Here’s what WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier tell us about the MCU on the small screen.
Marvel’s TV shows have been released in a fallow time for superhero blockbusters. It wasn’t supposed to be that way – The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was meant to launch just three months after Black Widow, in August 2020. WandaVision was meant to follow the release of Marvel’s Eternals, and begin its run on Disney Plus in December 2020. Obviously, the pandemic meant things didn’t turn out that way. And while this year hasn’t been as dry for blockbuster entertainment as 2020 (the likes of Godzilla Vs Kong and Mortal Kombat have proved to be a nice distraction), Marvel’s TV shows have basically felt like the only game in town when it comes to pop culture. We’ve talked about them every week because, Oscar season aside, there isn’t a lot going on in entertainment right now. And, superficially, these shows look and sound like blockbusters, simply because Disney Plus has spent so much money on them. But are they any good? They’re definitely entertaining, and after waiting so long to see them (and therefore see Disney Plus reach its full potential after a relatively slow opening year), it’s satisfying to have new chunks of the MCU to look forward to each week. If you ask me, WandaVision was better than The Falcon and the Winter Soldier for a few reasons. In the main this is because it felt more like a TV show, built specifically around an episodic structure – which, as a viewer, made watching it each week feel satisfying. It helped that the show riffed on a different era of sitcoms for most of its run; it gave the show a natural TV-like framework that worked well episodically. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, meanwhile, felt like it could easily have been a long movie. And I don’t necessarily mean that as a compliment. The show probably features as many great MCU character moments as WandaVision overall, and my appreciation for the two leads didn’t dim throughout its run. But, it was a messier show. The muddled plotting, overload of characters, and not entirely successful ‘Power Broker’ mystery made it harder to enjoy. Some of the creative decisions didn’t work, either – I’m still not over the show having Sam Wilson, famous Avenger who helped stop Thanos, implausibly go undercover in Madripoor.
