Marvel’s first-ever Disney+ series, WandaVision, concluded its run. The show had a total of nine episodes. WandaVision finally introduced Wanda as the Scarlet Witch after six years of her debut in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. The show is not like any other sitcom. It focuses on a log of VFX, and a storyline that dates back to years. A lot of elements were to be included while focusing on character development. The show is no stranger to last-minute changes. WandaVision heavily focused on Wanda’s powers of reality-warping. The series premiered first in January 2021.
In an episode of WandaVsiion, we see Vision freeing Norm of Wanda’s spell for a brief moment. Norm immediately asks Vision to help him and free him from Wanda’s magic. A similar scene was noticed in the finale of WandaVision. Agatha Harkness (antagonist) frees everyone in Westview off Wanda’s spells. It was that moment when everyone approached Wanda, creating a very chaotic moment for Wanda. Everyone requested Wanda to free them and let them go home to their families. Wanda, for a second, tried to convince the residents of Westview that they were happy in Westview in Wanda’s made-up world.
But this did not last long. The people cornered her, and as a result, Wanda experienced a panic result. With this, she choked every resident in her sight with her magic. She immediately apologized for her actions. She then let everyone go from the Hex to their families. It was Agatha that made Wanda realized that she’s a hero. She also said, “Heroes don’t hurt people.”
WandaVision showrunner Jac Schaeffer revealed in an interview with ComicBook.com that things were a bit different in WandaVision’s final encounter originally. From what Schaeffer says about it, the original Westview showdown with Wands was a bit more horror-Esque rather than psychological. Check out what Schaeffer said about the scene below.
“[Director] Matt [Shakman] had boarded the sequence with the townspeople that was a little bit more of like a zombie attack kind of a thing. And so we turned that into about their words and about that it is an assault of language. I think it ended up working just as well because the performers are so great.”
Shakman just appeared on Kevin Smith’s Fatman Beyond show to discuss the WandaVision finale and pulled back the curtain on how the series evolved throughout the production process. According to Shakman, WandaVision was constantly changing.
“Well, yeah, things were constantly changing and getting rebroken. The story was changing, especially a lot of the real-world stuff and the finale. There was a lot of experimentation going on and sort of trying different things out.”
He continued, “Then of course, once we wrapped in Atlanta the pandemic hit and we ended up having months off so then further changes during that we were doing post-production and then ideas would come up and little changes would happen as a result.”
A zombie-like attack would have been amazing to see. But the show is heavily based on Wanda’s grief. This is something that cannot be overshadowed by anything else. The show anyway had a lot more to focus on. Particularly, Agatha Harkness the witch, White Vision, and establishing Wanda and the Scarlet Witch.
The fans were particularly upset about one fact. It was that why was Wanda able to go off the hook so easily? Wanda tortured people and must be rightfully punished for it as well. Shakman has said Wanda has not let off the hook in the finale and that she understood and accepted why the townspeople would never forgive her or trust her after her actions. Wanda has everyone that she loved in her life. This moment was really important to focus on the Scarlet Witch’s human side. Even in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Scarlet Witch will always be shown to have an emotional side, to never forget about her past and history.
It is said that WandaVision did not need a particular ‘Big Bad’. This is because Wanda’s twisted psychology is the big bad In the show. Plus we had Agatha add the cherry on the top. Kathryn Hahn has beautifully portrayed the role of Agatha Harkness and did seem to be the real villain. WandaVision was truly a compelling series. What did you think of Wanda’s confrontation with the residents of Westview? Did you like the finale? Let us know in the comments below!
