Thus far, Disney+'s WandaVision has traveled throughout the '50s, '60s, and '70s as it continues to push the boundaries for what fans are familiar with when it comes to an MCU property.
There's one movie that seems to have had a massive impact on WandaVision, whether it was deliberate or not. With the protagonist trapped within a televised world, created purely to entertain the masses, it's easy to see how Wanda's own televised reality might share a few narrative beats with The Truman Show. Fan theories aside, there are a lot of thematic elements that these two works have in common.
Significant Life Events Happening Quickly
Since everything was planned and followed a kind of script within The Truman Show, Truman Burbank was married by the age of 30 with huge life events happening very rapidly. Clearly, these moments were designed to keep the audience hooked.
Drawing off of famous Scarlet Witch comic book stories, the couple of Wanda and Vision have already welcomed twins. While this happened much faster than the big events in Truman's life (a matter of hours in fact), the parallels are very obvious between the two. Someone must be speeding up Wanda's life!
The Residents Are Aware Of Their Situation
The Truman Show residents are extremely aware that they are inside a TV show. Indeed, they are all hired actors, who have certainly had great job security playing the lives of Truman's friendly neighbors.
The inhabitants of Westview in the MCU also seem knowledgeable about what's really happening to them. The supposedly perfect lives should fit right into these eras, but everyone seems to be holding a dark secret. It's clear to Vision that the citizens of the small town are hiding the truth.
No Knowledge Of The Outside World
Unlike Vision, Wanda, the protagonist of the show, has no knowledge of what's really happening outside of her small-town life. However, there are small signs that something is amiss, like the colored helicopter and or the radio message.
Similarly, for much of Truman's life though, everything seemed completely ordinary. Perhaps for both of them, it's much easier to accept the lies they are being fed rather than realize the truth of their reality. This complexity is why non-MCU fans will also be interested in the mystery unfolding.
Monitoring Events On TV
The whole world watched as Truman Burbank was born. They marvelled at his first steps and were in awe of his wedding. For Wanda, it feels like a similar situation could be occurring. After all, someone has already been shown to be watching her life unfold on TV.
It's all part of the mystery of course, but it is extremely strange that everything happening to Wanda appears to be filmed for some kind of entertainment. The marketing material, the trailers and posters have all been hinting at a televised life, although there are no clear answers as to why it's happening.
Dropping People In To Create New Moments
The Truman Show added in new actors to keep the story moving forward. Truman's life would change thanks to these new personalities, who would introduce new subplots.
Something similar appears to be happening in Wanda's world. The much rumored Agatha Harkness, or Agnes, as she's known in the show, is one such catalyst for mayhem. It appears as if she's pushed into the story just when she is needed most.
Unable To Leave
It may be that the inhabitants of Westview are unable to leave. This has already been hinted at when Wanda and Vision's doctor was unable to get away for a holiday. Other inhabitants also seem to be completely trapped against their will.
The only person who has been shown to be able to leave was Monica Rambeau, under the guise of Geraldine. After mentioning Ultron, Wanda pushed her out of the reality and back into the outside world. Truman was also unable to leave his own reality for quite some time.
Clueless Protagonist
For most of Truman's life, he was unaware of the world he was actually living in. Of course, it's difficult to fully comprehend the level of lies that has permeated throughout his entire existence. Wanda seems to be facing the same problem.
She seems blissfully unaware that something is quite wrong, at least for the start of her life at Westview. Much like for Truman, though, things start to change as time passes and life becomes a little stranger.
A Slow Realization
Vision has already started to realize that something is very wrong. Wanda seems to be blocking him from making these leaps in knowledge, though, as if she is trying to keep her own reality intact somehow.
But even the Scarlet Witch herself has noticed some anomalies, which will only occur more frequently as WandaVision progresses. Truman experienced the same thing in his life as he started to notice the cracks in his own world.
Somebody Pulling The Strings
Somebody is clearly behind all of these bizarre occurrences. It may be all a figment of Wanda's own imagination, or perhaps someone else is behind this fake reality she finds herself trapped within.
The producers of Truman's life were behind everything that happened. In fact, there was a vast network of people pulling the strings, from the camera crew to the actors and script writers. Could it be that Wanda's own TV show is on a similar scale?
The Advertising
Fans have already been treated to three different advertisements, all of which provide clues to other aspects of the MCU. Hydra Soap, Strucker and Stark have all been mentioned in these strange ads.
The Truman Show had its own share of ads throughout Burbank's life. In fact, he started to notice these strange, scripted moments where products were seemingly being forced onto him completely out of context.