Board 8 > Wandavision 2: MCU Boogaloo

(+) Yeah! (+)

As someone who has been bored to tears by all of the heavy MCU elements of this show, this is the first one where I actually enjoyed them all the way through, lol. I liked this episode a lot.

We didn't "learn anything new" really but the flashback format did two important things:
1) Fixed a lot of how terribly the MCU handled Wanda and Vision, particularly skipping over large portions of their character development, retconned her powers in a good way, and finally getting over the cowardice of not having her be called "Scarlet Witch" or have the costume
2) Doing all this in a character-focused way so that it actually feels relevant and impactful and not just an obligatory barebones origin story.

Also it helps a lot that Agatha is there and she's by far my favorite character in the show.

I did get a chuckle out of the kindly eastern european family who you can tell is nice because they watch American sitcoms during a war, lol. I don't think it needed to be explained why Wanda likes and is familiar with old sitcoms but it was cute. except for as mentioned Malcom in the Middle making for a very confusing timeline, obviously the show is ruined now

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Honestly the Stark missile that they talked about from AoU not going off because Wanda cast a probability hex on it is a pretty great retcon
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I enjoyed all of the MCU elements of the show up until this episode, which was kind of boring.

I kinda feel like Monica isnt even necessary for this show, but shes bound to be back in the final episode lol

HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

and finally getting over the cowardice of not having her be called "Scarlet Witch" or have the costume

Weren't they like, not legally able to call her Scarlet Witch? I might be mistaken on this but I thought they only got full control over the character a year ago which is why this reveal is even happening.

The fact that they waited this long to do the namedrop kind of makes it awesome though.

Paratroopa1 posted...

Weren't they like, not legally able to call her Scarlet Witch? I might be mistaken on this but I thought they only got full control over the character a year ago which is why this reveal is even happening.

The fact that they waited this long to do the namedrop kind of makes it awesome though.

I don't actually know, but that sounds plausible enough to me.

I guess I always lumped it in with one of those things that the MCU is semi-embarrassed about (see also: the cheeky bit in the Halloween episode about how their costumes were so ridiculous). I can see how people would enjoy the slow roll but honestly I don't think they ever needed to justify any of this stuff! Honestly I tend to enjoy the MCU more when they just drop ridiculous stuff on the audience and demand we accept it as cool.

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Paratroopa1 posted...

Weren't they like, not legally able to call her Scarlet Witch? I might be mistaken on this but I thought they only got full control over the character a year ago which is why this reveal is even happening.

i think that was it, yeah. disney was allowed to use scarlet witch and quicksilver but fox had the rights to the character names (because of both them debuted in an x-men comic?), so they couldn't use those.

some of the rights stuff in the earlier days was kind of weird. i think disney was initially allowed to use the kree but not the skrulls for some reason?

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Mr Lasastryke posted...

i think that was it, yeah. disney was allowed to use scarlet witch and quicksilver but fox had the rights to the character names (because of both them debuted in an x-men comic?), so they couldn't use those.

some of the rights stuff in the earlier days was kind of weird. i think disney was initially allowed to use the kree but not the skrulls for some reason?

I think Fox must have gotten Skrull rights because theyre most associated with Fantastic Four
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i respect everyone's opinions but i'm with para in that i'm kind of baffled by the people calling this episode "boring." i thought it was well written, excellently well acted and legitimately moving. to me, this is like saying the empire strikes back is the worst star wars movie because it's the "most boringest one" (to cite mr. plinkett).

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MoogleKupo141 posted...

I think Fox must have gotten Skrull rights because theyre most associated with Fantastic Four

i thought the kree were too, though? could be wrong, i don't know a ton about the skrulls and the kree in the comics.

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Mr Lasastryke posted...

i respect everyone's opinions but i'm with para in that i'm kind of baffled by the people calling this episode "boring." i thought it was well written, excellently well acted and legitimately moving. to me, this is like saying the empire strikes back is the worst star wars movie because it's the "most boringest one" (to cite mr. plinkett).

