WandaVision

WandaVision is an upcoming American streaming television miniseries created for Disney+ by Jac Schaeffer, based on the Marvel Comics characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The series takes place after the events of the film Avengers: Endgame (2019). WandaVision was produced by Marvel Studios, with Schaeffer serving as head writer and Matt Shakman directing.

Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany reprise their roles as Wanda Maximoff and Vision, respectively, from the film series. Teyonah Parris, Kat Dennings, Randall Park, and Kathryn Hahn also star. By September 2018, Marvel Studios was developing a number of limited series for Disney+, centered on supporting characters from the MCU films such as Maximoff and Vision, with Olsen and Bettany expected to return. Schaeffer was hired in January 2019, the series was officially announced that April, and Shakman joined in August. Filming began in Atlanta, Georgia in November 2019, before production was halted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed in Los Angeles by July 2020 and completed by November 2020.

WandaVision is scheduled to premiere on January 15, 2021, and will consist of six episodes. It will be the first series in Phase Four of the MCU.

Premise
Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Wanda Maximoff and Vision are living the ideal suburban life in the town of Westview, trying to conceal their powers. But as they begin to enter new decades and encounter television tropes, the couple suspects things are not as they seem.

Main
An Avenger who can harness magic, engage in telepathy and telekinesis, and alter reality. Olsen said the series would explain how and why Maximoff becomes known as the Scarlet Witch, as she had not been called that in previous Marvel Cinematic Universe appearances, with executive producer Kevin Feige adding that the series would explore the extent and origin of Maximoff's powers. WandaVision also shows the character becoming more in line with the version in the comics, including depicting her mental health and illness. Olsen was thrilled the series was able to focus on Maximoff and not "through everyone else's story lines", and was sold on joining the series when Feige mentioned specific Scarlet Witch comic storylines that were being used as inspiration for WandaVision. She also felt her "ownership" of Maximoff from engaging with her development as a character and that this was strengthened by her time working on the series. An android and former Avenger created using the artificial intelligences J.A.R.V.I.S. and Ultron as well as the Mind Stone. Vision appears in the series after his death in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). The daughter of Air Force pilot Maria Rambeau who has a "toughness and an ability to be a woman" in a male-dominated world. As a child, she looked up to her mother's friend and colleague Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel. Maximoff and Vision's "nosy neighbor". Hahn described Agnes as the neighbor "that won't get off their couch at the end of the night" and is "always in [their] business". Hahn was fascinated by the "jolts of adrenaline and humanity" the MCU provided and the fact it had a "gasp of human magic".
 * Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch:
 * Paul Bettany as Vision:
 * Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau:
 * Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis: A political science major who was an intern for Jane Foster and befriended Thor.
 * Randall Park as Jimmy Woo: An FBI agent who was the parole officer of Scott Lang / Ant-Man.
 * Kathryn Hahn as Agnes:

Recurring

 * Jolene Purdy

Guest

 * Fred Melamed as Arthur Heart: Maximoff and Vision's neighbor.
 * Debra Jo Rupp as Mrs. Heart: Arthur's wife and Maximoff and Vision's neighbor.

Additionally, Asif Ali has been cast in an undisclosed role.

Development
By September 2018, Marvel Studios was developing several limited series for its parent company Disney's streaming service, Disney+, to be centered on supporting characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films who had not starred in their own films, such as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch. Actors who portrayed the characters in the films were expected to reprise their roles for the limited series, including Elizabeth Olsen as Maximoff. The series were expected to be six to eight episodes each, have a "hefty [budget] rivaling those of a major studio production", and be produced by Marvel Studios rather than Marvel Television, which produced previous MCU television series. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was believed to be taking a "hands-on role" in each limited series' development, focusing on "continuity of story" with the films and "handling" the actors who would be reprising their roles from the films. By the end of October, Paul Bettany's Vision was expected to play a significant role in the series, which would focus on the relationship between Maximoff and Vision. In the following months, the titles Vision and the Scarlet Witch and The Vision and Scarlet Witch were both reported for the series.

Jac Schaeffer was hired as head writer of the series in January 2019 after previously working as a writer on the films Captain Marvel (2019) and Black Widow (2021) for Marvel Studios. Schaeffer was set to write the pilot episode and executive produce the series. That April, Disney and Marvel officially announced the series with the title WandaVision. Later in the month, Olsen indicated parts of the series would be set in the 1950s. In August, Matt Shakman was hired to direct the miniseries, which consists of six episodes. Budgets for each episode were reported to be as much as $25 million. WandaVision has been described as part "classic sitcom", part "Marvel epic" by Feige, "super avant-garde and weird" by Bettany, a "full-on action movie" mixed with sitcoms that was "wild" by fellow actor Teyonah Parris, and a series that is "marrying epic superhero action with small-town sitcom silliness" by co-executive producer Mary Livanos.

