WandaVision creator and head writer Jac Schaeffer was worried the show wouldn’t do well with longtime Marvel Cinematic Universe fans. The Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany-led series premiered on Disney+ in January to warm critical reception. WandaVision takes on double duty, kicking off the MCU’s Phase 4 and Marvel Studios’ first streaming shows.
The show’s unique setting – a mysterious suburb named Westview – and its central conceit represent a huge departure for Marvel. WandaVision‘s first few episodes emulated iconic sitcoms of years past, starting in the ’50s and moving up a decade with each subsequent episode. “We Interrupt This Program,” episode 4, returned to a more recognizable place for fans, with S.W.O.R.D. investigating the goings on in Westview. WandaVision is set to return to its sitcom setting in its final batch of episodes as it goes through the decades and into the 2000s.
Schaeffer, speaking to Digital Spy, expressed worries WandaVision would be a hard pill to swallow for some MCU fans used to the bombast of the films. Schaeffer says she ultimately believed in the concept, but that didn’t stop worries from surfacing about how viewers would react to the show:
I was worried. I believed in it. I believed in the concept, and I believed in my take on it. And I was really, really interested in the risk of it. That’s why I wanted the job, and why I showed up. And my team of writers felt the same way. I hired a roomful of people who are so interested in doing things that are daring and surprising and bold and noisy. They all have all kinds of crazy influences. I was so in for the process of it, but I was so nervous that it wouldn’t be warmly received. I was nervous that people might turn away from it, or be confused, or their patience would wear thin. So now, here we are [after the fourth episode] and people are still interested. There aren’t words. I’m sort of bouncing off the walls. I’m so happy about it.
There’s no denying WandaVision is a creative risk—it breaks entirely with the MCU format laid out over the last decade and explores an era of sitcoms that many of the franchise’s fans are likely unfamiliar with. Still, many of the tropes and images are recognizable, and it’s safe to say a change in format was exactly what the MCU needed. To continue on with the same formula Marvel has mastered over the last several years would become tiring, especially considering the sheer amount of content the studio plans to release in the coming years.
Now that Marvel is as widely successful as it is, creative risks like WandaVision have more wiggle room; they can be made and possibly fail without affecting the studio’s bottom line. Luckily for Schaeffer and the rest of the crew, WandaVision is hardly at risk of failing. Many have praised the show for the very thing Schaeffer was afraid of, and it’s safe to say her blend of sitcom tropes with MCU plotting is a hit. Disney+ has yet to release numbers for the show, but it continues to be a trending topic online. As WandaVision moves into its action-packed final five episodes, anticipation is higher than ever to see just what comes next for the titular pair.
Source: Digital Spy
Originally from https://screenrant.com/wandavision-show-jac-schaeffer-mcu-fan-response/