Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

WandaVision: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 28, 2023

WandaVision is a series where even diehard fans of the Marvel Cinematic (and/or Television) Universe may be asking "how did they ever come up with that?", while some more curmudgeonly fans may also be asking, "why didn't they think of that?" vis a vis some gaps in logic which, if not glaring, are at least somewhat effulgent. There is no way to discuss this often remarkable show without "revealing" its underlying premise, which isn't uncovered enough to understand more or less fully until around the third episode, so if there is anyone not already conversant with the kind of gobsmacking conceit that informs this show and who wants to be surprised, proper caution should be exercised in continuing with this review. For everyone else, WandaVision is a kind of gonzo trip through many decades of the American situation comedy, albeit with Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) as, say, Lucy and Desi or Samantha and Darren or Marion and Howard or Elyse and Steven or Lois and Hal or Clair and Phil (to offer salient examples from over the years of broadcast television comedies). That in and of itself gives WandaVision such an outré ambience from the get go that the series is able to generate significant interest simply because it's so weird, but this being the Marvel Cinematic (and/or Television) Universe and all, there's "the rest of the story", so to speak, which starts getting doled out after some introductory "sitcom" episodes and which provides context which, while ostensibly informational, may have a plot hole or two.

While there's a somewhat faltering attempt to provide a "Moishe the Explainer" vignette toward the end of this series, that very explanation almost begs a host of other questions, some of which will be dealt with in a moment. But suffice it to say that WandaVision begins, as incredibly as it may sound, as a black and white Academy ratio situation comedy featuring Wanda Maximoff and Vision as the putative stars. Now let's get (some of?) the needless pedantry right out of the way by mentioning that the series' creatives and cast overtly mention that this show is supposed to start in a fifties sitcom, while it's completely obvious that the set design is lifted from The Dick Van Dyke Show, which any television sitcom loving nerd will tell you debuted in 1961, and the emphasis on Wanda as a magically powered housewife is obviously modeled on Bewitched, a series those selfsame television sitcom loving nerds will know didn't debut until three years after The Dick Van Dyke Show. To WandaVision's "meta" concept credit, however, Bewitched is more overtly referenced in a later episode, including in one of several imaginative homages to sitcom credit sequences through the decades. Why the series didn't begin with an homage to something like I Love Lucy is kind of surprising, even if the series does admittedly proffer Wanda initially as a somewhat scatterbrained housewife, a la Lucy Ricardo.

So, anyhoo, many fans unconversant with the show's underlying premise will no doubt be having a major "WTF?" moment, and that continues apace as the "WandaVision" sitcom segues forward a few years at a time, modeling itself after any number of other series. Finally, though, the reason behind it all begins to be made apparent, with Wanda's efforts to have a "happily ever after" with Vision at both the figurative and literal heart of the story. It's an admittedly and unabashedly gonzo conceit, but it comes with some risks, including what seem to me like some weird lapses in logic.

The first hurdle is the very "sitcom" aspect itself, and according to some of the supplements included with this release, the sitcoms were at least partially filmed before a live audience, though that said, whether intentionally or not, some of the "audience reactions" certainly sound like those good, old fashioned "laugh machine" effects that any Baby Boomer will probably instantly recognize. But even on a mere writing level, I'm not sure the actual comedy ever completely connects, part of which again may be at least somewhat intentional, giving the underlying tension of what's supposedly "really" going on.

In that regard (and a fairly major spoiler coming up, so those worried have been warned again), the whole aspect of Wanda's "mind control" certainly seems to extend to "wacky next door neighbor" Agatha (Kathryn Hahn), who, like the other characters, manages to stay more or less the same even as styles and milieus change as the show morphs from decade to decade. Except here's the thing: suddenly late in the series Agatha is shown to very much have a "mind of her own", which in fact plays into the very climax of the series. But in a coda, Wanda seems to relegate her "back" to being under mind control, when just a minute ago (so to speak), it was clearly intimated that she never had been. That is mirrored somewhat by the nagging question that if Wanda has these "creative" powers at her beck and call, why even involve a hapless New Jersey community, holding them more or less hostage, couldn't she have created it all (including the sitcom aspect) from scratch?

Those perhaps niggling qualms aside, WandaVision is certainly audacious from a production design standpoint, and the series' journey through several decades and styles of sitcoms is one of its most winning elements. This may end up being a "mere" asterisk to the Marvel Cinematic (and/or Television) Universe, but like many footnotes, it often has surprising interest.

WandaVision: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

WandaVision is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in a variety of aspect ratios, including 2.39:1, 1:78:1 and 1:33:1, indicating in part both the time periods of the sitcoms as well as certain "meta" aspects once the actual context of the story becomes a bit more clear starting around the third episode or so. The series utilized both Arri and Blackmagic cameras and had a 4K DI. This is a really winning presentation on all counts, though those with 4K UHD setups will probably want to opt for that release, since all of the positives of the 1080 version enjoy at least marginal upticks in that version. Detail levels are excellent throughout the series, though I found clarity in the opening black and white episodes to be a little less than optimal occasionally, perhaps exacerbated by what to my eyes looked like a bit too obvious digital grain in the first episode in particular. Once things expand both into color as well as wider aspect ratios, the series really takes off and goes for the gusto both in terms of fantastic production design on practical props and costumes, all of which offer excellent fine detail, as well as some really well done CGI, which actually looks commendably sharp and detailed most of the time. There are some fun effects with regard to the "force field" surrounding the New Jersey town, and in that regard for anyone who has ever wondered what a "moire pattern" is, they show up in abundance as various characters approach the "barrier". The palette becomes increasingly robust as the series continues, and from the 90s on in the sitcom elements in particular and then in the 2.39:1 "meta" sequences it pops pretty consistently.

WandaVision: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

WandaVision: The Complete Series features a nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, though this is another case where those with 4K and Atmos setups probably should opt for the 4K UHD release of the series, since it offers a well done Dolby Atmos track. There is a bit of missing immersion in the later episodes in particular in the 5.1 track when compared to the Atmos track, but that said, and not to make too much of a joke about it, if you don't know what you're missing, you really won't miss anything, since the 5.1 track offers the same often thrilling engagement of the side and rear channels that the Atmos track does. Surround activity tends to become more and more prominent as the series wends its way through the various decades, and as I noted in the 4K review, the early sitcom episodes tend to be anchored front and center, while the latter episodes, and especially the series finale, ultimately open things up spectacularly, delivering an onslaught of fun effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

WandaVision: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Through the Eras (HD; 7:01) focuses on the trip through the decades and its effect on things like production design.


• Gag Reel (HD; 2:36)


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 1:01)

Disc Two

• Assembled: The Making of WandaVision (HD; 57:07) is an appealing piece which has a lot of behind the scenes footage, including showing the live audience component for some of the sitcom sequences. This is chock full of fun interviews as well.

Additionally, Disney is packaging this in a handsomely designed SteelBook featuring Wanda and Vision on the cover, and with concept art cards enclosed inside.

WandaVision: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are some fundamental questions left unanswered with this admittedly audacious concept, but if you're willing to just go with the flow like any harried sitcom parent, WandaVision is a riot of production design excellence, and it features a number of really winning performances. Some of the subtext involving grief and aching for an unobtainable "happily ever after" may get more than a bit buried in the conceit of the series, but there is a kind of melancholy tune suffusing Wanda's story that gives this nook and/or cranny of the Marvel Multimedia Universe a certain edge. Technical merits are first rate and the supplements very appealing. Recommended.