Marvel Studios’ first series for Disney+ will be WandaVision, finally debuting on the streamer in 2021. WandaVision reteams Elizabeth Olson and Paul Bettany as their Marvel Cinematic Universe characters Wanda Maximoff and Vision; the latter died in Avengers: Infinity War and was not among the many MCU characters revived in the follow-up, Avengers: Endgame. Along with Bettany and Olsen, WandaVision will feature the debut of Teyonah Parris as the adult version of Monica Rambeau. Kat Dennings, Randall Park and Kathryn Hahn will also be part of the series’ cast.
The events of WandaVision will take place after the events of Avengers: Endgame. A new moving poster featuring signature MCU characters Wanda and Vision was also unveiled.
WandaVision has been described often as an homage to classic TV sitcoms of the past. And according to a new cover story in Entertainment Weekly, they really leaned in on the homage part. Marvel filmed the premiere episode in black-and-white — harkening back to the 1950s-era of TV — and brought in a live studio audience (this was pre-COVID days). And they consulted with Dick Van Dyke!
“The show is a love letter to the golden age of television,” Jac Schaeffer, head writer for WandaVision told Entertainment Weekly. “We’re paying tribute and honoring all of these incredible shows and people who came before us… we’re also trying to blaze new territory.”
“The Dick Van Dyke Show can be very broad with silly physical-comedy gags, and yet it never feels false, and I wondered how they did that,” Shakman said. “His answer was really simple: He basically said that if it couldn’t happen in real life, it couldn’t happen on the show.”
The series trailer set a record for most views of any streaming series trailer across platforms:
There was an anticipation that we’d see WandaVision as soon as December, but it appears that Disney+ is spacing out new product during the pandemic, particularly with the Christmas Day drop of Pixar’s Soul and the mid-December wrap-up of Mandalorian season 2.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was supposed to be the first Marvel Studios series for Disney+ back in August, but production was halted in the spring by the coronavirus pandemic. It will now debut in 2021. The fact that we now have a date at all is thrilling.
Other series in production from Marvel Studios are Loki, Hawkeye, the animated What If…, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight and She-Hulk. Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany will portray Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk.
Marvel films may restart in May 2021 with Black Widow, we’ll keep you posted. Watch this space.
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David Raiklen wrote, directed and scored his first film at age 9. He began studying keyboard and composing at age 5. He attended, then taught at UCLA, USC and CalArts. Among his teachers are John Williams and Mel Powel.
He has worked for Fox, Disney and Sprint. David has received numerous awards for his work, including the 2004 American Music Center Award. Dr. Raiklen has composed music and sound design for theater (Death and the Maiden), dance (Russian Ballet), television (Sing Me a Story), cell phone (Spacey Movie), museums (Museum of Tolerance), concert (Violin Sonata ), and film (Appalachian Trail).
His compositions have been performed at the Hollywood Bowl and the first Disney Hall. David Raiken is also host of a successful radio program, Classical Fan Club.
