Marvel Studios supported WandaVision showrunner Jac Schaeffer’s desire to have a writers’ room that highlights a diverse makeup and is majority female.
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Four of WandaVision‘s eight writers are women; when accounting for Schaeffer and various executives and assistants, the writers’ room is a female majority, a turnout that was “incredibly intentional, and it was very much supported by Marvel,” Schaeffer told Inverse.
“I felt incredibly strongly that we needed women and people of color and people of all backgrounds and perspectives in the room. I believe — I think it is fact — that stories are better the more perspectives you have.”
For Schaeffer, who contributed to Marvel Studios’ first female-led film, Captain Marvel, and serves as screenwriter on its second, Black Widow, “I choose to be a part of projects that are about positive representation.”
“We need to see women, we need to see people of color, we need to see nuanced experiences, and we need to see different perspectives on screen,” she said.
“I choose to work with people who are interested in changing perspectives for the better, and putting a world on screen that is something we can aspire to and have conversations about, and moving in a direction that will create a world I hope will be better for my children.”
Set some time after Avengers: Endgame, where Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) was returned to life five years after the death of lover Vision (Paul Bettany) in the Wakanda-set climax of Avengers: Infinity War, the six-episode series will tie into Phase 4 film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, starring Olsen and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Serving as showrunner on the coming Disney+ exclusive series is “the most satisfying role that I’ve had. It combines almost everything,” Schaeffer said.
“While I think I will get back to directing at some point, right now running a show — I feel like the luckiest person in the world. It’s a really phenomenal gig.”
WandaVision launches Spring 2021 exclusively on Disney+. The streaming service goes live November 12.
