This is the 994th day that Vision has left the big screen, the last time audiences saw him, he was sacrificed in a tragic fashion at the climax of the film; this is the 632nd day that Wanda left the big screen, the last time she appeared Shih frantically wants to tear his lover's murderer to shreds; this is the 567th day that Marvel has left the big screen, and they're just about to wrap up an 11-year saga and are ambitiously preparing for what's next The story moves to more platforms. Then the virus that superheroes and Infinity Stones could not stop suddenly changed the real world. The rhythm of three movies a year was interrupted, and the long wait was followed by news of delayed tickets and postponed schedules. It wasn't until January 15th of this year that Wanda and Vision reappeared on the small screen, continuing the story of the Marvel Universe that seemed to never end.
Disney's decision to stream WandaVision on Disney+ as the opening of Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe wasn't the original plan, and Scarlett Johansson was supposed to do the heavy lifting and her independent film Black Widow. The lingering epidemic has turned this nostalgic film into an untouchable mirage (the latest May release of "Black Widow" looks set to continue to be delayed). The decision to bring Wanda and Vision to the fore was more of a helpless move after careful consideration. These two second-tier characters, who had not been deeply involved in the past, did not have super high popularity accumulation, and they will also test the waters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The streaming media platforms that I have tried are not an insurance business that is guaranteed to make a profit.
Judging from the current actual results, the executives of Disney and Marvel can breathe a sigh of relief. When the familiar Logo appeared on the screen again, the long-awaited accumulation finally had a channel to vent. Even if it's not sitting in a dark movie theater this time, and there are not as many exquisite special effects as in the past (even the fight scenes are pitiful), it is still exciting to return to the world of superheroes. Just started, the ratings of "Wanda Vision" surpassed the ending of the second season of "The Mandalorian" previously broadcast. Perhaps this also proves from another perspective that the magic of Marvel's soothing emotions is far more effective than vaccines .
Like the previous trailer, the first look of "WandaVision" is an American sitcom. The time of the story takes place after Avengers: Endgame. After eliminating the threat of Thanos, Wanda and Vision, who had been resurrected for some reason, came to an unknown town and began a sweet married life. In this part, the whole series can be said to look back and pay tribute to the entire history of American sitcoms. In chronological order, different episodes imitate the representative works of American sitcoms of different eras. This kind of imitation is not a simple Easter egg tribute, but strives to achieve an all-round reproduction. From the simplest character costumes, props layout to photography style, the frame ratio and even the noise reduction caused by the improvement of shooting equipment have been restored one-to-one. If it weren't for its superhero title, "WandaVision" might have been seen as an alternative documentary about an American sitcom.
This is of course not the first time that Marvel has grafted superhero-themed works into genre films. There have been many similar attempts in the previous Marvel Cinematic Universe. For example, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was grafted into a spy film, Spider-Man: Far from Home was grafted into a school youth film, Ant-Man and the Wasp (Ant-Man and the Wasp) is grafted into a romance. As a model relative to a single commercial superhero movie, the flow of the story is nothing more than encountering a crisis, eliminating the bad guys, and saving the world. The biggest selling point is the visual effects. Under the current situation that it is difficult to make new ideas in today's big scenes and gradually become tired of aesthetics, the method of grafting type elements is to increase the difference and the point of view of the film, and also hope to attract people who like certain types of films but have no sense of superhero themes audience to expand the audience.
Judging from the actual effect, this approach by Marvel is more of a gimmick, that is, it can still play a role in the promotion period of the film. When it is officially released, most of the audience still go to watch the movie in the name of superheroes. As for the type element, it is basically a dispensable addition. This result is not unrelated to the way Marvel grafts. No matter what type it is, the presentation method of grafting is basically used as a background, and then a bit of stereotyped type bridges are added. When it comes to key occasions, it returns to the superhero set. If the special effects should be displayed, the special effects will be displayed, and the sensational will be sensational. Moreover, single-hero independent films often have no continuous planning when grafting genre films, except that the Spider-Man series is bound to the model of school youth films (this may be because of the face of the Dutch brother who never grows up), Others are a one-shot deal, and when the sequel arrives, the type elements that were grafted before are completely forgotten. There is even a wall of grass that repeatedly jumps between different types of films like the Thor series. The first was a Shakespeare-esque historical drama, and when Thor: Ragnarok saw the success of the next-door Guardians of the Galaxy, it turned into a nonsensical comedy. Such a huge contrast can't help but make people wonder if Thor himself, Asgard, watched too many bad jokes when he was bored, so that he changed from a hero of Wei Guangzheng to a comedian within a few years.
