An Ode to ‘WandaVision’…and WandaVision

Quick Rundown: 

• Favorite Theme Song: The 70s one (“We’ve Got Somethin’ Cookin”)
• Favorite Wanda period outfit: That ravishing 50s dinner outfit
• Favorite Vision period outfit: Any look with a suit, so 50s and 80s, but I’m a huge fan of the 70s hair
• Favorite Agnes/Agatha Harkness outfit: the 17th century gown in the Salem execution flashback, sorry that trumps all her other looks
• Favorite Themed Episode: 90s Halloween
• Favorite Commercial Break: The 1960s James Bond-esque Strucker Watch ad

Just over a year ago, Marvel launched its first miniseries on DisneyPlus. It was a doozy, and I mean that in the best way possible. It’s a parody of the last-half century of popular TV shows (that I haven’t actually watched). It’s suspense. It’s horror. It’s domestic comedy.  It’s magic. It’s mystery. It’s Wanda Maximoff in all her crimson glory. And it ends with an epic showdown between witches and government agents. But most importantly, it is a love story about an emotionally damaged, over-powered superheroine and her vibranium synthezoid lover. I loved it the first time, and when I re-watched it last month I loved it even more. This is WandaVision. Wanda + Vision. 

Wanda and Vision’s Backstory

I want to begin with a short tribute to the two showrunners.

Wanda Maximoff, the Girl from Sokovia

Wanda Maximoff is, like, my girl. It’s been that way ever since the fall of 2014 when the set photos for Avengers: Age of Ultron first appeared…and I don’t believe that it is an accident that I found the perfect jacket and boots at the local thrift store shortly after.

Her Age of Ultron ensemble was my first real cosplay and my go-to costume for about three years. I’ve written a novel’s worth of fanfiction about her. The actress who plays her is an Elizabeth. 

Left Photo: Marvel Studios; Right Photo: Marissa Okolowitz

Not to mention she’s relatable: she is in her twenties when she first appears in the MCU, so I feel like I went through early adulthood with her. She has terrifying superpowers but she is also VERY insecure and struggles with so much self-doubt and guilt. Me being on the autism spectrum is kind of like having superpowers, social stigmas included, and there’s also the accompanying anxiety and depression disorders (and if autism is in any way genetic, in the comics Wanda is a Mutant for frick’s sake). 

I haven’t survived physical trauma or warfare or even suffered the death of a close loved one. But I have experienced losses and pains of other kinds. The plot of WandaVision revolving around the result of her breaking down under the weight of that grief is all too understandable to me. And her getting to be genuinely happy for like five minutes during the series is a blessing. I’ll bet I’m not the only Marvel fan who feels that way.

Even though Wanda was a supporting character in Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, and Avengers: Infinity War, she was as important to me as any of the “main” characters. For Civil War in particular, her characterization felt like a continuation of the fanfiction I had already written. I know her so well it’s scary even to me.

Vision, the Synthezoid Demigod

Vision, on the other hand, has always been a little bland and boring to me. Partly because he was so morally pure.

But something weird happened while I was writing fanfiction about Wanda’s life post-AoU. Vision didn’t just appear as a character: he became her friend not just out of moral duty or programming but because he was also new to being an Avenger and new to living, as much as Wanda was new to living in America and adjusting to life after the death of her brother. And in two separate fics Vision tells her things that ended up speaking to ME.

“When a creatures lives, it has the potential to do good in the world, to make it a more beautiful and wonderful place. You must see the good. Believe in it.”

Vision, “I Didn’t Say it Was the End”

See also “Miss Maximoff”

I didn’t write that, I just did the typing, I was so into the fanfiction story I was telling that I heard him speak. And in those moments, I discovered wisdom that I desperately needed myself.

It might be an exaggeration to say that Vision saved my life, but it wouldn’t be a lie either.

The Elizabeth Club

I’m a nerd, so I guess I like to celebrate by being nerdy and sharing random stuff about history and culture. Last year, I went over a list of notable events on or around the day of my birthday, December 14th. This year, I want to talk about famous women who are also named Elizabeth. 

Regarding the presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren I will only say this: I wouldn’t vote for her whatever her name was.

Also, I’m going to break it to you upfront that I was never a fan of the Disney show Lizzie McGuire. 

I am named for my great grandmother Elizabeth “Bessie” Solomon Shumway.  She died several months before I was born, but from the stories my family tells about her, she was a respectable and religious woman.

Chances are I have more ancestors further back who share my name. I should look them up.

In college and in my current singles ward, I have had the opportunity to be acquaintances, friends, and even roommates with other girls named Elizabeth. I like that it’s a common name but not annoyingly popular.

Bucky Barnes at the Crossroads of Destiny

The thing about being obsessed with someone or something is that you can’t run out of things to say about the thing. Your mind is constantly turning the subject over and finding new angles. From time to time, this is actually beneficial.