Writing
Schaeffer hired eight writers for the series' writers room, including four women and several people of color because of her belief that "stories are better the more perspectives you have". Megan McDonnell served as a staff writer on the series, before being promoted to story editor. Feige came up with having Maximoff and Vision be in "a strange fantasy world of suburban bliss" due to him being a "self-professed" lover of sitcoms and how they could be used to escape from reality. Feige, along with Schaefer, Shakman, and Livanos, dedicated themselves to "nail down" on the series' "irreverent tone". Schaeffer said WandaVision was "a love letter to the golden age of television", and while it pays tribute to many past sitcoms, it was "also trying to blaze new territory". Bettany added that WandaVision would pay homage to many eras and genres of American television throughout the years, including modern documentary-style sitcoms like Modern Family and The Office. Both Schaeffer and Shakman studied past sitcoms to learn their "trappings and styles" and spoke with Dick Van Dyke, the star of the eponymous 1960s sitcom to learn how that series could "be very broad with silly physical-comedy gags, and yet it never feels false". Van Dyke told the two that they were guided by what could and could not happen in real life, to depict what was done in the show. Livanos noted how they had fun "mess[ing] with expectations" of past suburban family sitcoms and compared the "programmed" love of them to how Vision is a combination of the violent robot Ultron and the wisecracking artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.I.S. Maximoff and Vision's romance helps ground the series, with Schaeffer adding "It's always so appealing when outsiders find each other. They're both different with capital s."

Olsen noted that there were "plenty of comic books that support" the characters appearing in a sitcom setting. Comic book writer Tom King indicated in October 2019 that his run on The Vision would be an inspiration for WandaVision. With the release of the series' official trailer in September 2020, some commentators noted this influence as well as references to the "House of M" comic book storyline,  The Vision and the Scarlet Witch by Bill Mantlo and Rick Leonardi, and The Vision and the Scarlet Witch by Steve Englehart and Richard Howell, in which Scarlet Witch becomes pregnant by "magical means" with Vision.

Schaeffer compared her work on the series to the film Black Widow, saying WandaVision would be "the polar opposite" to the film's style of aggressive, visceral action. Feige described the series as an opportunity to tell the story of Maximoff and Vision, show more of what Maximoff can do, further explore who Vision is, and introduce the comic book name "Scarlet Witch" to the MCU "in ways that are entirely fun, entirely funny, somewhat scary, and will have repercussions for the entire future of Phase Four of the MCU". He added that WandaVision would "work" as a series for any viewer who was not familiar with all of the prior MCU films, but added those who have seen all the films and were following the trajectory of the planned Phase Four stories, there would be "a wealth of rewards waiting for you as it all unfolds". The series takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), and will "directly set up" the Phase Four film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), in which Olsen reprises her role as Maximoff.

Casting
With the official announcement of the series in April 2019 came confirmation that Olsen and Bettany would reprise their roles of Maximoff and Vision, respectively, in the series. Teyonah Parris was announced to have been cast in the role of Monica Rambeau in July 2019; the character was introduced to the MCU as an eleven-year-old, played by Akira Akbar, in Captain Marvel, which was set in 1995. The next month, Kat Dennings and Randall Park were set to reprise their respective MCU film roles as Darcy Lewis and Jimmy Woo, while Kathryn Hahn was also cast as Agnes. Dennings previously appeared in the films Thor (2011) and Thor: The Dark World (2013), and felt her character's role in the series was "somewhat of a surprise" for fans, while Park joined the series following a general meeting with Marvel to discuss Woo's future in the MCU after his introduction in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018). Schaeffer called it "fun" to feature Dennings and Park in the series, since both were "veteran" sitcoms actors, previously appearing in 2 Broke Girls and Fresh Off the Boat, respectively. Asif Ali was also cast in the series, as was Jolene Purdy in a recurring role, which were both revealed in October 2020.

Filming
Filming began in early November 2019, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, with Shakman directing, and Jess Hall serving as cinematographer. The series is filmed under the working title Big Red. Filming was previously reported to begin on September 21 in Los Angeles, California. The first episode of the series filmed for two days in black and white, and had a live studio audience present, to mimic sitcom filming. Olsen had previously indicated that there were discussions regarding whether the series would also use a laugh track. 1950s appropriate camera lenses and lighting were used in the episode, while the special effects team created wire rigs, along with camera tricks, to make props move by Maximoff's magic, as was done in series like Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. When shooting scenes in black and white, Bettany was painted blue when acting as Vision, rather than the character's maroon color, since the blue appeared better in the grayscale image. Both Olsen and Bettany found the experience of the premiere to be surreal and unique.

