I’m sure a lot of you have been wondering about the hype surrounding Wandavision. For those that don’t have access to Disney+, I’m here to catch you up. After watching the first season I can honestly say that this is the most well-developed series Marvel has produced. From Elisabeth Olsen’s acting to the plot, the show ticks all the boxes. Be forewarned, this review will include spoilers, so if you haven’t watched Wandavision and plan on watching it later, read at your own risk. 

Chapter 1: The Aftermath

Episodes 1-6 revolve around Wanda living an alternative life inside a bubble known as the “Hex” with Vision, who is supposed to be dead. The series starts off slow, with each episode revealing small details about how Wanda created this new reality. Eventually Vision learns the truth, that he and the world they’re living in were artificially created by Wanda. The situation grows even more complicated given the fact that Wanda has gotten pregnant and given birth to two twins while inside the Hex. Her dead twin brother, Quicksilver, also reappears throwing Wanda for loop as she does not remember creating him. 

Outside the Hex, the organization named “S.W.O.R.D” works to recover the people trapped inside it as well as to regain control of Wanda. The organization is headed by a man named Hayward who succeeded the late Maria Rambeau. Rambeau was first introduced in the movie Captain Marvel where she and Marvel were close friends. After the Snap, Maria’s daughter Monica is revived after being disintegrated. By this point her mother has died of cancer and Hayward has taken control of S.W.O.R.D. For the people who haven’t watched Wandavision yet, let’s just say that Monica will become a very important character later on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

My Reaction: 

Honestly, I really liked how well done the build up was done in the show. The whole time watching the first six episodes I was constantly thinking about what would happen next. The relationship between Wanda and Vision was expanded upon in a nice way, to the point where I feel I’m in a whole relationship with them. My one critique is how they developed Monica Rambeau, I feel like her interactions with Hayward were too submissive for me. I didn’t like how she let Hayward undermine her and never checked him. Other than that I enjoyed this half of the show. 

Chapter 2: The Scarlet Witch

The last two episodes of the season reveal the secret behind Wanda’s powers and how she eventually gets her superhero name, the Scarlet Witch. Agnes, a recurring character in the previous episodes, reveals herself to be a 300 year old witch named Agatha Harkness. She then uses her magic to show Wanda her past life in Salem, Massachusetts, where Agatha is seen being punished by the coven there for practicing dark magic and “stealing knowledge above her station.” Agatha then proceeds to drain the coven of their magic, and kills the head witch who also happens to be Agatha’s mother. After the flashback ends, Wanda is interrogated by Agatha, who reveals that she came to the Hex because she sensed Wanda’s immense magical power. She proceeds to question Wanda about the source of her power, to which Wanda has no answer.

Agatha grows frustrated with Wanda’s lack of knowledge and forces her to relive her past. Wanda is then seen stopping a bomb using latent powers when she was a child, and also shows how she was empowered by the Mind Stone. Agatha fast forwards to when Wanda created the Hex, and finds out that she used “Chaos Magic” out of grief to construct an alternate reality. Agatha is startled by this and names Wanda the “Scarlet Witch,” a being that can create life from nothing.

The final battle features the alternate reality Vision and a “White Vision” created by S.W.O.R.D using Vision’s corpse. Wanda’s children, who appear to have developed powers, confront the military with the help of Monica Rambeau. Monica gains energy-based powers as a result of crossing into the Hex multiple times. The main battle between Wanda and Agatha is excellent, with  Wanda showing a wide array of abilities never seen before. Ultimately, Agatha fails in stealing Wanda’s Chaos Magic, and ends up helping Wanda accept her magic.  Now, Scarlet Witch is shown transforming a new and improved costume, similar to her comic book one. I think she looks outstanding in this – the hair is popping and the dark red aesthetic makes me love it even more.  

My Reaction: 

Ok…so that freaking outfit, I think she looks outstanding in it – the hair is popping and the dark red aesthetic makes me love it even more. I’m a major magic geek, like I can literally tell you what every Harry Potter spell does, so this half of the episode pleased me immensely. The whole Agatha vs. Wanda arc was for me the best part of the show, since we finally got to see the full extent of Wanda’s awakened powers.  The introduction of actual magic outside of the realm of Dr. Strange was interesting to see, as it really showed the different kinds of magic-users out there. I don’t really want to spoil the battle between Wanda and Agatha, but I’ll just say that it was a serious light show. 

The series ends with Wanda dispelling the Hex, giving up her new family in the process. As someone, who watched the series all the way through, I almost cried during this part. Wanda flies off and isolates herself, with the show ending with a scene of her studying the Darkhold, a book stolen from Agatha that is said to corrupt anyone who reads it. Overall I think Wandavision was really well done, and does a good job of highlighting Scarlet Witch’s back story. The series received a 91% critic rating and a 81% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The show does start off slow at first, but is a nice change of pace from Marvel’s usual “shoot’em up, bang bang” type shows.