Get Spoiled: Surfing the Excellence and the Hype of WandaVision
Oh, goddess, “In-A-Gaddus-Da-Hexa-Hexa” sounds SO STUPID, and, hey, I’m having fun, so I’m a gonna run-runna-run widdit. Certain scenes reminded me of Iron Butterfly’s trippy, psychedelic, early heavy metal hippie anthem, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” The more than a quarter-of-an-hour song spladdled with drunken, stoner spirit and mixed with mystical, psycho-religious romance and sexual innuendo was unleashed upon the planet back in 1968, tho. Some of WandaVision’s mindshows began even earlier, didn’t they? In old movies and even older comic books? At least in some minds…
Marvel’s WandaVision premiered on 15 January 2021 and concluded on the 5th of March. One can watch it on the Disney+ streaming service. For those new to the MCU, make sure you watch the mid-and-end credit scenes at the conclusion of each episode. And, wow, what a show! What a series!
WandaVision is one of the most sophisticated, elegant, and trippy deep television shows ever created. Not only was the so-called Fourth Wall convention routinely broken and broken in quirky ways, but all of the barriers of illusion were perturbed with fiendish delight. One can imagine the actors and production staff giggling off-stage. The show is the equivalent of multiple shows nesting one inside the other like some bizarre blend of Russian dolls and Chinese boxes. With all of the dolls and boxes in motion as well. Aye, this rabbit hole burrows deeper and deeper yet into a warren of rabbit holes.
Furthermore, there were more Easter eggs in WandaVision than any other show I can think of. There were so many Easter eggs I couldn’t count them all and so ended up chasing references to them on YouTube videos and online articles by sharper-eyed fans. The plethora of Easter eggs in WandaVision truly provides Marvel fans with a cornucopia of riches.
There are sundry articles and essays critiquing and reviewing the plot, the cast, and the producers and directors. Look elsewhere for such here. Nevertheless, the quality of the acting and the production is astonishing and demonstrates the power of aggregated wealth for better and worse. Both primary and secondary cast turned in riveting performances in every episode. I developed instant crushes on most of these actors, LOL! They were amazing! Think about it, folks. The writers and the actors turned a comic book show into a literary performance!
Yes, questions were left unanswered and plot holes unfilled. Such as what about the X-Files-type man in the weird beekeeper spacesuit crawling up out of the sewers like spooky Pennywise the Clown in It? What of the biggest elephant in the room, Wanda holding so many people, indeed, an entire town hostage to the point she’s labeled a “terrorist?” Plenty of conversations regarding these topics are found elsewhere online as well. Know the COVID-19 pandemic with its international border closures and grim death rates played a terrible role in this situation.Certain actors and staff, for example, weren’t able to show up for work. Numerous articles and videos exist to guide the curious and the serious on existential deep dives into the MCU.
There is one stinging, burning disappointment that still lingers nearly two months after the final episode: Marvel’s failure to integrate the X-Men Universe into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its dismissal with an abysmally pathetic, corny boner joke. What a hex Marvel put upon all of us out in the audience! Aye, what a hex! We were hexed, LOL! And, OK, it was kinda funny.
After each episode, I got caught up in reviewing each episode in depth by studying far too many fandom articles and YouTube videos and their prophecies. I got caught up in the hype. There were going to be crossovers between different superhero universes, y’all! The X-Men! The Fantastic Four! Reed Richards as Mister Fantastic was gonna show up! WHOA, lookit! That’s QUICKSILVER, people! What a cool way to cross over from the X-Verse, yeah? God, he’s so FAST!
Uh oh, Mephisto must be pulling the strings behind the scenes. Or is that Nightmare? Wait, what about Mystique? What, Dr. Doom? Oh, god no, Ultron again? James Spader was awesome as Ulton, yes, and keep the robogod dead, OK? Well, what about a Celestial? No? The Elementals, then? And, hey, what happened to the Dr. Strange cameo we all heard about over and over again? But, no, all were jokes upon the fans, the very people who sustain and build out the vaster realms of the superhero’verses. Finally, the Ralph Bohner joke demolished the perfect singular opportunity for a unique integration of the X-Men into the MCU.
Disappointment burned briefly as anger before I reminded myself, hey, it’s just a TV show. And lots and lots and LOTS of time, money, and life energy from many people and their organizations went into creating, producing, marketing, and presenting this fantastic jewel of television as high art. After this otherwise spectacular television series concluded I swore off the fandom hype. I got lost in the hype! Got lost in distractions, unsubstantiated hopes, Marvel’s tongue-in-cheek misdirections,
Even so, hats off and a bow to the glory of WandaVision-Inside-A-Gaddus-Da-Hexa-Hexa-Marva-Hexa.
William Dudley Bass
Sunday 7 March 2021
Thursday 29 April 2021
Revised Tuesday 4 May 2021
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Copyright © 2021 by William Dudley Bass. All Rights Reserved by the Author & his Descendants until we Humans establish Wise Stewardship over and for our Earth and Solarian Commons. Thank you.