Matt Shakman Weighs in on WandaVision's "Baby Yoda" Moment

WandaVision is the first Marvel series on Disney+, beginning its first season this Friday. However, it's not the first live-action show spinning out of a major movie franchise. The Mandalorian has run through two seasons on Disney+ now, offering up one heck of a surprise for Star Wars fans at the end of its premiere episode which immediately hooked audiences in and created a conversation online which has not really stopped since. The "Baby Yoda" moment of The Mandalorian has been one of many surprises on the series but arguably the biggest. With all eyes on WandaVision now, director Matt Shakman hopes the Marvel series can deliver such a buzz throughout its season, if not in one specific moment.

"Who could predict such a thing? I mean, the baby Yoda reveal was so amazing," Shakman says, resisting the urge to pinpoint one specific episode or time where he expects a tremendous buzz to spawn. "loved that as a viewer. I was so excited about it. And then the recent Luke reveal at the end of season two, incredible, I mean. Those guys have done a brilliant job. Hats off to them, for sure."

For WandaVision, the focus is on a full story focused on Wanda Maximoff and the Vision, which Shakman hopes will come with several buzz worthy moments along the way. "I would never be so bold as to say that we had a Baby Yoda moment," Shakman says. "But we certainly, you know, we're trying to tell a story that is about these two amazing characters. These characters that have made an indelible impression despite having relatively little screen time over the last you know, four or five films. You know, when they're, you're competing in these Avengers movies for attention with all these different characters and all these different storylines. The fact that Vision and Wanda have been such a powerful, you know, duo. And I think people are very taken. I am certainly with their love story. And then we're able to tell this amazing story. This romance over nine episodes, But also an adventure story, a mystery a thriller, and a comedy. It's going to all these different places. So, whether you have one baby Yoda moment or a bunch of smaller baby Yoda moments, the ultimate thing for me as a storyteller is that the cumulative power of these nine episodes is a really satisfying journey. And that people will be pulled in from beginning to end."

While Paul Bettany was quick to reveal which episodes he thinks are the biggest of the show, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige took a route similar to that of Shakman. "What's fun is I don't know. I mean, any one of them," Feige says in regards to which episode will garner the biggest reaction. "They've all been designed to surprise and delight, as they say, so we'll see. There are a handful of them that I can think of, but all of them, I'm anxious and very excited to experience for the first time the week to week unveiling and seeing how people feel week to week. Usually, for us, of course, it's just been feature to feature, and the moments within features we'd be excited for, which is why we would go around to theaters to watch the audience moments. Now, we'll be curious to see as somebody behind the scenes experiencing what I've experienced as a fan episode by episode on Mandalorian, which is, 'Oh, what's going to happen? Where's it going? What do we think?' It'll be fun to see that on WandaVision, what people are feeling."

One thing is for sure, when the curtain is fully pulled back on what's going on within WandaVision, the early episodes might take on another meaning for viewers who are with it through the finale. 'I think it's important for every successful movie or TV show to feel when you get to the end that it, the ending is incredibly surprising but also totally inevitable. And if you don't do that, I don't think you've told your story well," Shakman says. "And I think that's exactly what we're trying to do. That when you get to the end you are like, 'Wow.' But then you go, 'Ah.'"

Feige and Shakman would not say whether or not WandaVision has a conclusive final episode or it will follow the traditional TV formula of offering up a cliffhanger ending, seeing as Wanda Maximoff reports straight from WandaVision to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Are you excited for WandaVision? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram! For more WandaVision updates, including ComicBook.com's full interview with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, tune into the Phase Zero podcast which launches this Friday!

WandaVision premieres its first two episodes on Disney+ this Friday. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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