As I said, it didn't really add much of anything to the story outside of the first and last few minutes. Like, I know she's broken - I knew it before the show started. Acting was great, yeah, but spending 30 minutes to show me extended clips of stuff I already know in the penultimate episode is whatever. There was no development in the character because we already know it all >_>. I don't think it was a bad episode because obviously the acting and individual scenes were all really well done, but I need the story to advance or for the characters to build. This episode did neither

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I'm confused by people saying we didn't learn anything new. We literally saw the creation of the hex and what lead up to it in this episode, lol. We even learned why it's a sitcom world. Plus some Agatha backstory and a somewhat of an answer about Pietro.

But people complaining about a clip show episode is very on brand for the TV trope, in a meta sense.

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mnkboy907 posted...

I'm confused by people saying we didn't learn anything new. We literally saw the creation of the hex and what lead up to it in this episode, lol. We even learned why it's a sitcom world.

yeah but all that stuff is easily inferred if you've watched the show, it doesn't need to be hammered away at. I don't really care that she went to an empty lot and freaked out - she was always going to freak out and create the hex - the exact reason being "trauma" is something that you could have guessed from the trailer alone. Same with it being a sitcom world. You can look at old topics and see I was saying something similar to the reason shown since the end of the premiere.

mnkboy907 posted...

Plus some Agatha backstory and a somewhat of an answer about Pietro.

yeah, stuff in the beginning and ending few minutes

I'm not trying to be super negative about it but a lot of this show has been very predictable from the start and using the second to last episode to confirm stuff I've been thinking since the original trailer leads to me being bored.

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Aecioo posted...

yeah but all that stuff is easily inferred if you've watched the show, it doesn't need to be hammered away at. I don't really care that she went to an empty lot and freaked out - she was always going to freak out and create the hex - the exact reason being "trauma" is something that you could have guessed from the trailer alone. Same with it being a sitcom world. You can look at old topics and see I was saying something similar to the reason shown since the end of the premiere.

yeah, stuff in the beginning and ending few minutes

I'm not trying to be super negative about it but a lot of this show has been very predictable from the start and using the second to last episode to confirm stuff I've been thinking since the original trailer leads to me being bored.

It's still important to show, since there were people out there thinking she was manipulated into creating the hex, either by Agatha or some unseen "true villain".

Plus is also had the necessary scene that lead into Hayward revealing the white Vision.

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Aecioo posted...

As I said, it didn't really add much of anything to the story outside of the first and last few minutes. Like, I know she's broken - I knew it before the show started. Acting was great, yeah, but spending 30 minutes to show me extended clips of stuff I already know in the penultimate episode is whatever. There was no development in the character because we already know it all >_>. I don't think it was a bad episode because obviously the acting and individual scenes were all really well done, but I need the story to advance or for the characters to build. This episode did neither

i just don't get why an episode is boring if we don't learn anything new or if the story doesn't progress. like, in infinity war, we "already know" that all the heroes who turn to dust are not really dead and will come back later but i still think the scene where it happens is freaking amazing. and in the mandalorian, some of my favorite episodes were the ones where the overall story didn't progress in the slightest. i think an unsurprising story without much progression can still be great if it's executed really well. but that's just me.

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mnkboy907 posted...

But people complaining about a clip show episode is very on brand for the TV trope, in a meta sense.

While I said I enjoyed this episode, it actually would have been better if they leaned hard into the clip show format!

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also, i disagree that we didn't learn anything new in this episode. for instance, wanda's mom affectionately putting her hand before kid wanda's eyes proves that back in episode 1, when vision was talking about the "traditional sokovian greeting of hospitality," it wasn't just a throwaway gag. that was really what it was!

sure, this wasn't an episode filled with shocking reveals but there was still plenty of interesting stuff in it!

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Maybe there are other ways to advance a story besides "presenting new information"

I mean if you aren't blowing my mind every episode are you even doing an MCU show

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Mr Lasastryke posted...

also, i disagree that we didn't learn anything new in this episode. for instance, wanda's mom affectionately putting her hand before kid wanda's eyes proves that back in episode 1, when vision was talking about the "traditional sokovian greeting of hospitality," it wasn't just a throwaway gag. that was really what it was!

