7
Thursday, January 21, 2021
GO! magazine — A&E in Northeast Oregon
Marvel superheroes take on sitcoms
(TNS) — The Avengers have
traveled to the corners of the uni-
verse. But two members face their
most daunting challenge yet when
they fi nd themselves grounded in
sitcomland.
In the series “WandaVision,”
Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet
Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision
(Paul Bettany) are attempting to
blend into neighborhoods previ-
ously inhabited by the Petries, the
Bradys and the Pritchetts, while
enduring nosy neighbors, awkward
dinner parties and ever-changing
fashion trends.
Is this a superheroes’ paradise or
purgatory?
It’ll take some time for audiences
to discover the truth. After the fi rst
two episodes drop Jan. 15, Disney+
will make new ones available on a
weekly basis.
Marvel Studios is betting that its
fans will go along for the ride. It’s
part of what’s referred to as Phase
Four of the Marvel Cinematic
Universe, the fi rst phase to include
television shows. Future TV
series will revolve around Jeremy
Renner’s Hawkeye and Samuel
L. Jackson’s Nick Fury. Other
small-screen projects will introduce
Tatiana Maslany’s She-Hulk and
Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight.
“Disney+ gives us the opportu-
nity to expand creatively what we
do,” said Kevin Feige, president
of Marvel Studios, who went on
to defend the decision to unspool
“WandaVision” over several
months, a strategy that has served
“The Mandalorian” well.
“Sometimes series on stream-
ing services drop all at once, but I
think Disney was very smart to do
it week by week,” he said. “The con-
versation that takes place between
episodes is very important, and,
quite frankly, a lot of fun.”
A SITCOM REALITY
The fan chat over the new
series will certainly include predict-
ing which classic shows will be
honored. The fi rst episode owes
occur to me until I think we were
standing in the writers room with
pictures of ‘Full House’ on the
wall,” Feige said. ‘And I went, ‘Oh
... right.’”
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FLIPPING THE SCRIPT
Marvel Studios/TNS
Marvel’s “WandaVision” stars Paul Bettany as Vision, left, and Eliza-
beth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch.
so much to “The Dick Van Dyke
Show” that director Matt Shakman
and head writer Jac Schaeffer con-
sulted with that show’s title star
before fi lming began. During their
lunch, 95-year-old legend Van Dyke
offered some advice that would
guide the entire production.
“He said, ‘If it couldn’t happen
in real life it can’t happen on the
show,’” Shakman said. “If you’re
drawing from something that’s res-
onating with everyone’s experience
at home, you can do crazy things.
You can tumble over ottomans. You
can be goofy. You can be anything.”
For early episodes, Olsen drew
on Mary Tyler Moore and Eliza-
beth Montgomery of “Bewitched”
for her lead performance. “I think I
accidentally threw in some Lucy in
the ’70s just because there was so
much physical comedy,” she said.
Throughout the fi lming, much
of which took place in front of live
studio audiences, the actors had to
remind themselves that their task
wasn’t to accurately depict past
decades, but rather the sunny ver-
sions of them.
“We had to remember that we’re
not depicting an honest reality of
the ’60s or the ’70s,” Olsen said. “We
are depicting the sitcom reality,
which has its own set of rules.”
The genre may be new to these
Marvel characters, but many par-
ticipants had a personal connection
to pull from.
Shakman was a cast member on
“Good Morning, Mrs. Bliss,” a show
that evolved into “Saved by the
Bell.” Feige’s grandfather Robert
Short was an Emmy-winning ex-
ecutive who helped shepherd “Dick
Van Dyke” and “Car 54, Where
Are You?” And you may remember
Olsen’s sisters, Mary-Kate and
Ashley.
“That background didn’t even
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Aside from the laughs in
“WandaVision” — there are
plenty of them — occasional signs
indicate that something is amiss. A
mysterious voice calling for Wanda.
Residents behaving like Stepford
wives. Military men lurking on the
outskirts of town. Those ominous
overtones may remind you of
another TV classic, “The Twilight
Zone.”
“That show had an enormous
impact on me personally,” said
Schaeffer. “You think you’re in one
sort of thing and then suddenly it’s
slipped on its head. I think there
are a lot of current prestige series
that are doing this very exciting
thing where you watch a couple
episodes and you think the show is
one thing and then by Episode 4 or
5, it fl ips the script.”
The waters will get even mud-
dier when characters from past
Marvel movies pop up. Randall
Park’s exasperated parole offi cer
from “Ant-Man and the Wasp” as
well as Kat Dennings’ intern in
“Thor” were both on the call sheet.
But Vision and Scarlet will re-
main at the heart of the series.
“I think that Wanda and Vision
were fan favorites because their
love story has been so very tragic
but also really kind of warm and
intimate,” Schaeffer said.
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