I was going to write a longer post and go more in-depth about the upcoming DisneyPlus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The thing was, the draft came to about thirteen typed pages. At least forty-five percent of it was me going off about Endgame and my fears for the upcoming series. This new version is eight pages, but I hope it’s more readable.

Bucky Barnes has already been featured in two blog posts of mine this year already. But, in honor of Sebastian Stan’s birthday (Aug. 13), and the upcoming series, I want to say a little bit more. To reiterate, I don’t even know if I will be able to subscribe to DisneyPlus to watch the series properly. I have a little over a year to figure that out.

For now, I do have thoughts about Bucky’s character and where he goes in the future. And instead of going off about every instance that Bucky has been shortchanged in the MCU to date, as well as little thing that could go wrong in Falcon & Winter Soldier, I want to tone down the angst and focus on my hopes. (I swear this will be my last Marvel post for the year—but I can’t promise this will be the last time I mention Bucky.)

Me, a Marvel Fangirl, and Her Opinions on ‘Endgame’

Spider-man: Far From Home is due imminently, so if I am going to say something about Endgame I had better say something now. Just to be upfront, if you liked Endgame you may not want to read this post, because I didn’t and I am in no state of mind to argue.

Remember when I said I was going to write a review for Avengers: Endgame? Well, I wasn’t able to go see Endgame a second time during its initial run in theaters (so that I could have a “fair” opinion of it), and I don’t even know if the rerun with the “extra footage” is playing in my area. I might not get to watch it again until it comes out on digital/blu-ray…but even then I am not sure I want to even see it. 

A Short History of the MCU in Memes

If you’ve been able to see Avengers: Endgame, good on ya. There will be a review post coming soon, I hope. There has been a lot going on on my end. Keeping with the spirit of commemorating the last eleven or so years of Marvel films, here is a walk down memory lane that shows you the funnier side of this universe.

The early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were in the early days of the internet becoming a hub for social media and meme culture. Memes as a form of humor, to my recollection, exploded in 2012, around the time The Avengers came out. You could argue that Marvel fandom invented online fandom and memes. If not, you have to at least agree that this fandom and memes have more or less always gone hand in hand.

The MCU fandom has spawned billions of images with funny captions or screenshots of Twitter and Tumblr text posts.  This saga, that many are now referring to as the Infinity Saga, is the story that the digital generation grew up with. They have celebrated it in countless ways: the examples below are just a few.

1. Iron Man Not Having a Superhero Identity Crisis

*mic drop*

Hela’s Domination Plan (A Theory)

SparkNotes Version/Summary: My headcanon is that the end goal of Hela in Thor: Ragnarok was to turn the universe into a realm of the undead by enslaving the souls of the living in a trance-like state, similar to what Thor saw in his dream in Avengers: Age of Ultron. 

I wanted to do more for Women’s History Month in March. With the time crunch to an upcoming convention and Avengers: Endgame, I had to make some sacrifices. However, I feel this theory of mine is important enough to merit a blog post, and since it’s Marvel-related I can move forward with it. (If this reads like an English paper, please know that it’s how I’ve been trained to present an argument.)

Remember that tangent I went on in my Captain Marvel review about how Carol Danvers should consider the possibility of taking over the universe simply because she is that powerful and she can just blow up anyone who gets in her way?

It was while I was pursuing that line of thought that it occurred to me that the MCU has already featured an overpowered female character who wanted to do just that.

Since then, I’ve rewatched Thor: Ragnarok. The whole movie is great, but the best part for me is Cate Blanchett as Hela, the goddess of Death. Seriously, I can’t take my eyes off her. Especially when she’s got her hair down. She is just soooooo fabulous. And of course, I loved cosplaying her last fall at FanX.

Thor: Ragnarok has been criticized for being too much of a comedy, but then again what could be more dark and depressing than the scenes of Hela just killing…and killing…and killing?  Maybe the critics took home their blu-ray copies and just skipped all of Hela’s scenes.

Hela’s story in the movie is that she wants to conquer the entire universe simply because SHE CAN. She argues that it is Asgard’s responsibility because they are worthy to do so as the most superior people in the universe (not stated but definitely implied).  It’s also because her dad didn’t let her do that before, and now he’s not in the way.

“It’s come to my attention that you don’t know who I am.” (Jason Hsu)

After Ragnarok came out, there was something small about Hela that bothered me for a while. She is the goddess of Death, but how so? In the movie, she conjures weapons, slaughters the innocent, and raises an army of zombies so she can kill even more people. In the comics and in Norse mythology, however, Hel/Hela rules over an actual realm of the dead, which seems more like the trait of a goddess than just being an overpowered warrior and conqueror. What does Hela killing people with magic weapons have to do with her being a Death goddess, besides the obvious?

Captain Marvel Review: The Sleeping Giantess Awakens

I have always wanted and needed female fictional characters in my life. I am drawn to them. Ever since Captain Marvel starring Carol Danvers was announced in fall of 2014 with the Phase 3 Lineup, I have been waiting impatiently for it. The more I have seen of Carol Danvers in online fandom, the more I’ve liked her. The DCEU’s offerings of Wonder Woman and Supergirl were great, but I was still anxious for a Marvel interation of the female lead.

