*WARNING* This Review Contains Spoilers For WandaVision Episode 9
Vision and Wanda wouldn’t want you to be sad, so watch episode nine before you read it.
Did we get Mephisto? No. Did we get Nightmare? No. What about Doctor Strange? No. Any other Avengers? No. Was Ralph a huge reveal? No.
Did it need any of that? No. Not in the slightest.
For those out there that wanted WandaVision to be something larger and more expansive than it should, they’ll be disappointed by this finale. It had lots more action that people were expecting out of the finale of the series, but it didn’t have the gargantuan reveals that people were expecting. What it did have was plenty of emotion, weight, and character development. It was a very Marvel-esque finish, but too typical. Out of all the moments the final ten minutes held the most emotion. Whether it was the touching goodbye to her children, or Vision and Wanda’s goodbye for now.
Wanda Is Truly The Most Powerful Avenger
She went full Scarlet Witch here. For fans of her from the comics that complained that Wanda wasn’t powerful enough (Although she did almost defeat Thanos by herself), they got what they wanted here. Her powers are nearly limitless at this point, and she’s fully unlocked. The full episode gave us the weight of what Wanda has dealt with through the townspeople of Westview. Some scenes in this were fairly tense, especially the ones involving Agatha and the townspeople coming alive again.
Through it all, Wanda persevered, although she’s very likely still scarred from the experience. However, she is not broken, like Agatha was trying to assert. It was a nice reveal at the end for Wanda to show that she was in full control of her magic by casting the Runes on the walls of the Hex. That was our big Marvel moment that we won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
If This Is The Future Of Marvel Storytelling, It’s Bright
We have plenty of stories to look forward to from Marvel after this, and the release schedule for the first part of 2021 doesn’t let up. But don’t let that make you forget about the excellence of WandaVision. One show, almost single-handedly brought back that experience of waiting a whole week for new episodes. Remember that magic and the excitement in the air on Thursday night (if you’re a maniac like me) or Friday night with your family. At the end of the day, WandaVision was about family. It was about Wanda and Vision’s family, it was about the friendship that Monica, Jimmy, and Darcy created, and it’s the core tenet of the show.
This show’s run was magnificent with the turns and twists that it took us on. The final episode might not have met the expectations that people put on it (Reed Richards showing up?), but what it did do, is give us faith in the Marvel apparatus of filmmaking. Marvel is here to stay, and if they keep giving us content like this, like they always have, it’ll be alright.
WandaVision set us up for the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It has small outcomes, and quite large ones when you look at the grand scheme of things. I have the strangest feeling that we’ll be looking back at this show fondly like we do for films like Iron Man and Captain America: The First Avenger. Sure, those were fantastic films with somewhat smaller stakes than the greater Marvel universe, but they had huge ripple effects on the Universe at large.
What Comes Next?
There were two post-credit scenes here (so GO WATCH THEM IF YOU MISSED THEM). One involving the future of Monica Rambeau and the other with Wanda. Monica Rambeau’s sets up her character going forward with either Captain Marvel 2 or the Secret Invasion show. Either way, her powers in this episode were teased, but we all need to see more from her. Monica was one of the breakaway stars from this show, so I can’t wait to see what’s to come.
The second post-credits sequence is much more interesting to me. Notice that shot? Does it look a little bit like a similar camera movement from, oh, I don’t know, The Evil Dead? Weird also, that Wanda is sitting in a cabin in the middle of nowhere reading a strange, ancient book. It cannot be a coincidence that Sam Raimi is directing Doctor Strange And The Multiverse Of Madness. We’ll have to see, but Wanda is definitely part of that movie. Second, it shows how advanced her powers have already become. She’s projecting herself outside of her physical body. Also, somewhere in the Universe or Multiverse, her kids are alive, she heard them scream out for help.
The only question we’re left unanswered with, is where did the White Vision go?
Either way, WandaVision did what it set out to do and more. The show was fantastic and gave us a great story in the Marvel Universe. Through slow paced, but intriguing story, the show unraveled, until the mystery was no more. Give Elizabeth Olsen, Kathryn Hahn, Paul Bettany, and the entire crew awards for this effort. It was one of the best of the MCU.
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