Disney+ sitcom 'WandaVision' explores society post 'Avengers: Infinity War'

I was utterly confused by “WandaVision” — utterly, breathtakingly, jaw-droppingly, bewitchingly confused by “WandaVision,” and I loved every minute of it.

There’s not much that can be explained about the plot that wouldn’t spoil it all, but, if you don’t remember, this show picks up right around the time that Hulk in “Avengers: Endgame” snapped everyone back that was “dusted” off in “Avengers: Infinity War.”

Even with half the universe’s population back, Wanda Maximoff can't find solace, as she was never given time to mourn the loss of her beloved Vision, the carbon-based synthezoid, robot-turned-human. Don’t worry if you’re confused at first — I’m pretty sure everyone is — you’ll soon find out why Wanda seems to be trapped in the sitcom version of her life.

To give you some perspective, and maybe even to help you better understand the show yourself, I’ve listed some takeaways that I got from my time watching “WandaVision.” (Be forewarned, there are spoilers ahead).

Everything you think you know, you don’t

I’m used to being able to predict things happening in shows — I’m certainly not a turn-off-your-brain type of watcher. Little did I know, there was nothing that I could predict in “WandaVision.”

From the very first trailer, it’s been months of speculation and desperate yearning to finally see some new Marvel productions on the screen.

Yet, when the show finally premiered, instead of what I expected to see, the devastated, brooding Wanda, much like her early days in “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” I got the happiest, most comically available version of Wanda.

With her puffy updos and her titillating voice when speaking to her husband — yeah, husband! — Vision, I thought we had entered into an alternate universe, hence my confusion. Very quickly, I decided that instead of exhausting my brain trying to discover every Easter egg in each episode, I would just try to enjoy the chaotic, messy energy “WandaVision” conveyed.

Don’t knock it until you try it — sitcoms are peak comedy

The beauty of “WandaVision” is that there is this revival of sitcom humor in the show. The first episode, based on the black-and-white 1960s sitcom, “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” was pure laugh-track-based comedy. In fact, it was even filmed in front of a live studio audience.

Personally, my sitcom comedy tastes were born out of an intense love of “That ‘70s Show,” and Debra Jo Rupp’s depiction of sometimes tipsy, super matriarch Kitty. So, I was super excited to see her reprise the role of a sitcom wife in “WandaVision.”

Not to mention, Kathryn Hahn as the charismatic, evil Agatha Harkness was spot-on brilliant, especially considering her acting chops in “Parks and Recreation” that already made fans everywhere kind of respect her and be annoyed with her at the same time. A “nosy neighbor” indeed.

Treat this as its own cinematic experience

But, easily, the best characters in the whole show were Wanda, played by Elizabeth Olsen, and Vision, played by Paul Bettany. After so many years of amazing movies where these characters were just side arcs, I never thought I could develop such a deep, emotional attachment to them.

Then in episode eight, when Wanda is led through her past, tragedy after tragedy, I felt my heart crumble apart bit by bit. It’s always been one thing to see these characters as superheroes, but it's a privilege and a pleasure to see them as humans.

Watching the creators of this show take the time to intimately describe Wanda’s grief-stricken world and how she has chosen to cope with it emotionally and mentally is entrancing.

No matter if you come into this show with a bunch of background information or as a completely new member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), you will not be disappointed if you see this show for what it is, an episodic movie with the aesthetic, pacing, plot and acting of an Oscar/Emmy-worthy performance.

The writing in this show is breathtaking, so don’t forget to breathe.

“But what is grief, if not love persevering?”

Vision said this line to Wanda in a flashback in “WandaVision,” right after she lost her brother, Pietro.

Besides the actual massive outpouring of memorable memes this line has given us, mostly due to the reaction one Twitter user had to it, this line just further proves why this show is worthwhile.

Look, you don’t have to be a comic book fan to understand that everyone processes grief differently. In the show, Wanda explodes her chaos magic — while simultaneously revealing that she is, in fact, the Scarlet Witch — and takes over the consciousness of a whole town, trapping them in a prison of sorts under her control.

Was this the right way to go about it? Probably not, but like Teyonah Parris, playing the character of Monica Rambeau, said at the end of the ninth episode, she would’ve done anything to get her mom back and can’t fault Wanda for trying the same.

There’s an innately human quality about leaving so many loose ends in Wanda’s story. She made mistakes in “WandaVision” — mistakes that will not be easily forgotten by the people she affected. There was no easy or simple way to wrap up this arc, and I expect we will see the consequences of her actions in the future.

For now, I take a little solace in the fact that this will not be the last we see of Wanda.

Prepare to say goodbye

Going back to those Sunday cartoons I used to love watching, one cartoon was “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.”

It defined so much of my childhood experience with “superheroes” and, obviously, still influences my experience with the MCU to this day. Because this animation was so short, I only really saw glimpses of the Avengers as we know them today, and these snippets never revolved around any superheroes past Iron Man and Captain America.

Unless you’re a huge comic book reader, you’re probably like me and don’t really know what the MCU will attempt to do with these characters next. And while I lament the end of an era whereby I knew Scarlet Witch to be this wonderfully powerful female superhero — albeit, with barely any lines — I look forward to a future where her complexity and layered personality continue to shine on the big screen.