Superhero: “Wanda-Vision” is the most talked about series of the moment

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From the moment it hit the screens, there is one word that accompanies “Wanda-Vision”, the superhero drama that is broadcast on the streaming streaming service Disney Plus (which is not available in Israel, for now) and comes to an end today (Friday) after 9 episodes. And that word is “weird.” In almost every publication that deals with the series – from the reviews, through the analysis of the plot and the secrets it encodes, to articles about the philosophy of the series and its pretensions – this word is repeated. Admittedly, it often comes with superlatives like “fascinating”, “ambitious” and “brilliant”, and yet – strange.

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From “Wanda-Vision”

(Photo: + Disney)

The consensus is that “Wanda-Vision” is a strange series, and not in vain, since it came from the house of the Marvel Superhero Empire. What’s more, the series is the opening shot for Phase 4 in the long-running deployment of the franchise assets, and the first (real) television swallow of the MCU, the Marvel cinematic universe, on the small screen. In other words, “Wanda-Vision” is a strange series in the context of the superhero genre, and specifically the Marvel works, which for 13 years have been carefully designed according to a fixed pattern, sweetened to the last detail to give the viewer what he wants and expects to receive.

Wanda-Vision – Trailer

But this is not entirely true. Yes, with its enigmatic initial concept – Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and De Vision (Paul Battani), the pair of MCU lovers in love, live in different configurations of the classic American sitcom for generations, even though according to Marvel Vision films In general dead – “Wanda-Vision” significantly deviates from the usual Marvelous product. But she is certainly not as strange as she might have been; As it may have seemed at first, until she began to reveal more and more details that pushed her back to the standard Marvel world. It’s not as blatantly, almost confrontationally weird, that it was “Legion” – the FX superhero drama that went on in abstract, here-and-there avant-garde realms, flirting more with David Lynch’s world than with the “X-Men” world to which it belonged.

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She was already too weird. From “Legion”

(Courtesy of yes)

Eventually, and even before the final episode aired, “Wanda-Vision” returned to the familiar groove. And this is exactly where her greatness lies: in the wise and delightful match she made between the strange and the standard. In its blatant bizarreness, “Legion” alienated fans, appealed only to connoisseurs and was canceled after a couple of seasons. In contrast, “Wanda-Vision” became the most talked about series in the world, a cultural phenomenon in itself, and the main reason for this is the brilliant connection it made between Strange as it may seem, the way it continued to unfold the MCU’s ongoing story, but using tools the franchise has yet to see.

The data published in recent weeks, which places “Wanda-Vision” as a series with the highest percentage of views on streaming platforms – even more than “BridgertonNetflix’s hit – demonstrates the dimensions of the sensation. The obsessive preoccupation with the series crosses borders and sectors. Articles and texts about it wound up everywhere, from The New York Times to Bazafid; , And a host of celebrities rushed to social media to declare their addiction.Jimmy Fallon and Josh Gad, for example, had fun with the game “You are Wanda. Through which sitcoms would you live? “, Which was attended by more than 800 people. Rapper and actor Kid Cady did it more directly, and simply tweeted:” Need. The Wanda-Vision. Now. “Kevin Smith, a well-known comic freak And superheroes, concluded: “God, I love #WandaVision.”

Disney could not have asked for a more successful development for the Marvel production on the small screen, certainly after the total failure of the previous experience – the one in which the series “Daredevil”, “Jessica Jones”, “Luke Cage”, “Iron Fist” were produced “And the series that tied them all together,” The Defenders “(Marvel’s The Defenders). The most important lesson to be assimilated from this failed experience was the affiliation with the MCU. The Disney-Netflix series did take place in the world of Marvel, but were not an organic part of it and did not really continue the narrative of the well-known and beloved cinematic works. “Wanda-Vision”, the first Marvel series created specifically for Disney Plus, fixed it and gave fans a TV extension of the story told on the big screen. What’s more, the television medium has given Marvel the ability to dive deep into the story, the characters and their motives.

In the films, of course, the stories are enslaved first and foremost to the Marvelous blockbuster values ​​- the action scenes, the need to tie the plethora of characters together, the continuity of the previous MCU works and the laying of the foundations for the next in line. But on the small screen, with the breathing space it offers, the usual scale has been reduced, the story has been focused, and the characters – with Wanda at the helm – have only benefited from it. After all, in the various “Avengers” movies, Wanda is a much less developed character. There is no time for trifles like developing decent characters that need to get to the scene where the green giant throws a car at someone, what to do. Here, suddenly, we have time with her. Enough time to dig into her wounded soul, understand her and identify with her. The duties required in a huge franchise, such as the link to previous works from the canon and laying the foundations for those yet to come, have not been neglected. They just got proportioned, and the feeling is that this is exactly what should have happened.