Location shooting took place in the Atlanta metropolitan area throughout the months of December 2019 and February 2020. A filming wrap party for the series occurred on March 1, but production for the series was still underway on March 14 when it was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming resumed in Los Angeles in July 2020, and was still ongoing by that October. Filming took place on Blondie Street at the Warner Bros. Ranch in Burbank, California where past sitcoms had also been filmed. Shakman felt the Blondie Street backlot had "that weird sense of fakeness" that no real-life street could replicate. By mid-November, production had wrapped, with Olsen shooting back-to-back with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Bettany said that some "very clever things" were done during filming, given the series had to make six hours of content on a budget similar to those for a two-and-a-half hour MCU film. Feige added that as the series progresses through the sitcom decades, it would emulate "the talk-to-the-camera, shaky-camera, documentary style" of some modern sitcoms.

Music
In January 2020, Christophe Beck announced that he would compose the music for the series; he previously wrote the scores for Ant-Man (2015) and Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Marketing
At Disney's biennial convention D23, a teaser for the series was shown that combined footage of Maximoff and Vision from previous MCU films with images from old sitcom television series The Dick Van Dyke Show and Father Knows Best. The series was promoted as part of Expanding the Universe, a Marvel Studios special that debuted on Disney+ on November 12, 2019. In December, Feige debuted the first image from the series at Comic Con Experience. Vinnie Mancuso of Collider found the image to be "very ", highlighting the "old-school black and white" coloring. A commercial for the series and fellow Marvel Studios Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki, was shown during Super Bowl LIV. Inverse's Dais Johnston noted that the clips shown visually referenced past sitcoms spanning different eras, including The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–1966), Leave It to Beaver (1957–1963), Bewitched (1964–1972), The Brady Bunch (1969–1974), Roseanne (1988–1997), and Full House (1987–1995). Johnston thought the series would be "a must-see not only for Marvel fans but also for anyone looking for a hit of nostalgia: the era-spanning framework means anyone can relive the shows of their childhood in this age of streaming." Julia Alexander of The Verge said the footage "wasn't much" but offered "enough glimpses to tease fans". Haleigh Foutch at Collider felt of all the Super Bowl commercials, Marvel's teasers "stole the whole show" and had "a lot to get excited about". Foutch said the WandaVision footage was "the most exciting", saying it was "utterly strange and unpredictable looking".

The series' official trailer was released on September 20, 2020, during the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards. The trailer received 55.7 million online views within 24 hours, including 36.1 million on YouTube, 4.9 million on Facebook, and 10.1 million on Instagram, which was believed to be the highest number ever for a streaming service's television series trailer. The views were also compared to those received by trailers released during the Super Bowl. WandaVision also had over 302,600 social mentions, trending on Twitter immediately after a teaser aired during the Emmy Awards ahead of the full trailer's release, ultimately trending fourth on Twitter; the trailer was the number two trending video on YouTube as well. Ethan Anderton from /Film said the footage in the trailer "looks like one of the most trippy Marvel projects to date". He also pointed out Vision wearing a Halloween costume version of the character's comic design as an indication there would be "more lighthearted stuff in this series too". Matt Patches at Polygon called the trailer "a hoot, full of bright colors and odd behavior", adding that it still left much of the series a mystery. Comic Book Resources' Noah Dominguez said the trailer "offers quite a bit in terms of content" with "a vivid look at some of the visual tricks on display". Charles Pulliam-Moore of io9 called the trailer's use of "Twilight Time" by The Platters "the most haunting" of "all the strange things featured in" it. As well, he felt the trailer was edited to create "the effect of rapidly flipping through television channels in search of something good to watch", and pointed out how the static visuals when Wanda changed things around her made "it unclear whether what she's interacting with is real or not". Moore also said the last part of the trailer showing Teyonah Parris as the adult Monica Rambeau was the trailer's "money shot". The Hollywood Reporter's Richard Newby described the trailer as "jam-packed with information" and felt that it "gives fans quite a lot to look forward to, as well as some mysteries to ponder over leading up to the premiere".

Release
WandaVision is scheduled to debut on January 15, 2021 on Disney+, and will consist of six episodes. The series was announced as releasing in early 2021, which was moved forward to a December 2020 release, before moving back to the early 2021 slot. It will be the first series in Phase Four of the MCU.