Wait, WHAT.

...

If that was intentional that's incredible and I love it.

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Thing I noticed rewatching episodes 1 and 2 - the ending graphic for the show-in-a-show has a hexagonal border close around Wanda and Visions' faces

Also maybe I'm dumb but I didn't realize the toaster in the commercial in episode 1 was literally supposed to be like the bomb that Wanda and Pietro were buried next to, with the blinking red light. I thought it was JUST a reference to Stark Industries, but I didn't catch the significance of the blinking red light

Also, Agnes is retroactively hilarious when you realize that she's acting along with everyone else

Decided to rewatch Age of Ulton and... oof. I always knock this one, but I remember at least enjoying it when I first saw it. I don't think it's a bad movie, but I have a lot more issues with it now. I don't think it helps that I watched the 3rd and 4th Avengers movies last weekend. It doesn't help at all to compare them.

One thing I found interesting on a rewatch is the actual creation of Ultron. When I first saw it it seemed like a classic case of artificial intelligence gone wrong, but when he's created it feels like there's more to that story. It gets established that the Mind Stone has an AI of its own, so I was wondering if it was possible that some version of Ultron that already existed came from the Mind Stone. Not just from the AI, but that his personality existed in the Stone previously. Might be a stretch, but one thing that bothers me is how Thanos says "Fine, I'll do it myself" at the end of the movie, as if he was relying on the events of the movie to benefit him and it failed. Maybe some version of Ultron was created by Thanos? He did originally have the Mind Stone after all. Maybe it was a plot point that was completely forgotten when Whedon didn't return to the franchise. Maybe I'm really overthinking things...

A more minor point I noticed was that when Pietro described the bombing his family experienced he mentions they were "eating dinner". A kind of little retcon compared to the show's version of events. That said, I wouldn't expect him to say "We were watching old American sitcoms" but I think it would have been a better idea to show the family eating dinner while watching television in the latest episode to make it all work.

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Finally watched the latest. Enjoyed it well enough, as far as MCU stuff goes it's the best the show has been. Having not watched Ultron none of this was a retread for me, although major lol at Sokovia just being a typical American idea of 'uhhh poor Eastern European country with dodgy accents' and showing the Maximoffs as Good because they watch western TV. And them deciding to speak in English so the audience doesn't have to read subtitles for more than 5 seconds.

HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

As someone who has been bored to tears by all of the heavy MCU elements of this show, this is the first one where I actually enjoyed them all the way through, lol. I liked this episode a lot.

This, pretty much. And very glad there was no Darcy or Jimmy or Monica, though I find Hayward a total bore. Like yeah he's supposed to be dodgy but there's nothing compelling to him and I don't think his actor is very good.

XIII_rocks posted...

Also glad they didn't chicken out and use a big bad to absolve Wanda - I thought they might reveal that she was mind-controlled or something to get her off the hook for screwing with all these people's lives. I guess revealing Westview as kind of a run-down looking place in real life did that a little - like she improved their lives or something - but not really, especially given what Norm said when Vision removed his mind-control. Either way, this is better than what I feared they would do

Also this, I was worried they'd handwave things to absolve her of any guilt. Even when she went to Westview I half expected her to meet Mephisto or whoever the random big bad would be, very glad they avoided that. Although lol at the big reveal being her just... pouring all her magic out and it all working like that. I guess they're fuzzy on her powers for a reason. And yeah the witchy powers with Agatha at the start were bad, and the Scarlet Witch name reveal means nothing to me. Intrigued where things will go with Agatha.

If Vision gets out of this show alive in any form I will be very disappointed. The twins can be fine though, there's at least potential there and Wanda shouldn't be left alone (her being pals with Monica would not count, they do not know each other!).

And that post-credits scene was stupid, why did they put something so important in the credits? I know Marvel has a thing with this stuff but that seems pretty crucial info to risk viewers missing, especially when the credits are like 6 minutes long.

