a different character in each episode, but it’s her ability to relay the feeling that there’s another part of her, just out of her own reach, that sells her performance.
#ElizabethOlsen

She’s simultaneously elated and terrified; in control and fighting to keep it; hilarious and tragic. Olsen is a gem.
#Wanda #WandaMaximoff

Comic fans and MCU fans alike will find references and Easter eggs galore in every episode. The creators have cleverly integrated 1980’s comics, modern comics and MCU specific events into the show.
#WandaVision

#WandaVision IS something you’ve never seen before but it accomplishes that by taking you places you’ve been before and playing with your notions of what should happen there. If this is what Marvel Studios TV is headed, we’re all going to be very happy for a long, long time.