WANDAVISION: An Accidental Encapsulation of the Marvel Fanbase
Disney/MarvelAfter a decade-long experiment divided into three distinct phases and involving a multitude of feature films, TV shows and miniseries working in tandem to advance a gargantuan interconnected narrative arc, the idea of MCU changing gears looked positively revolutionary in comparison. WandaVision, the first Marvel outing as a Disney+ exclusive was promising a much welcome change of pace as it touted a scaled-down story focusing on characters and atmosphere, as opposed to setting up plot points and narrative threads to be picked up further down the line by future films and shows.
Even the most surface-level understanding of the way Marvel operates is enough to figure out that WandaVision was not intended to be just a pared down palate cleanser about Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and her grief after witnessing the gruesome death of her romantic partner The Vision (Paul Bettany) at the hands of Thanos (Josh Brolin) in the final scenes of Avengers: Infinity War. Although the miniseries decidedly removed itself (both in narrative and aesthetic terms) from the modus operandi of a comic book movie in its initial episodes, its goal was not to look closely at Wanda’s suffering and the way she sequestered herself in the comfort zone of her own memories, which also happened to have real-life ramification because she unwittingly ensnared an entire town and forced the world around her to partake in her hallucinations. The seemingly refreshing idea of embracing visual symbolism and having it work in service of a character-driven mystery – while enticing in its own right – quickly revealed itself as short-sighted and yet again subservient to big picture considerations of the Phase Four of the MCU experiment.
It has been noticed as the show was running, WandaVision may not be as ambitious as the MCU fans were prepared to admit. Though it was intriguing, at least initially, to follow down the rabbit hole and try to piece together the puzzle this show was, its resolution did not offer much beyond what’s expected of any Marvel story. Wanda’s character was supposed to unlock a certain set of abilities, a handful of plot threads were laid out to be picked up by the next Captain Marvel and Doctor Strange films, and the whole hootenanny was meant to climax with a familiar showdown laden with special effects and visual tomfoolery. Therefore, it wasn’t exactly surprising to find that the exploration of grief and loss the show could have tackled in greater detail – and with at least a modicum of soulfulness – was conveniently swept under the rug as soon as it was humanly possible to make space for inoffensive, self-aware humour and a plethora of carefully engineered and focus-tested fan service. WandaVision was never supposed to stray from the beaten track, or at least not far enough to alienate the MCU fanbase who have specific expectations.
This is where the entire discussion about WandaVision and its place in the grand landscape of popular culture could safely end because it was never envisioned to have an impact on the world at large. This show was specifically calculated to pander to very specific demographics, set up future events in the MCU and do absolutely nothing else. It was not supposed – nor would it have the faculties to do so anyway! – to interact with the wider culture and exist within the current zeitgeist on its own terms. After all, it is a slave to the master plan concocted by the head honchos in Marvel and Disney and – as Martin Scorsese would certainly agree – its purpose is not to exist as a piece of emotionally-rousing art, but rather a piece of content and a building block facilitating the existence of other pieces of content which will be laid upon it in the future.
However, its existence is not entirely useless in cultural terms because WandaVision supports a metaphorical meta-reading that – ironically enough – describes and comments on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its fanbase. For this, one has to assume a more holistic perspective over this whole project and look back at how it had taken shape over the years. While initially cinema-goers and fans of characters such as Iron-Man and Thor were cheering the risky notion of setting up an entire universe of movies connected by something more than Easter eggs and little winks and nods left behind by self-aware filmmakers, it was nearly impossible to see where MCU would go and what kind of an impact it would have over the landscape of blockbusters. It could be successfully argued that, thanks to MCU, comic book movies have truly become a genre in their own right and now rule the roost the way westerns did seventy years ago. This is quite an achievement, considering the fact they have been present in the popular culture (in different guises) for many decades now. Though, in contrast to westerns, which have diffused over time into other genres and aspects of culture, the world of MCU has become increasingly insular and fenced itself off from the outside world . . . which is exactly what Wanda Maximoff did in WandaVision. And it’s not the healthiest state of affairs.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that what Wanda did in the show was an unhealthy act of lashing out and a manifestation of one of the five stages of grief – denial. She was unwilling and unable to accept her partner’s death so she stuck her fingers in her ears and pretended the world around her did not exist. She created an imaginary comfort zone where everything was exactly as she liked it and nothing or no-one would ever come close to challenging her in any way. This pretty much illustrates the dynamic between the content – movies and shows – churned out by Marvel and their fanbase eating it up because it is not designed out of a necessity to tell a good story or to express any kind of artistic drive. It is rather a manifestation of what a corporation thinks their customers would like and it creates a self-sustaining (perhaps even self-amplifying) vicious circle of pandering. Marvel is making movies their diehard apologists are scientifically proven to enjoy and their fans are completely at home with the notion of not leaving this comfort zone and opening their minds to anything different, let alone allowing for their worldview to be challenged.