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bryans7 posted...

Since we're getting close to the end and there's only a 1 week (I think) gap after WandaVision ends before it starts, but how is everyone feeling about Falcon & Winter Soldier at this point? Hype? Not hype? Moderately hyped?

Not hyped at all about that one, but will watch every Friday regardless.

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andylt posted...

Although lol at the big reveal being her just... pouring all her magic out and it all working like that.

i don't think that was necessarily intended to be a big reveal, i thought that was just part of the story they were telling. i'd say the big reveal of this episode was the introduction of white vision. and yeah, wanda finally being called "scarlet witch," i guess.

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andylt posted...

I find Hayward a total bore. Like yeah he's supposed to be dodgy but there's nothing compelling to him and I don't think his actor is very good.

This was the first time I felt even moderately intrigued by Haywood since the flashback was heavily implying he manipulated Wanda into doing all this. I'm sure there's some kind of big reveal coming. Though you are right, he is just so boring in presentation that I don't think it can save his character.

andylt posted...

If Vision gets out of this show alive in any form I will be very disappointed. The twins can be fine though, there's at least potential there and Wanda shouldn't be left alone (her being pals with Monica would not count, they do not know each other!).

After the last two episodes I think the most likely outcome is that the Hex version of Vision will live (probably taking over White Vision) but split up with Wanda. He's clearly starting to question his identity and purpose and we now know that he's a projection of Wanda given form. Plus this show has gone a long way to convincing me Vision deserves a second chance as a character after basically being wasted. Hopefully the twins stick around too to complicate things.

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Mr Lasastryke posted...

i don't think that was necessarily intended to be a big reveal, i thought that was just part of the story they were telling. i'd say the big reveal of this episode was the introduction of white vision. and yeah, wanda finally being called "scarlet witch," i guess.

I meant the reveal of how the anomaly came to be, I liked the motivation but she just... pulled it off because she was extra sad? IDK.

HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

After the last two episodes I think the most likely outcome is that the Hex version of Vision will live (probably taking over White Vision) but split up with Wanda. He's clearly starting to question his identity and purpose and we now know that he's a projection of Wanda given form. Plus this show has gone a long way to convincing me Vision deserves a second chance as a character after basically being wasted. Hopefully the twins stick around too to complicate things.

That's fair, I haven't seen any of the movies with Vision so I didn't know he'd been wasted already. Wanda definitely needs to pay some kind of price here, but also not end up alone again.

And I agree that Falcon and Winter Soldier are both boring as heck and I have zero interest in watching a series about them doing... what exactly? Though someone mentioned Daniel Bruhl and I am a fan of his. If it gets super good reviews I might try it but otherwise nah.

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andylt posted...

I meant the reveal of how the anomaly came to be, I liked the motivation but she just... pulled it off because she was extra sad? IDK.

As a result of the flashbacks we know that Wanda's powers were augmented in some way by the mind stone. The only real point of reference we have here is Captain Marvel, whose powers originated with another infinity stone, and she's capable of casually flying through spaceships. I don't think it's a reach to say Wanda is more powerful than she's realized.

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HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

After the last two episodes I think the most likely outcome is that the Hex version of Vision will live (probably taking over White Vision) but split up with Wanda.

I was thinking either this, or White Vision is the one who survives but he is very much a basic Data-like being with little personality, and Wanda stays with him in the hopes of bringing back his humanity.

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With all the Daft Punk stuff going on, I kinda need Vision to sing Digital Love to Wanda in the finale.

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Fun theory and why Dr. Strange has not been in Wandavision sooner. When on his way to investigate the Hex he runs into Agatha and is currently Scratch. I don't honestly expect this to hold up in anyway but thought it was kind of funny.

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i think the popular theory is that seor scratchy is nicholas scratch (agatha's son) but that's a fun theory too.

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Mr Lasastryke posted...

i think the popular theory is that seor scratchy is nicholas scratch (agatha's son) but that's a fun theory too.

Yea that's what I would bank on, but I heard this one and thought I'd share it.

