Paul Bettany Calls WandaVision the “Oddest” MCU Project So Far

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is moving in a brand new direction over the next couple of years, rolling out its first live-action TV projects on the upcoming Disney+ streaming service. Existing characters like Falcon, Winter Soldier, and Loki will be getting their own serialized stories, along with newcomers such as Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk. Of all the Marvel Studios projects announced for Disney+ so far, it doesn’t sound like any of them will be quite as weird as WandaVision.

Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen are going to be reprising their roles as Vision and Scarlet Witch for the series, which will be some sort of mix between a bold adventure and 1950s family sitcom. It certainly looks to be a unique experience, and the stars of the project are promising exactly that.

“It’s definitely the oddest of all the Marvel endeavors so far,” Bettany told IGN at D23 Expo.

“It’s super avant-garde and weird. I don’t think either of us could have expected to be going in this — if we were going to continue in this — [and for] it to continue in this direction,” he continued later in the interview. “I’m so excited, the scripts are amazing. It’s going to be just great to drill down further into these things.”

Part of what makes this show somewhat strange is the fact that it will have a pretty substantial sitcom tone to it. It was described during the panel as “half sitcom, half MCU spectacular,” which is certainly different than just about anything we’ve seen in the MCU to this point. That said, Elizabeth Olsen would argue that there is plenty of source material supporting the idea of Wanda and Vision in a comedy together.

“There are plenty of comic books that support why both of these characters should be in a sitcom,” she said.

While this series will have the structure of episodic television, showrunner Jac Schaeffer has assured fans that it will feel just as big and bold as the feature films in the MCU.

“I mean, first of all, with Marvel doing Disney+, it’s not at all the small screen, you know? It’s still the big screen, but streaming,” Schaeffer told Variety. “And so there’s still the same sense of grandeur and the same scope and the same opportunities and the same resources, so it just really feels like an enormous movie. We say it’s like a run of a comic, which is just really exciting to do.”

Are you looking forward to WandaVision? Let us know in the comments!

WandaVision will begin streaming on Disney+ in the Spring of 2021.