A SPECIAL Zatannurday today.
Normally I talk about DC's resident backward talking magician in fishnets, but today let's spend some time with her Marvel universe counterpart and talk Wanda, Scarlet Witch, and WandaVision!
Ok, so I am going to TRY to avoid big spoilers for this week's big finale, but I am going to talk about some plot points of episodes 8 and 9. Not huge ones, I hope, well...one is.
Anyway, you have been warned! (OH and a minor Runaways spoiler too.)
So, it is not a huge secret that really I am not (or rather, was not) a huge fan of Wanda and Scarlet Witch. She was fun and all, but when it comes to magic in Marvel I am much more a fan of Dr. Strange.
WandaVision, and Elizabeth Olsen, have changed my mind.
The story is actually a simple one of grief pushing someone to the edge, and then right over the side into a weird alternate reality.
We see Wanda, as wonderfully described by Agatha Harkness/Agnes (played by the WONDERFUL Kathryn Hahn in what is the casting of a lifetime really) as "a baby witch with years of therapy ahead of her" instead join a radicalized group (HYDRA we later learn in the movies) and "Little orphan Wanda got up close and personal with an Infinity Stone that amplified what otherwise would have died on the vine." (Episode 8)
In just under 50 minutes we get the best version of Wanda's origin story ever that also explains her powers. She wields chaos magic and in Agatha's own words,
You have no idea how dangerous you are. You're supposed to be a myth, a being capable of spontaneous creation. Here you are, using it to make breakfast for dinner. Oh, yes, your children, Vision, this whole little life you've made. This is chaos magic, Wanda. That makes you... the Scarlet Witch.
Now that is something. The Scarlet Witch is not her code name, but a title, a "The" as it were. That would make something akin to the Imbolc Mage that I use in my games; a superpowerful witch capable of spontaneous magic. I do love a good prophecy about a superpowerful witch.
Beyond that the series, especially episode 8 was full of great material from Vision's "But what is grief, if not love persevering?" to Wanda's breakdown in the home that Vision bought for them (and pure Emmy-bait for Olsen).
But what I think is best about this whole series is not that it is about superpowerful people. It's about things we can relate to.
We are not watching Wanda because she is the Scarlet Witch, we are watching because she was a little girl, who loved her family, her bother, and learning to speak English by watching bootleg DVDs of American sitcoms. She lost her family, her brother, and the love of her life and despite being powerful there isn't a thing she can actually do about it. In the end that is something that everyone can relate to.
Including Agatha "And I Killed Sparky too" Harkness is just the delicious icing on an already great cake.
And that is not even getting into anything else like fake Pietro (called that one early on too!) or even my FIRST Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau as Photon. OH and another appearance of the Darkhold! The first was in Runaways Season 3.
Not sure if there will be a Season 2 or not, but it sets things up nicely for the next Doctor Strange movie.
