The WandaVision crew is rushing to complete the series ahead of its premiere on Disney+. Set to premiere on January 15, the MCU's first foray into television has jumped around the release calendar a few times. Initially slated for spring 2021, the series was pushed up to late-2020 before settling on its final date. Anticipation is high for the series - it will be the first look at what Marvel has in store for Phase 4 of its wildly successful franchise.
Details have been scarce about the show, with the process being just as secretive as any major Marvel film to hit theaters. Iconic sitcoms of the past heavily influence the show, and star Elizabeth Olsen has said the show would move from sitcom territory into a Twilight Zone-esque nightmare. Just how all of that will come together remains to be seen, and it sounds like the crew is working hard so that fans will get to see the final product on time.
Speaking to SFX Magazine, WandaVision director Matt Shakman revealed the crew is still hard at work on the show. He says that, because of the pandemic, the normal production process and post-production were scrambled, making the show a more complicated endeavor. Shakman says the crew was able to work on the show in post-production during the six-month shutdown but were still forced to film footage as late as October.
We wrapped with very little time before the show has to air, so it's going to be a mad sprint to the finish line, even more so than many [Marvel Studios] films have had. The fact that we did have that post-process in the middle allowed us to finish up quicker than maybe we would have if we had just shot straight through and then just started post.
It's no surprise that the crew is rushing to get the final product ready. The pandemic has all but overturned the normal post-production process, forcing teams to work from home away from each other rather than in one centralized location. WandaVision seems to be no different, and Shakman's comments provide insight into how that process is going down in one of the most secretive studios.
Marvel is also facing a unique deadline. The studio is set to release more content in 2021 than ever before. Marvel could be releasing something new practically every week this year with all the television shows and movies scheduled. Any hiccup in the schedule could throw that off. Still, Shakman's comments are reminiscent of the toxic crunch time culture in gaming production, so hopefully, Marvel isn't implementing that kind of atmosphere in their post-production process. While WandaVision will be a big event no matter what, sacrificing working conditions to make a deadline isn't something to brag about; thankfully, Shakman's comments seem to be more hyperbolic than literal.
Source: SFX Magazine