I like the MCU, sometimes I even love it, but also find it mired in a house-style that leaves little room for true innovation and variety. Understandable, since it is a sprawling tapestry woven from a million threads, all housed under the one umbrella that is the Marvel Universe. Organization is key.
It seems like the breadth of style I wished were possible, actually is, when it comes to the episodic streaming series' now launching on Disney+. First out of the gate, is what looks to be the oddest of the bunch, WANDAVISION. The first two installments see Wanda and Vision trying to fit in to their new, confusing, and unexplained environment, a black and white world modeled after a late 50's/early60's sitcom. The nods to THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, and I LOVE LUCY are blatant, but what is surprising is how legit it comes off. The tone and style of those old classic sitcoms is absolutely nailed in WANADAVISION, and the tropes are expertly handled. The boss who invites himself over to dinner with his wife, in a kind of social audition for his employee (in this case Vision, who works in human disguise at a computer data analysis center), the halfway-invasive neighbor always there with a cup of sugar and a new tidbit of neighborhood gossip, etc etc. Beneath this, there is a humming undercurrent of tension, confusion, paranoia, and danger, as we get brief (blink and miss it) glimpses into the reality that Wanda and Vision truly inhabit, which is sure to be anything but the Kodachrome paradise the mysterious powers that be want them to believe.
Well written, with some seriously funny turns by Olsen and Bettany in the leads. I'm in. I can't wait to see the other seven episodes, and how the creators handle this high-wire act. So far, so good. REALLY good.
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