How to Watch WandaVision in Australia, and What You Need to Know Before Streaming
Look alive, Marvel fans! Disney’s fresh (and kind of unusual-looking) series WandaVision is set to drop on Disney+ in a matter of days.
Hitting screens from January 15, the series follows Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) as they travel through life, and time, in suburban America. As the odd couple moves through their experience, they realise that their world is not as simple as it may seem.
The series, which has been directed by Matt Shakman, looks phenomenal if you ask me. But is there any assumed knowledge in this series? Any comics we need to brush up on in preparation for episode one?
I did some digging to find out.
What you should know about Wanda:
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we first meet Wanda during Captain America: The Winter Soldier. As Empire mag writes, the character is introduced along with her brother Pietro. The pair are natives to Sokovia – a fictional country in Eastern Europe where HYDRA performed a number of experiments – and they each gained superpowers after taking part in said experiments.
She appears again in Avengers: Age Of Ultron; Captain America: Civil War; Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Spoiler alert: Wanda dies in the original snap, but obviously comes back in Endgame to help take down Thanos.
What you should know about Vision:
Vision steps into the MCU during Avengers: Age Of Ultron. He is created by Ultron using the Mind Stone from Loki’s sceptre. Eventually, the Avengers get a hold of him and use Tony Stark’s AI tech to update his consciousness – from that point he’s a team member. He very quickly builds a connection with Wanda.
Vision also appears in Captain America: Civil War; Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Spoiler alert two: Vision is another casualty of Thanos, but is alive (kind of) and breathing by the end of Endgame.
What you should know about Wanda and Vision:
You’ll see the story of Wand and Vision as a couple start to develop in Captain America: Civil War, but they’re officially a pair by the time we get to Avengers: Infinity War.
As Mashable writes, it appears WandaVision draws from comics House of M and The Vision. House of M is based around Wanda having trouble controlling her powers. In the story, she kicks off an alternate reality based on everyone’s “deepest wish”. The outlet, and many others, theorise that this could mean the old-school sitcom aesthetic of WandaVision is based around a warped version of Wanda’s wish to be with a human Vision.
The Vision is similarly closely connected to WandaVision’s storyline. As shared by the Hollywood Reporter, this comic is based on the story of Vision creating a false life for himself with a wife and family in Fairfax, Virginia. Then murders begin happening. (Yikes.)
This series also engages with the character of Agatha Harkness – Wanda’s mentor – who many believe Kathryn Hahn’s character of Agnes is based on.
Between the Marvel movies and the two comics, there’s a fair bit of content to catch up on before the 15th but rest assured – the creators of the series say you’ll be able to follow along fine without it. This is just fun extra credit for nerds like me who want to get their Marvel on.
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