This inherently fosters an unhealthy tribal atmosphere in the cultural discourse, because MCU fans stuck in their own private Westview hex have now evolved to become completely unable to handle any form of criticism aimed at the MCU. Equally, thanks to the umbrella of anonymity afforded by the wonders of social media openly fostering aggressive skirmishes between opponents and supporters of comic book films, a Cold War-like status quo is slowly emerging on Twitter and other marketplaces of opinion. Exchange of ideas and perspectives between what can be described as warring factions is slowly dying out as supporters of MCU (and other comic book movies) revert to their comfort zone echo chambers while their detractors mingle amongst themselves as well. A seemingly impenetrable wall has been thus erected between the universe of Marvel, in which its fanbase is held in a magical bind, and the rest of the world of cinema.
However, this barrier is semi-permeable because it allows influx of inspiration to feed the growth of MCU. As time goes on, more ideas and talent are being absorbed into this bubble, where following a crash course of Orwell-esque thought-shaping, they are incorporated into the blob. Great independent filmmakers end up sucked into this void, just as some specific ideas lifted from different corners of cinematic legacy make their way to the inside. Visual tropes from Inception made their way into Doctor Strange much in the same way as traits of a paranoid thriller informed Captain America: Winter Soldier. The manner in which they do so mimics the way external objects are changed when they enter Wanda’s hallucinated fantasy. Furthermore, once these ideas are assimilated for the purposes of the MCU, they are effectively untethered from their origins and within the confines of the MCU hex they are only comparable to other elements of the MCU. It is extremely rare to see comic book movies compared to anything else but other comic book movies. For all intents and purposes the outside world doesn’t exist for its inhabitants because any interaction between the two is always accompanied by a structural manipulation of any object coming from the outside. Humvees change into period-accurate ice-cream vans in Wandavision. Star Wars is molecularly reconstituted to become Guardians of the Galaxy in the plane of filmmaking. Taika Waititi becomes a corporate yes-man happy to have his movie pre-visualised eighteen months before he’s formally hired to direct. The MCU hex expands at the expense of the world around it. Like a pop-cultural tumour.
This semi-permeability of the boundary between the insular world of the MCU culture and everything outside is equally fascinating as it is frightening. To come back to the aforementioned comparative case of the genre of western, which freely diffused into the popular culture and left its legacy in all corners of cinema, this is not the case here. While elements of the outside influence are able to make it into the MCU, the MCU itself does not influence the outside world in the same way any other genres did in the past. In fact, the only tangible impact on the world of cinema Marvel has had over the last ten years is that many other studios tried to replicate that insular hex and create their own echo chambers of fandom. Some were more successful than others in doing so, but nobody came close to replicating this formula. And on a more granular level, the only thing MCU seem to successfully inspire and influence are other prospective MCU films and TV shows.
Just like subsequent episodes of WandaVision, the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe evolves by manipulating its aesthetic every so often – but not enough to alienate the zombified inhabitants of their cultural hex – as well as by incorporating new entities into its fabric to spread the load of carrying the ever-growing narrative snowball. However, none of its underlying mechanics are ever altered. This, in a way, turns WandaVision into a useful prognostic tool for the future of the entire Marvel Universe: although it might look occasionally as though it developed a personality or a soul, it is unlikely to be deep enough to be lasting.
WandaVision commenced by assimilating elements of inspiration from Twin Peaks and Pleasantville only to eventually settle for a familiar climax where the protagonists square off against mirror-image villains. Therefore, it’s equally unlikely to assume that subsequent phases of the MCU will include a tangible or sustainable departure from the established norm. They might look like they are about to, but it will inevitably end with a massive showdown split into two movies directed by The Russo Brothers. And quite frankly why Marvel would even dream of thinking outside the box when they are oh-so-comfortably entrenched inside it? Fans don’t want novelty anyway. All they want is to be pandered to.