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Okay, finally got around to watching and catching up and stuff.

I'm going to echo the sentiments that I think it was a weak episode. Ending with "omg ur a scarlet witch" was pretty dull. Even with the scene in the middle between Wanda and Vision, as good as it was, it was... y'know, wikipedia summary paragraph.

I really think they're doing well with the miniseries format to deliver a single concise story, and I'm worried F&WS will try to be more like a tv show.

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This was really an episode about character building, and it was really incredible at that. The scene with the two of them on the bed watching Malcolm in the Middle is one of the MCUs absolute best. For what is grief, but love persevering is an incredible line.

The funny thing is, I dont think that this episode had a mixed response at all. Its the top rated of the series on IMDB, and literally every comment Ive seen outside this thread has been positive. B8 can be funny on the MCU sometimes - it did rank GOTG2 as a top 5 film after all!

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Lightning Strikes posted...

The funny thing is, I dont think that this episode had a mixed response at all. Its the top rated of the series on IMDB, and literally every comment Ive seen outside this thread has been positive. B8 can be funny on the MCU sometimes - it did rank GOTG2 as a top 5 film after all!

not the first time there's been a clear dichotomy between the IMDb score and the response in this topic, either. seems like the consensus here is that episode 1 was fantastic while it has a 7.5 on IMDb, which is a good score but not an outstanding one. it's also the lowest rated episode so far.

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I want it to be tomorrow already, but also don't. I don't want WandaVision to end.

Whenever I wake up on Fridays I usually check this topic for posts, and I know that someone will have watched it already.

So I just want to know one thing when I wake up... how long is the episode? Hoping for at least an hour, and mid/post-credits scenes!

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Lightning Strikes posted...

This was really an episode about character building, and it was really incredible at that. The scene with the two of them on the bed watching Malcolm in the Middle is one of the MCUs absolute best. For what is grief, but love persevering is an incredible line.

The funny thing is, I dont think that this episode had a mixed response at all. Its the top rated of the series on IMDB, and literally every comment Ive seen outside this thread has been positive. B8 can be funny on the MCU sometimes - it did rank GOTG2 as a top 5 film after all!

I mean, GOTG2 is my 2nd fave MCU film and this last episode of WandaVision was maybe the best one so far imo, so

i do want to add that the super high score for the last episode on IMDb is partially because of its recency, being only a week old. high IMDb scores for movies and TV episodes tend to drop after awhile.

it's obviously a beloved episode on that site but i don't know if it's going to remain the highest rated one out of the first 8.

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Mr Lasastryke posted...

not the first time there's been a clear dichotomy between the IMDb score and the response in this topic, either. seems like the consensus here is that episode 1 was fantastic while it has a 7.5 on IMDb, which is a good score but not an outstanding one. it's also the lowest rated episode so far.

Oh, episode 1 of Wandavision was kind of weak too. Like the most recent episode, it's absolutely necessary and the whole meal is not the same without it, but that doesn't make it too special on its own. But I think that's how I feel about the whole series.


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Yeah I can't say episode 1 was that interesting either

It had some funny jokes but nothing actually interesting in it.

Episodes 1, 3 and 4 are definitely the weakest episodes for me.

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Episode 3 is the only one that didn't really totally land for me, although it still had some good parts - every other episode I thought was fantastic, the first episode is one of my favorites!

I wonder if the last episode will just be titled "Series Finale"

Called it

That ending stinger though!

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I guess no one else stayed up to watch? Lol

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I have not actually been able to load the episode for the last 40 minutes and believe me, I have been trying

My Internet got knocked out halfway through so...

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Ok I watched it and I have a legitimate beef not related to whether or not certain characters appeared or did not appear or whatever else people may be mad about

FINALE SPOILERS DONT LOOK
whats going on with white Vision now? He just flew away. Is he going to come back in the future? Did he fly away to kill himself?
I think it makes more sense that hes dead, but they needed to be a bit more explicit about it because otherwise youre just going to give people hope that hes coming back somehow.
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