During last night’s Emmys, viewers caught their first glimpse of Marvel’s WandaVision, the new TV series set to premiere on Disney+ later this year. A snippet of the trailer debuted during the virtual telecast with the full trailer being available online.
Starring Elizabeth Olsen (Avengers: Endgame, Oldboy) and Paul Bettany (Captain America: Civil War, A Knight’s Tale), the series follows the Marvel Cinematic Universe characters Wanda Maximoff and Vision. The two star-crossed lovers met as members of the Avengers. Unfortunately, fate ruptured their union when Thanos, hunting for the Infinity Stones in Avengers: Infinity War, killed Vision to possess the Life stone.
According to the trailer, the series is set some time, somewhere after these events with Wanda and Vision happily married. They’re depicted as a loving 1950s couple, settled in the black and white comfort of suburbia. The pair look to be paying homage to classic sitcoms, including The Dick Van Dyke Show and Bewitched. As the trailer goes on, other scenes reveal them in technicolor as shows from the 70s and 80s. There’s even a glimpse of both Wanda and Vision sporting their traditional comic costumes, with Wanda as her mutant alter ego, The Scarlet Witch. But beneath the smiling veneers of their idyllic sitcom life, a more sinister reality exists.
The trailer also bodes a prominent appearance from Kathryn Hahn (I Know This Much Is True, Mrs. Feltcher), who is simply credited as “the nosey neighbor.” But there is growing speculation Hahn’s character may play a larger role in the overall plot. Accorindg to Inverse.com, comic fanatics are peicing together Hahn to be Agatha Harkness, witch who mentored Maximoff in the dark arts, and would even appear to Wanda years later after her untimely death. Inverse credits leaked set photos with Hahn appearing to be burned at the stake as a significant clue.
Created by Jac Schaeffer (The Hustle, Timer) and directed by Matt Shakman (The Hustle, Timer), the series cast includes Even Peters (American Horror Story, X-Men: Apocalypse), Randall Park (Always Be My Maybe, Fresh Off the Boat), and Teyonah Parris (Candyman, Chi-Raq). The show will also feature Kat Dennings (2 Broke Girls, Thor) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Patrick Melrose) as their MCU roles of Darcy Lewis and Dr. Strange.
WandaVision is just one of several Marvel original series coming to the streaming service. Disney+ subscribers can look forward to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Loki within the next year. Future series include the recently-cast She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel. Each will feature stars reprising their movie roles and will intertwine with the narratives of future MCU films.