WandaVision creator Jac Schaeffer says there “wasn’t a Plan B” if Evan Peters couldn’t play fake Pietro. Disney+’s first Marvel Cinematic Universe series WandaVision premiered in January 2021 to critical acclaim. It brought back Marvel favorites Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), as well as other familiar faces like Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), Jimmy Woo (Randall Park), and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). WandaVision also introduced some new characters to the MCU, most notably Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), who provided some of the show’s most talked about moments.
One of those moments came in episode 5, aptly titled “On a Very Special Episode…” In the final minute, Peters debuts as “Pietro,” a fake version of Wanda’s deceased brother. It’s later revealed Agatha was behind Pietro’s arrival, as he’s really Westview resident Ralph Bohner. However, some WandaVision viewers spent the last half of the season thinking a much larger reveal was on the way, thanks to Peters’ role as Quicksilver in the X-Men movies. Though that wasn’t addressed within the show, the actor’s casting was still fun for audiences and a clever way to connect Scarlet Witch’s present-day actions to the tragedy of losing her brother.
In an interview with The New York Times, Schaeffer discussed casting Peters as fake Pietro, revealing WandaVision didn’t have a Plan B:
It was an enormous question mark for a very long time. And it took a while to figure out if it would be possible. It was late that it was finally confirmed that we could do it. But we were writing for it. Evan is such a chameleon in that way, that could play an amalgamation of Uncle Jesse [from “Full House”], Nick [from “Family Ties”] and Joey from “Friends.” He could play those layers.
The ground is often shifting, and sometimes that’s how the amazing things occur. There are a couple of scenes that I wrote that I’m like, “This is genius!” And then it was like, “No, you can’t have that toy.” You find a different toy that suits your show better. But there wasn’t a Plan B on that. There were just very, very intense hopes and dreams, and they were met.
It makes sense Schaeffer and her team didn’t have a backup plan for casting fake Pietro, as he’s very much the sort of character who requires a certain actor. Other than episode 6, “All-New Halloween Spooktacular!,” fake Pietro doesn’t have a huge impact on WandaVision‘s overall storyline. His biggest moment comes with the reveal that it is in fact Peters playing him. Without that connection, the character would likely fall flat and mean a lot less to viewers, especially those who spent much of WandaVision‘s run theorizing about what his arrival could mean for the MCU’s Multiverse.
Schaeffer also makes a good point about Peters’ acting skills being a big part of the reason why the character works. Despite the fact his Pietro had no previous relationship with Wanda, Peters sold the bond between the two, becoming the perfect stand-in for Wanda to explore her grief over her brother’s passing, while also handling the show’s more comedic moments with ease. All told, it’s for the best WandaVision was able to cast Peters, as it’s now impossible to imagine fake Pietro being played by someone else.
Source: The New York Times
Originally from https://screenrant.com/wandavision-show-evan-peters-casting-pietro-jac-schaeffer/