Yahoo Movies 'Funny, clever, creepy': First reactions land for Marvel 'sitcom' WandaVision
Watch: WandaVision trailer
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The first reactions are beginning to emerge for Marvel's ambitious new series WandaVision, the 'sitcom' that's not really a sitcom.
Set in what appears to be some kind of time-travelling alternate reality, it finds Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff – aka Scarlet Witch – and Paul Bettany's Vision in wedded bliss.
As we've seen from the show's trailers, the couple are living together in a typical, all-American suburb, with homage to classic US sitcoms coming thick and fast – everything from Bewitched to I Love Lucy.
But not all is as it seems, and behind the show's corny gags and laugh track something more sinister is hiding.
Read more: Olsen reveals why she preferred Infinity War to Endgame
Critics have now been shown the first three episodes of the series that will be available on Disney+, and it all looks very promising.
I got to see the first three episodes of #WandaVision and it was everything I hoped it would be: funny, clever, creepy, and above all, sort of tragic.
The reality is: WandaVision is taking the Marvel Cinematic Universe places it has never gone before, and there's no going back. pic.twitter.com/BzNujPcUtP— Hector Navarro (@Hectorisfunny) January 9, 2021
Have seen the first 3 episodes of #Wandavision and *LOVE* how big of a swing @MarvelStudios is taking with the series. The reason the #MCU is king of the hill is @Kevfeige’s amazing leadership and willingness to take risks like what you'll see in 'Wandavision'. pic.twitter.com/EgUUUxXudh
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) January 9, 2021
Very, VERY into what they're doing with #WandaVision after seeing the first 3 episodes. It's different, and it might take a moment to adjust but, thus far, this feels like a creative pivot well worth taking - one that's highly entertaining and could have a huge payoff. pic.twitter.com/PQjKouT77z
— Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) January 9, 2021
WANDAVISION is a tantalizing experiment with shades of Lynch that is almost irritatingly dedicated to slowly playing out its mystery. (I wanted more!) But one surprise: It's funny! The jokes feel at home in the I LOVE LUCY/BEWITCHED-homaging world, Paul Bettany is a comedy star pic.twitter.com/ulKuupVgmH
— Hoai-Tran Bui (@htranbui) January 9, 2021
WANDAVISION is a tantalizing experiment with shades of Lynch that is almost irritatingly dedicated to slowly playing out its mystery. (I wanted more!) But one surprise: It's funny! The jokes feel at home in the I LOVE LUCY/BEWITCHED-homaging world, Paul Bettany is a comedy star pic.twitter.com/ulKuupVgmH
— Hoai-Tran Bui (@htranbui) January 9, 2021
Marvel has never done anything at all like #WandaVision and I am FLOORED by the show’s imagination, creativity and risks. Each episode BRILLIANTLY recreates a classic sitcom model, but also feeds into a much larger mystery with HUGE Marvel ramifications. I love this so much! pic.twitter.com/rPURhyqaCt
— Sean O'Connell (@Sean_OConnell) January 9, 2021
Bettany let slip some additional thoughts in an interview with US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel over the weekend.
Asked if the sitcom element is not the entire show's set-up, he said: “That’s 100 percent correct.
“We hurtle through the decades, and we hit different genres of sitcoms and then Vision begins to think that this is getting a little weird, you know.
Read more: All the new Marvel TV announcements
“And in the end, you end up in full, MCU action movie.”
Alongside Olsen and Bettany are Teyonah Parris playing Monica Rambeau, daughter of Captain Marvel's Maria Rambeau, and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes, Vision and Wanda's 'nosey neighbour'.
The first two episodes will land on Disney+ on 15 January, the full nine episodes arriving by March.
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Watch: WandaVision ‘new era’ teaser