Going back to "Wanda Vision", this time the graft is significantly different from the previous one. As said before, the genre element of sitcoms is no longer an addition, but a major part of the show. As the beginning of Marvel's Phase 4, it's the first time that audiences have a clear idea that there's no obvious villain in the story (which could be another smoke bomb, of course). The traditional superhero routine in the past is no longer applicable to this story, and how to develop clues, establish new characters and expand the worldview to pave the way for the next works has become the main goal of "Wanda Vision". There is no limit to telling the story in two hours, and the longer length of the episode itself also gives the story itself more room to play.
So why choose sitcoms as the type of grafting, is it just because the couple Wanda and Vision have suffered too much before, and Marvel kindly wants to feed the audience a wave of dog food. This seems to be another sleight of hand by Marvel, and if things are really that simple, audiences are far from having to analyze every frame of "WandaVision" with a magnifying glass, trying to find out the hidden truth behind it.
Unlike other types of films, which are trying their best to create an immersive sense of reality, sitcoms are inherently "fake". Whether it is the same scene, the fixed shot, the exaggerated performance or even the laughter of the audience outside the venue, they all imply the audience that this is a performance, not real, all the time. This is a far cry from Marvel's past style, and it definitely makes people suspicious. Coupled with the fact that the amount of information in the plot of the sitcom itself is not large, the audience's attention has naturally shifted to other places other than the surface plot.
So in addition to the family life of laughter, beating and scolding on the surface, what else is worth paying attention to in "Wanda Vision"? The answer is an easter egg, perhaps this time it should be called a clue. Although Easter eggs in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been a topic of discussion, they have never occupied such an important position as in "WandaVision". In the past, the role of easter eggs was more to connect different single-player movies, and at the same time reward those senior comic fans. Finding or not finding, understanding or not understanding Easter eggs will not have a significant impact on the entire viewing process, but will bring more instant knowing smiles, and the share of explaining to friends who did not understand. complacent. In "Wanda Vision", finding and solving easter eggs will directly affect the understanding of the entire plot, and it can even be said that easter eggs have become the most important part of the entire series.
Watching "Wanda Vision" is not just as ordinary as chasing dramas, but can be regarded as some kind of large-scale real-life interactive puzzle game. What organization does this prop represent, and what does that line allude to? Even the hexagonal frame that appears when the characters are explained in the title sequence seems to be part of the clues to solving the puzzle. Viewers must also consult articles and videos of various interpretations after each episode in order to verify their conjectures and prevent missing clues. In doing so, WandaVision precisely divides its audience into two groups, the general audience who don't want to get to the bottom of things, and for whom the show seems a little boring. The other category is those tireless clue collectors, and for them "Wanda Vision" can be said to be a gluttonous feast.
Marvel, of course, anticipated this situation for the questioner, and gave its own response. The fourth episode of the series changed the fixed sitcom mode of the first three episodes, gave some answers to the puzzles with an outside perspective (interestingly, this outside perspective is also the audience of the sitcom), and continued to throw new puzzle. In the latest episode 5, the story has been changed to a dual-view parallel mode, continuing the game of problem-solving and puzzle-solving. In this mode, relying on the viral spread on the Internet, there is some kind of wonderful chemical reaction between the questioner and the puzzle solver. , and together push up the popularity of the episodes back and forth.
From the perspective of a single series, "WandaVision" has undoubtedly met Marvel's previous expectations. After a year-and-a-half-long hiatus, it brought attention back to the world of superheroes and made a great start to Phase 4 that followed. From a broader perspective, "WandaVision" can be seen as a test of the waters of Marvel's attempt to solve the current predicament.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is at a crossroads in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame. The grand story line and huge fan base accumulated by 23 films in 2011 are both an asset and a burden. The increasing number of characters and the increasingly complex story setting has become a high barrier to entry, preventing new audiences from entering. At the same time, it is also difficult to add new ideas to the story and prevent aesthetic fatigue while maintaining the traditional style of Marvel. What's more, the most popular old heroes are gradually facing retirement, and the new heroes are not yet strong enough in popularity and appeal.
WandaVision seems to offer some solutions to the above problems. Greater innovation in story mode and deeper integration of genre elements with lower-cost streaming episodes. More exposure opportunities will also give the remaining characters a chance to accumulate popularity and cultivate fans. More importantly, in the face of high thresholds, Marvel does not back down, but wants to hand over the tedious task of explaining to senior fans, make full use of the enthusiasm of fans, and rely on the secondary creation and dissemination of the Internet to reach the old bandwagon. new purpose to bring in new audiences.
Just before "WandaVision" aired, Disney unveiled its latest plans for the Marvel Universe, with a further focus on streaming episodes. In the foreseeable future, there will be more series like WandaVision, with more diverse forms and more alternative stories. Before the official return to the big screen, superheroes will accompany the audience in another form.
This article was first published on the official account of Deep Focus DeepFocus, and the text and pictures have been slightly changed.
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