WandaVision Director Matt Shakman on Exploring Scarlet Witch’s Complex History

We’re just a matter of days away from the debut of WandaVision, the first Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series to premiere exclusively on Disney+. The series undeniably has a lot of hype surrounding it, especially because of the possibility of getting to further explore and expand upon the storylines of Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and The Vision (Paul Bettany). It’s undeniable that the series is drawing inspiration from a wide array of Marvel Comics runs — and it sounds like series director Matt Shakman sees that as a unique responsibility. In a recent interview with ComicBookMovie, Shakman addressed the different comic stories that influenced the series – particularly with regards to the complicated comic history of Scarlet Witch – while also crafting a new story.

“I couldn’t say too much about direct comic precedent and what we’re building off of, but I would say that every new MCU project is kind of like its own new comic run, none of them are adaptations strictly of any particular issue and much like many of these famous comic books, whether it’s Vision & Scarlet Witch or Witches’ Road or House of M,” Shakman revealed. “Each one of those was building on what had happened before as well, so that’s really what we’re doing. We’re taking everything that’s existed about Wanda in the past and osmosing it and thinking about it, but making something new, original, now. Something created in this moment, responding to this moment and that’s what’s exciting about it.”

Marvel Studios’ “WandaVision” blends the style of classic sitcoms with the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany)—two super-powered beings living their ideal suburban lives—begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems. The series will also star Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, and Randall Park as Jimmy Woo.

“I feel really grateful and thrilled that we’re coming out when we are,” series creator Jac Schaffer revealed in a recent interview with SFX Magazine. “I think that WandaVision is suited to this moment in time. I think that our show offers a lot of comfort and a lot of solace and respite in many, many ways. And many of them are not entirely intentional, but fortuitous.”

“The series is a reflection of a lot of the anxiety that we’re feeling, and a lot of the pathos and the chaos of this last year, so it feels very right to me,” Schaeffer added. “I believe that Marvel feels the same way as well. Mary and I, we talk about it all the time and we feel great about it. There’s something special about the timing.”

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WandaVision is set to debut weekly on Disney+ beginning January 15, 2021. If you haven’t checked out Disney+ yet and you want to give it a go, you can do that here.

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