WandaVision was the first MCU TV outing and one of the most successful. While the other shows have seen a bit of backlash after their runs finished, as fans rewatched them and spotted the requisite holes that all MCU productions have in them, WandaVision’s fan reception has stayed pretty positive as its grief-centered story keeps resonating with fans. It’s not perfect but it still has a lot of great aspects.
That said, there are still a lot of missed story opportunities the show could have brought up. WandaVision had more potential than it lived up to, factors that would have made the show better and played better into the future of the MCU.
10 The Entire Last Episode Was A Misstep
If there’s anything that most fans of the show have a problem with, it’s the last episode. The show had mostly eschewed the usual MCU formula up until this point, so for the last episode to just go all out on the patented MCU big CGI fight was a massive problem. The story’s ending would have been so much better without it.
Having the final episode focus on the cliché MCU fight meant that the series’s emotional beats, its strongest part, were short-changed. There was so much more that could be done with this series if it didn’t take the easy way out like every other MCU product.
9 Incorporating Wanda’s Vision & White Vision Would Have Worked Better For The Future
Wanda’s recreation of the Vision is her ideal version, quite different from SWORD’s white Vision. Based on the emotionless Vision that was rebuilt after trying to take over the world, this Vision was the perfect automaton, sent into Westview to stop Wanda. It’s all part of the big bad fight at the end but it also represents a missed opportunity.
Having the two Visions incorporate somehow would have been smarter for the future than just having white Vision. Fans could get a story with the two Vision personalities clashing to see which one would dominate, which would be more interesting than the cliché “memory regain” fans will probably get.
8 The Reveal Of Wanda & Pietro’s Parents Could Have Been Better
In the comics, Wanda and Pietro’s parentage has been a big question. It’s one that has been changed many times over, with the most recent change because of the MCU itself. WandaVision dug into the MCU versions of the characters’ early life and it’s straightforward and a bit boring, something that could have been made more interesting.
While it’s too much to hope for Magneto to be their parent, this could have been a stealthy way to introduce Bova and tease the High Evolutionary, something which would have played well into the future of the MCU.
7 The Show Could Have Gone In A More House Of M Direction
House Of M is one of the biggest Marvel stories of the 2000s. WandaVision definitely took some inspiration from the story but it could have taken way more. In that story, Wanda recreated the entire world, which showed off her power in a big way. In the show, she makes changes to Westview but even then, they’re mostly cosmetic.
While she had the help of Professor X’s power in the comic, Wanda has been played as a telepath in the MCU. She has all of the power she needed to recreate Westview in much bigger ways than she did, which would have shown how powerful she’s become since viewers last saw her.
6 Teenage Billy & Tommy Would Have Led To Better Places
Putting Billy and Tommy in the show made comics fans very excited. In the comics, they would go on to join the Young Avengers and were some of the most powerful members of the team. Marvel Studios has definitely been teasing the Young Avengers in Phase Four, so any mention of Billy and Tommy is nice but never seeing them as teenagers is a miss.
Maybe teen Billy and Tommy are going to be introduced down the line but getting a tease of them would have been better. At this point, to have them brought back as teenagers for the eventual Young Avengers just feels weird. It worked in the comics because fans didn’t know Billy and Tommy were going to be Wanda and Vision’s kids; it doesn’t work with that knowledge.
5 Making Agatha Harkness A Cliché MCU Villain Was A Waste
Agatha in WandaVision is completely different than the one in the comics. Agatha in the comics is a serious-minded sorceress who has helped more than hurt. In the show, she’s a stereotypical MCU villain, with all the charm and humor that entails. She also derails the show’s plot about grief entirely; this is a show that didn’t really need an outside villain other than SWORD.
Even including Agatha at all was a mistake but if she had to be there, she shouldn’t have been played in the stereotypical MCU way. She’s a complex character in the comics with a connection to Wanda, so making her into what she was hurt the story a lot.
4 The Show Could Have Started A Slow Unveil Of Mutants
Fans speculated a lot about what was going to happen in WandaVision. One of the things they speculated about was Wanda bringing mutants into the MCU through some reality-altering shenanigans. Mutants are coming to the MCU at some point; it’s inevitable since Disney bought 20th Century Fox.
At this point, any reveal of mutants is going to bring up way too many questions, which is why Wanda’s reality-altering powers would have been a great way of introducing them. This way, there would have been an explanation that didn’t have to answer why mutants weren’t around in MCU history up until this point.
3 Making Abigail Brand The Head Of SWORD Would Have Been Better
Marvel is full of great secret organizations and the MCU is finally getting into them. SWORD was the first to be introduced and it’s completely different from the one in the comics. It’s basically just the new SHIELD instead of the space-based agency and its director, Tyler Hayward, is nowhere near as cool as the comic one, Abigail Brand.
Beyond the problem of her being a mutant raised by aliens, Brand is basically a perfect character for the MCU. She would have been a better character than Hayward, the most milquetoast, cliché director imaginable, and could have rivaled Nick Fury in popularity easily.
2 Ralph Bohner Should Have Actually Been Quicksilver From Fox’s X-Men
Evan Peters’ Quicksilver was one of the most popular parts of the recent Fox X-Men movies. He was also one of the best actors in that franchise, nailing his character like few others. Fans were shocked when he showed up in WandaVision and were even more shocked when the whole thing was completely thrown away.
With Phase Four introducing the Multiverse farther down the line, having Ralph Bohner be a nobody and not the actual Fox X-Men universe’s Quicksilver was a massive mistake. It would have brought a fan-favorite actor back, started the Multiverse tease, and added Quicksilver to mix, which is always fun.
1 The Show Shouldn’t Have Gone Out Of Its Way To Justify Wanda’s Villainy
In the comics, Wanda has been a villainess multiple times. It’s almost always revealed as mind control or justified in some way, which doesn’t always sit well with readers. WandaVision also did this but was even worse. It downplayed how horrific of an act Wanda’s constantly remaking Westview was, using comedy to lessen the impact and her grief as an excuse.
Wanda mentally enslaved an entire town and used them to build her perfect life to ignore her pain. These are villainous acts, yet the show does its best to make audiences sympathize with her and never plays her as the monster she is. It’s pretty much the only reason Agatha is in the show; making her the “villain” means the show never has to challenge viewers and show that they’ve been cheering for the bad guy all along.
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