The first three episodes of the nine-part series prove to be stingy with significant clues, so audiences should be advised to fasten their seat belts. The satirical structure – putting the central duo in old comedies – will also resonate more with an audience capable of appreciating how meticulously director Matt Shakman and principal writer Jac Schaeffer reproduced them, unless the children were familiar with programs like “The Dick Van Dyke Show “and” Bewitched “and will have visual jokes about couples in separate beds.
The most familiar elements, fortunately, see the return of Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany as Wanda and the Vision, the Scarlet Witch and synthetic android whose unlikely love affair migrated from the pages of the Avengers comics to the screen.
They are reintroduced, somewhat shockingly, in an episode of sitcom in black and white, reflecting a true predilection for the genre and portrayed with unprecedented performances of the protagonists. The show features a lot of knowledge nods to early TV conventions – including canned laughter, Kathryn Hahn as the nosy neighbor and theme songs courtesy of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, the couple who created all the “Frozen” songs for their parents ‘heads.
What’s really going on here, given where the moviegoers last saw these Avengers? This is the fundamental mystery, which the production team is clearly in no hurry to disclose. Patience becomes a virtue, receiving honors from the sitcom while keeping a watchful eye on Marvel’s astute references and heaps of skillfully placed colors, showing possible cracks in the black and white varnish.
Meanwhile, the usual pyrotechnic effects are channeled into far more subtle triumphs of production design and costumes – a TV show that turns decades of TV history into an ally.
Of course, something structured like “WandaVision” can only be truly judged when you reach the end of the journey. For starters, though, the studio’s streaming vision seems pretty clear, even if the black-and-white fate of these heroes doesn’t seem like it.
“WandaVision” opens on January 15 at Disney +.