WandaVision may look like a silly sitcom on the surface, but it will be grounded in Wanda Maximoff's trauma. Marvel has been developing several Disney+ shows for years now, and the very first will debut this week. Premiering on Friday, January 15, WandaVision kicks off the MCU's Phase 4 with a tale about the franchise's most unlikely couple: Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany). Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, the two settle in for some well-earned domestic bliss. However, their sitcom-esque life is far from perfect, and not everything is as it seems.

WandaVision is being hyped as something far outside of Marvel's normal wheelhouse, though it promises to still feature plenty of action-packed moments. What really makes this series different is the sitcom format it is adapting, which will see different installments of WandaVision's nine-episode run emulating the television comedies of decades past. The Brady Bunch, I Love Lucy, and Bewitched are just a handful of the shows that have been named alongside WandaVision. With all these touches, it's easy to think the series might stray towards the outrageous.

Related: WandaVision Early Reactions Praise Marvel's First Disney+ Show

However, there's more to it. In a new feature with the NYT, WandaVision director Matt Shakman explained that, amid all the sitcom goodness, the series will always be grounded within Wanda's past trauma. "Wanda is probably the person who has suffered the most of anyone in the M.C.U.," Shakman said. "And so the show is always grounded in that. Even though what you see are faithfully recreated television shows, there’s a lot more going on than meets the eye." Ultimately, the director described WandaVision as a story of "grief and trauma and how we hold onto our hope."

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There's little question that Wanda has experienced a lot during her time in the MCU. Even before her first appearance, she lost her parents in an incredibly traumatic way, and then her brother Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) died in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Later, after coping with immense public backlash and fear over her powers, Wanda was forced to kill Vision to destroy the Mind Stone - only to watch him get revived and killed again by Thanos (Josh Brolin). That's not even delving into the abuse she likely suffered at the hands of Hydra. It's no surprise that Wanda's built-up trauma would result in a storyline that explores her grief, even if it's stylized as a sitcom.

Olsen has insisted WandaVision is the Scarlet Witch story she always wanted to tell, which will surely make fans even more excited than they were before. Wanda is one of the MCU's most exciting characters, and WandaVision will be the first time she gets a plot centered solely on her (and Vision). This series provides a really excellent opportunity to dive into Wanda's psyche and characterization, and Shakman's comments certainly indicate Marvel didn't let this chance pass them by. It will be interesting to see how Wanda's past experiences shape who she is in the show, and how that will affect her going forward. She's already confirmed to appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, so this definitely won't be the end of her story.

More: WandaVision: Every Event That Set Up Scarlet Witch's Phase 4 Breakdown

WandaVision will premiere on Disney+ on Friday, January 15.

Source: NYT

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