Now Streaming: WANDAVISION, Directed By Matt Shakman

Heading for wide theatrical release this week, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the fifth feature film inspired by Marvel's comic book series -- counting Roger Corman's completed but not publicly released 1994 feature version -- is helmed by Matt Shakman.

Born and raised in Ventura, California (U.S.), Shakman became a child actor for a period of time in his youth. Later, while attending Yale University, Shakman started directing stage productions. After living in New York for several years, he moved to Los Angeles, where he began directing an impressive variety of television shows, including Mad Men, Fargo, Game of Thrones, and Succession, as well as years as an executive producer on the brash comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

All that experience helps to explain how Shakman so effectively directed all nine episodes of WandaVision, which brilliantly moved onward from its completely disorienting first three episodes to something quite strange and wonderful. Herewith is my review after watching the first three episodes in advance. (My opinion only grew more positive as the episodes proceeded.) The show was a fresh and welcome blast of entertainment during a very dark time during the global pandemic, some four and a half years ago.

WandaVision
All nine episodes are now streaming on Disney+.

Though it was not necessarily intended to be the kick-off for a new phase of storytelling from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, WandaVision nonetheless plunges the viewer into something quite different than what we've seen on screen before from the superhero universe.

Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and her beloved Vision (Paul Bettany) arrive in a new monochromatic world sometime after the events that concluded Avengers: Endgame (2019). It's designed to look and feel like a television sitcom from the early 1960s, complete with corny jokes, over amplified laugh-track, and classic though dated fashions, and Wanda and Vision do their best to fit in, albeit with Wanda still exercising her superpowers and Vision manifesting his incredible talents.

Over the first three episodes that were made available for preview, Wanda and Vision struggle to not stand out in a world that they do not understand, though there are plentiful hints that something very, very strange is afoot. The first two, 30-minute episodes will premiere tomorrow on the Disney+ streaming service, with subsequent episodes premiering weekly.

Writer/producer Jac Shaeffer created the series; her other credits include The Hustle screenplay and the story for the (delayed) Black Widow. At this point, it's impossible to say where the series will go; it's certainly inventive and jam-packed with a creative fusion of multiple sitcoms, Marvel historical Easter eggs, and its own blend of ideas that borrow from unlikely sources.

I think a half-hour format fits the concept well; just enough to be intriguing, and the questions that are raised are just enough to tease without irritating when they are not immediately answered. It feels to me like a Marvel comic-book series which is largely driven by the clever premise.

The series is scheduled to run nine episodes in total, which sounds about right to see where the premise leads. It's buoyed especially by Elizabeth Olson's lead performance, which strikes a good balance between artificial cheer and genuine puzzlement; I get the sense that her character wants to know what's going on, too.

Now Streaming covers international and indie genre films and TV shows that are available on legal streaming services.