What does the new trailer for "WandaVision" reveal?
The first proper trailer for "WandaVision", Marvel Studios' first series, has been released. In a nutshell: confusing, unreal and particularly clever. The 80-second trailer reveals more than you might expect.
Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) find themselves in an absurd TV series universe. They are the perfect couple. The picture is in black and white and everyone is in an unusually good mood.
"We're a couple like no other," says Wanda.
"We never doubted it for a second," replies Vision.
Recorded laughter.
Fans will be scratching their heads, because they know that Vision died in "Avengers: Infinity War". So he shouldn't be alive anymore. And what about the joy of Wanda, who should actually be mourning her departed loved one?
There's something not quite right. The new trailer makes you want to know more.
What is "WandaVision" about?
The world in "WandaVision" doesn't match reality. Vision is alive and remembers almost nothing. Not even the fact that he's dead. The settings change every second. It goes from a black and white setting like in "My Beloved Witch" to the colour image typical of 1980s series like in "The Party at Home".
See for yourself.
What does the trailer want to reveal? Does "WandaVision" really take place in a parallel world? Or is it another dimension? There's this scene in which a man and a woman are invited to eat at Wanda and Vision's house. They want to know where the young couple, who have apparently just married, came from and when the wedding took place. Wanda and Vision both want to answer. But neither can. They look desperate. Words fail them. An atmosphere of distrust sets in. Then reality collapses, before suddenly rebuilding itself. But this time, in colour. Wanda and Vision are happy again.
What's going on?
If you analyse the sequence in more detail, you can see some important clues, most notably when Wanda magically fills empty wine glasses with a bottle floating in the air. The label on the bottle reads: "House of Contempt". This is no coincidence. Is someone here scorning reality?
The English translation of the label is far more interesting: 'House of Contempt'. This is presumably a nod to "House of M", a comics event released in 2005, written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel.
"House of M" basically tells the story of a Wanda gone mad with grief as she mourns her murdered children. Using her powers, she changes the structure of reality in order to bring her children back to life, which has devastating repercussions on the reality of every living thing on earth.
So "WandaVision" could loosely be based on "House of M". Instead of mourning the loss of her children, she mourns the loss of Vision. To bring him back to her, she creates new realities in which there is no suffering, only joy. A bit like a 1950s series.
The series element again looks straight out of Tom King's 2016 comic book series "Vision". Which is, incidentally, one of Marvel's best comic book series, if you haven't read it yet. In these comics, Vision would like to fulfil his dearest desire, which is to be a normal human being. He was originally created as a weapon by the villain Ultron. His primary mission was to destroy humanity. Vision rebelled and destroyed his creator. Since then, the synthesoid, which is not human but has human feelings, has been searching for his identity.
In the comic strip "Vision", he starts a real family with a wife and children who look like him, who have the same faculties as him and who would like to lead a completely normal suburban middle-class life like him. The comic book series always asks the same question: what does it mean to be human? That said, the images created by the cartoonist
Gabriel Hernandez Walta have not only become an icon of the series, but are strongly reminiscent of "WandaVision".
Of course, things take a turn for the worse in "Vision". At one point, Vision fights the Avengers to protect his family. You can see something along those lines in the trailer for "WandaVision".
But I'll come back to that...
Who is the mysterious black-haired woman?
Wanda and Vision seem to be the only constants in this ever-changing reality. That's not all: there's the dark-haired woman, played by Kathryn Hahn, who herself said as recently as last October that she'd just been hired to play a "noisy neighbour".
The nosy neighbour appears in all versions of the "WandaVision" realities and seems to know more than the two protagonists themselves, for example that Vision is in fact already dead. Indeed, precisely in the scene where she sits in the car dressed as a witch.
No, but did you see that costume! For many fans, this is indirect confirmation of what they already assumed: Kathryn Hahn is soon to play Agatha Harkness, a powerful and very old witch who was Wanda's mentor in the comics. In the story leading up to 'House of M', she was the one who taught Wanda magic so that she could have children, the same children who were to become her mentors.have children, the same children who later die and whose death serves as a prelude to the events of "House of M".
In "WandaVision", it could be that Wanda has turned to Agatha to bring Vision back to life. Or, at least, to create a reality in which he still lives. For all we know, Wanda is being played by Agatha. After all, Wanda is just as confused as Vision in the scenes where reality collapses.
Do we have our antagonist here?
Monica Rambeau and the army
At the end of the trailer, the bubble of false reality bursts completely. A woman is thrown backwards out of what is presumably the reality created by Wanda's abilities.
We already know the woman's name is Monica Rambeau and she's played by Teyonah Parris.
This isn't the first time Monica Rambeau has appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Indeed, we've already seen her as a child in "Captain Marvel", where the character was played by Akira Akbar. In the comics, Monica Rambeau has the same abilities as Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel. In the film, however, she doesn't yet. At least not when she's a child. Who knows, maybe it's right in this scene that she gets her superhuman faculties.
In any case, the reality bubble seems to be worrying the military. This is revealed in the final seconds of the trailer when Monica Rambeau finds herself thrown to the ground in front of a military camp that appears to be a siege.
As in "House of M", Wanda's construction of reality threatens to have repercussions on an unsuspected scale for the rest of humanity. This must be prevented. Probably with the help of Monica Rambeau.
When and where can you watch "WandaVision"?
So far, according to the only official announcement, "WandaVision" will be released exclusively on Disney+ at the end of the year. I'm betting it'll be in December. Have you seen the trailer for the second season of 'The Mandalorian'? It's really cool and it starts on October 30. With eight episodes of 'The Mandalorian', 25 December would be the perfect date for the start of 'WandaVision'.
That would be a great Christmas present.
Am I missing something? I don't think so. If, watching the trailer, any other details jump out at you, write them in the comments. I'm curious.
I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.»