So we finally have it. I’ve seen it twice. I had a lot of expectations. Were they met? Not entirely. But Captain Marvel still manages to be unique and fun. I wouldn’t call it my favorite MCU movie, but it is a worthy installment. I’m dividing this review into two parts: one section with spoilers and one without. If you have not seen the movie, read the top and then go see it. If you have seen Captain Marvel and you want some of my more specific thoughts, then read the whole thing.

The Non-Spoiler Review:

The first time I saw Captain Marvel, I was actually kind of bored for the first twenty minutes, because those segments of the film are actually in the first two big trailers—which, like anyone else madly excited for this film, I watched multiple times. Some parts of the overall plot were simply too predictable. There are a few interesting twists, but I feel like one or two of them were taken too far.

Take away the female lead and replace it with a male one, and it’s probably just another run-of-the-mill superhero movie.  If you’re a pessimist it comes off that stale.

As the action moved to Earth from space, however, the tension gradually increased, and the protagonist’s personality came out more as she bounces off of Nick Fury and reconnected with her former adopted family. She reacted to the reveal of her stolen past and identity with just enough frustration and anger to sell it. Just enough. And the final battle sequence was mind-blowingly epic enough to leave me pumped. Not to mention the mid-credit scene spooked the living daylights out of me. 

The second time I saw it, I enjoyed it all the way through. No surprises there. I’m a lot more critical of movies the first time around. Captain Marvel carries on Marvel’s well-established legacy with gusto.

If you want to compare it to Wonder Woman, there are some things that Captain Marvel honestly doesn’t do as well, notably on depicting the lead as a well-rounded person. Carol Danvers is a lot more serious than Diana of Themascriya, I’ll give you that, but then again she didn’t come from the same idyllic background. She’s a lot less feminine than Wonder Woman period (but the character not being sexualized at all is very gratifying). There are other things that Captain Marvel does better, especially in regards to supporting female characters that help the lead on her mission and stay with her the entire film.

As a girl-power fantasy, Captain Marvel is bigger than Wonder Woman in terms of scale and explosions and odds against the heroine—odds that don’t intimidate her for a moment. I dare say it’s even more satisfying to watch, probably because the ending is happier (is that a spoiler?). Really, though, I am of the party that doesn’t think the two films, or the two heroines, need to compete.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu4PULdjDOI/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1v7uxb707jw2

It is a great thing that we have movies that are written to depict a certain demographic as superheroes. However, Captain Marvel having a female lead does not mean that this is only a movie for women and girls. Like Black Panther before it, Captain Marvel is a movie for everyone, because it is a chance for everyone to see through a different perspective.

A Tribute to Ten Marvel-ous Men

Being single means preparing for marriage by taking care of myself. This takes place in various ways including self-care and developing my character and life skills. Naturally, I am always thinking of what kind of person I hope my future spouse will be. Being a nerd/geek/whatever, I am always looking for wanted and unwanted attributes in fictional characters, including males. As it happens, fiction is a good way to learn about life.

In preparation for Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, I have been rewatching the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. This has given me a chance to evaluate and re-evaluate the personalities and quirks of the characters, both the superheroes and the not-so-super heroes. If I had had more time, this post would have been written in February in honor of Valentines. I think it’s worth posting even now with the impending arrival of Saint Patrick’s Day and Captain Marvel, and to serve as a comparison and contrast for a possible similar post about female Marvel characters for Women’s History Month (as well as analysis of men who support them).  I also think it’s a good idea before we get too deep into the “Girl’s Rule” celebration this month that we reflect on the fact that not all men suck.

The Russian Beauty & the American Disaster

Note: This posts uses a lot of fandom slang. I have tried to explain the terms in context where possible, but click here for a more definitive glossary of terms.

Where to begin? Why do I love BuckyNat? How do I love BuckyNat?

It’s that time of year again when I devote social media and blog space to my favorite fictional couples or “ships.” This year I am doing my Marvel superhero OTP, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow and Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier.  With Avengers: Endgame on the horizon, and with it the end of the MCU as we know it, I figured this year it was either go big or go home. (Subtext: it may never happen.)

Those of you who follow me on my socials know I have been doing a spam called 28 Days of BuckyNat. Mainly because I can, simply because I want to make Valentines’ Month a little more special for me (single in real life) by actually celebrating love through sharing something I am passionate about, and taking an opportunity to share not only materials I have curated but art and writing content that I have created myself about this pairing.

At the very least, they deserve better than her riding him like a bull during their fights in the last two Captain America films.

Fun Facts about December 14 (My Birthday)

An interesting way to spend your birthday week is to look up facts about the history of your birthday. Here are some of my most interesting findings about the day December 14. Some of these things I have known for a while, others are things that I decided to look up out of curiosity for a blog post.