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There is time to dig into her wounded soul. From “Wanda-Vision”

(Photo: + Disney)

It’s interesting to compare “Wanda-Vision” and the other significant asset of Disney Plus – “The MandalorianThe two series are a multi-appeal television branch of giant brands acquired by Disney (“Star Wars”, in the case of the latter), both of which have become sensations and cultural phenomena, along the way producing discussions, analyzes and a wealth of water, and more importantly – streaming millions into the company’s new streaming service. New subscribers. The difference is that “The Mandalorian” did it Old School, in an (very successful) attempt to return to the sources and provide a viewing experience as close as possible to that given by the original Star Wars movie trilogy to viewers, ahead of the soul-stirring of the next trilogy duo. “Vision”, on the other hand, did something bolder – and as mentioned, no less successful. Not only bold in the sense of the unique concept, which took MCU enthusiasts on a strange insulin trip in the history of the American sitcom, with only slight hints of the familiar marvelous world (at least Until the fourth chapter) – but also daring in the thematic sense (henceforth, for those who have not yet expected to beware of * spoilers *).

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Oldschool did it. The Mandalorian

(Photo: + Disney)

Behind the form lies the content, and in the case of “Wanda-Vision”, it is not at all as light and entertaining as the sitcom concept might first suggest. As it turns out as it goes on, the series deals with grief and its consequences, depression and coping with trauma. The imprint left on Wanda by Vision’s death in the MCU’s familiar timeline, the space left after her brother Pietro’s death, her horrific memories of her childhood in the battle-torn state of Sukovia and the experiments of Hydra scientists: the reality of the sitcom in which Wanda and Vision live They are a product of her aching soul and her many scars; An artificial refuge from the overly real pains of reality. The message is that her coping is wrong. Depression and loss cannot be defeated by magic, no matter how enormous – and in Wanda-Vision it becomes clear to us just how enormous Wanda Maximoff’s powers really are.

The choice to engage with these issues, and more through the surprising and intriguing filter of meta-engagement in the television medium, makes “Wanda-Vision” an incredibly bold series. The fact that somehow this hybrid worked, turned out to be coherent and entertaining and successfully charted a new and fascinating way for the ongoing story of the Marvel heroes – well, it’s just very impressive, and promises favors in the future as well. After all, it was a huge gamble, a $ 150 million gamble, for a multi-armed corporation that has always thrived thanks to its homogeneous creative ethos. Now, “Wanda-Vision” has proven to Disney that such risks can pay off, and by and large. Even in a landscape that is filled with ambitious, subversive and daring superhero series – for example “The boys“,”The guards“,”Umbrella Academy“And the picturesque and wonderful” Harley Quinn “that has not yet arrived in the country -” Wanda-Vision “stands out like an infinity stone.

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$ 150 million bet. From “Wanda-Vision”

(Photo: + Disney)

On top of that, her timing couldn’t have been better. After almost a year of confinement in homes and almost complete surrender to television, came “Wanda-Vision” – a series that celebrates the television medium, literally, but also describes it as an escape from reality, a refuge from the pains of the world, a false refuge. The world that Wanda created for herself – with the recorded laughter soundtrack, the board jokes and the happy ending that is required at the end of each episode – turns out to be a kind of prison of consciousness. And this insight adds to the series a dimension of horror that is too real, incredibly relevant, in the current era.

But there is something else that helped make “Wanda-Vision” the most talked about series of recent times, something we have not yet been required to do – it is written, performed and presented in the best way. It’s a pop creation, no doubt, but her great ambition and the inspiration she shows in almost every department makes the series more than that. Take for example the following sentence, offered by Vision Baruch to Wanda, in the eighth chapter: “But what is mourning, if not the perseverance of love?”.

This moment has gained a lot of attention in the network since it was broadcast, and not surprisingly, because it is definitely not a trivial sentiment, what on the surface is nothing more than another product on the production line. But throughout the season, even in light of the familiar marvelous elements that grew stronger with it as it went on, “Wanda-Vision” has proven time and time again that even a production line can sometimes emerge as something truly genuine. The huge success of the series is gratifying because it proves that even for this, unique and ambitious and brave (relatively; everything is relative) – there will be an admiring global audience. All you have to do is dare and try.

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