WandaVision has been the show on everyone’s lips since its premiere on Disney+ nearly a month ago. As the gateway into Phase 4 of the MCU, every episode is filled clues that lead to pathways fans can’t even begin to guess yet.
But showrunner Jac Shaeffer is far more invested in how fans feel about Wanda and Vision’s tragicomic journey through the sitcoms she created in her mind, rather than which future film they think a frame is pointing to. The EP spoke to Screen Rant about some of the origins of small moments she enjoyed, and what reactions have been her favorite.
This show is phenomenal, and it feels more and more like a comic book each week. How much discussion or debate was there on how to present the central mystery of the show? Did you ever consider starting it in the real world?
Jac Shaeffer: First of all, thank you. Thank you for all the things you're saying. Especially about it feeling like a comic book, because that was always the intention. And to that point, no, there was never any discussion about starting it in the real world ever.
Monica Rambeau seems poised to be a breakout star of the show, especially after Episode 4. Was Monica always a central part of your initial idea, or were characters like her, Jimmy Woo, and Darcy brought in later to fit into the puzzle pieces?
Jac Shaeffer: There was a character like Monica; she served the purpose of Monica in my pitch. But it was a later discovery that we could use Monica Rambeau for that character. And that was so exciting when we put those pieces together. Jimmy and Darcy were always part of the story.
People love antiheroes, but it's arguably more challenging to make audiences hate or question someone they already love. How dark can we expect Wanda to get, and will she get to the point of no redemption in the show?
Jac Shaeffer: That's a really good question which, of course, I cannot answer. But I like how you phrased that. Our goal was always to understand her more fully, and to empathize with her and have compassion for her. I think that we're going down a lot of really exciting roads with the show, but audiences will always have a full understanding of what's going on in Wanda's heart and mind.
What does Vision want in WandaVision?
Jac Shaeffer: Yeah. What does Vision want in WandaVision? That is a question we ask ourselves a lot, and I have so many answers. What I will tell you is he wants to be with his wife and love her, and he wants to be with his family.
I'm sure there's so much detail that goes into each and every script. Talking to some of the other cast members that did the sitcom era style shoots. They said that what was on the page is pretty much what was performed on screen. It seemed like in the real world, there was a little bit more chance to improvise. Can you talk to me about the detail in the scripts? Because the devil is in the details.
Jac Shaeffer: Sure is. Yeah, the sitcoms were pretty rigorously written and staged, out of necessity - and also because the sitcoms aren't meant for improvisation. That's not really how that works.
In the SWORD space, there still wasn't a lot of improvisation in terms of dialogue or that kind of thing. Kat and Randall both are skilled comedians, so we would discuss ways to plus lines and plus character moments. For instance, Randall: an early part of a different draft had Jimmy Woo doing that thing where he accidentally overshares. When Randall saw that script, he flagged that as something that he really liked and felt was really true to Jimmy, so then it became a runner because Randall liked it so much.
Similar things with Kat. Kat can make anything funny, so whatever was on the page, she would just make funny. But I would ask her if there was a way to plus it or make it better, so it was less about in the moment changes and more about working with the actors and enhancing.
Every Friday night, a few of my friends get together, do the Disney+ Group Watch, and we come up with theories. What have been some of your favorite theories thus far?
Jac Shaeffer: It's such a tricky question to answer, so I can't get specific because I don't trust my poker face. But I think the things that I love the most are kind of more the emotional stuff. I really like when people talk about getting their heart broken by things or finding a lot of joy in something.
This week, I especially enjoyed everybody calling out Jimmy and Darcy being good at their jobs and having grown and changed over time. That card trick thing, we came up with that in the room and thought we were so funny and cool. But to have it explode on the interwebs the way that it has? We never anticipated that. It was just a tiny textural thing that Randall loved and practiced and practiced, so it's that kind of stuff.
I love the theorizing, don't get me wrong. But the stuff that moves me and really gets to my heart are those kinds of things.
This is your third collaboration with Marvel. What other characters would you like to bring to the television screen?
Jac Shaeffer: Also weirdly a tricky question. It seems like that should be a real straight ahead question, but nothing is in the Marvel world. There are so many characters that I love and would feel like honored to play around with.
I'll just tell you some of my favorites, not necessarily for TV shows. I love Valkyrie, she's one of my absolute faves. In general, I just love the Hulk. I think Chris Hemsworth's portrayal of Thor is just a revelation. I don't understand how he found that particular thing. Tom Hiddleston and I were trapped in Atlanta during the lockdown at the same time, and he's just the most charming person ever. I'm so excited for Loki. That one's taken; I can't have that one. But I'm psyched for it as a fan.
Have there been any easter eggs fans haven't caught yet that might be in plain sight?
Jac Shaeffer: It's not so much that they're easter eggs that fans haven't caught; they're just things that really wouldn't be possible for people to predict. But once things come to light, you'll be able to trace the through lines back.
Can you talk to me about when you first laid out this pitch and some of the initial reactions that that others had?
Jac Shaeffer: The initial concept was Kevin Feige's. It was his idea to take sitcoms and put them together with Wanda and Vision. So, all the reactions of, "That's bananas!" Talk to the big guy; it's his idea.
But as we were breaking it - obviously no one in the real world knew about it, but the other producers and creatives at Marvel responded to it really well. I think because it's our job to examine form, and we're meant to be experts of structure and storytelling. I think what we were trying to do, and hopefully we have been somewhat successful at, is breaking the mold that we're familiar with in television. I think that was a lot of the reaction: "Can you really do this?" And we were like, "We hope so."