Wanda Maximoff: Scarlet Witch Appreciation 2020

[Sutekh]

But I think in order for her to be funny, it helps if she's paired with the Vision. Because their relationship is so flat-out bizarre and weird, it lends itself to comedy. The jokes she can make at his expense can be sustained for a LONG time. It would be amusing after a hard day's work of fighting Mephisto and/or Ultron, they came home and quarreled over trivial household matters. Because she's a witch and he's an android, it would be different than if a "normal" couple fought.

I think, not so much *she* is a jokester, as the world around her is unfamiliar or subtly off to her (since she grew up only seeing 'life in America' on the television, and so has a skewed notion of how it works, only exacerbated by coming over her and living in Tony's bazillion dollar AI-curated compound, which is *nothing* like 'real life'), playing the same fish-out-of-water role that Chris Evans got to play so effectively with Captain America (getting plenty of humorous bits, but not so much because he's a joker or a snark machine, like Tony).

One little aspect that could be re-visited from Civil War is that Vision, for all his amazing abilities, has no sense of taste, or real understanding of human cuisine, so he could be screwing up every meal he gets his hands on, with the best of intentions.

"The recipe called for a 'smoky' taste, and I remembered that burning plastic produced copious amounts of smoke, that had a strong odor to it [long story snipped] and after they all left, the fire marshal stayed behind to tell me never to do that again..."

[leokearon]

I think, not so much *she* is a jokester, as the world around her is unfamiliar or subtly off to her (since she grew up only seeing 'life in America' on the television, and so has a skewed notion of how it works, only exacerbated by coming over her and living in Tony's bazillion dollar AI-curated compound, which is *nothing* like 'real life'), playing the same fish-out-of-water role that Chris Evans got to play so effectively with Captain America (getting plenty of humorous bits, but not so much because he's a joker or a snark machine, like Tony).

One little aspect that could be re-visited from Civil War is that Vision, for all his amazing abilities, has no sense of taste, or real understanding of human cuisine, so he could be screwing up every meal he gets his hands on, with the best of intentions.

"The recipe called for a 'smoky' taste, and I remembered that burning plastic produced copious amounts of smoke, that had a strong odor to it [long story snipped] and after they all left, the fire marshal stayed behind to tell me never to do that again..."

I would love to see more of the Vision cooking, with the idea that by the end of the series, he would be able to actually cook something

[GenericUsername]

I don't think you should be so pessimistic! The director of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is Japanese-American. The screenwriter of the film is Chinese-American. The cast is practically all East Asian. Cretton and Callaham have made it abundantly clear that they want to modernize Shang-Chi and the Mandarin and remove negative stereotypes about Asians. And I think the MCU definitely wants more superheroes without actual superpowers to succeed in their movies. Shang-Chi is gonna be a big part of that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang-..._the_Ten_Rings

I think if this production team does not succeed in treating Shang Chi well, nobody can.

Sort of like Wandavision. To paraphrase an article I found online: "According to Jac Schaeffer, 4 of the 8 writers she has hired for WandaVision are women, and the majority of the show's overall production team is female. Seeing this kind of team working on a show like WandaVision makes us not only excited for the series but confident that Marvel is keeping up with the times' changing demands and what several big-name films have already embraced: diversity, both behind and in front of the camera, leads to better production."

If the writers of Wandavision fail to succeed, pretty much all hope of female superheroes playing leading roles in the MCU will be lost.

The pessimism comes from decades of Hollywood not doing great portrayals. And execs and investors have so much sway in things. Hollywood has a lot to prove. You have to understand that there are already criticisms about castings in Shang Chi. And that Asian western portrayals won't be received the same way in the east.

That's completely up to those groups to determine what has been done well.

[GenericUsername]

Wanda now definitely sounds like she's originally from Southern California as opposed to a fictional Eastern European country. I think Wanda and Pietro are Americanized to a certain extent in the comics, but their fashions and trips to Eastern Europe definitely make them seem foreign. To tell you the truth, their relationship with Magneto as a Holocaust survivor puts them firmly in the European camp as opposed to the American one. I think the MCU should definitely make Wanda honor her heritage more. Maybe keep a "slight" accent like she did in Civil War. Cook cuisines from Eastern Europe. Paprikash anybody? Perhaps she can listen to a lot of Eurotrash music on the radio. Go back to wearing beaded necklaces and bracelets. All these suggestions will likely NEVER happen in future movies with Wanda in them, however. That would make her more "international". I agree with you. The MCU is very British/Australian/American. Even future Muslim, East Asian, Latino and Native American superheroes will be VERY North American. That does make the MCU blander. The only superheroes who are more "foreign" sounding in the MCU are the ones in the Black Panther franchise. Marvel Comics to their credit tries to be more global in terms of its characters.

Yeah, I'm really curious to see how the women writers of Wandavision portray the Scarlet Witch. I know that horror/comedy writer Jade Bartlett was going to write Dr. Strange 2. I thought it was interesting Marvel Studios would hire a female writer to write a film which featured mostly male characters. But then she was replaced by Rick and Morty producer Michael Waldron. And horror/comedy director Sam Raimi came on board. So you know the Multiverse of Madness will probably be very funny too. Let's hope Wanda stays funny in the movies and she becomes funny in the comic books. She's never been funny enough in the comics in my opinion. Neither has Vision. I think this can change, however. But I think in order for her to be funny, it helps if she's paired with the Vision. Because their relationship is so flat-out bizarre and weird, it lends itself to comedy. The jokes she can make at his expense can be sustained for a LONG time. It would be amusing after a hard day's work of fighting Mephisto and/or Ultron, they came home and quarreled over trivial household matters. Because she's a witch and he's an android, it would be different than if a "normal" couple fought. The best move the MCU made in my opinion regarding Vision is to have Vis dress in human clothing most of the time. Lots of MCU viewers LOVE that aspect of his character because he was so dapper in the movies. In Wandavision, he might not be so stylish (in some clips his clothes look downright "lowbrow"), but that only makes him even more funny.

Paprikash is a Romani dish. It is made in general by other Europeans, but they have their own dishes that she could make. I think Marvel will always Americanize her because they write from their own experiences and perspectives. They probably don't know anymore what it is to be Eastern European anymore than it is to be Romani.

[GenericUsername]

https://www.cbr.com/yellow-hulk-marv...vengers-debut/

As well as the Yellow Hulk, there is also the Golden Witch (a mind controlled Wanda)

Just what Wanda needs. More mind control.

[Cruelrain]

https://www.cbr.com/yellow-hulk-marv...vengers-debut/

As well as the Yellow Hulk, there is also the Golden Witch (a mind controlled Wanda)

This isn't 616 right?

Edit: Just saw that it ins't

[Albert1981]

I would love to see more of the Vision cooking, with the idea that by the end of the series, he would be able to actually cook something

Spirits lifted!

[Albert1981]

I think, not so much *she* is a jokester, as the world around her is unfamiliar or subtly off to her (since she grew up only seeing 'life in America' on the television, and so has a skewed notion of how it works, only exacerbated by coming over her and living in Tony's bazillion dollar AI-curated compound, which is *nothing* like 'real life'), playing the same fish-out-of-water role that Chris Evans got to play so effectively with Captain America (getting plenty of humorous bits, but not so much because he's a joker or a snark machine, like Tony).

One little aspect that could be re-visited from Civil War is that Vision, for all his amazing abilities, has no sense of taste, or real understanding of human cuisine, so he could be screwing up every meal he gets his hands on, with the best of intentions.

"The recipe called for a 'smoky' taste, and I remembered that burning plastic produced copious amounts of smoke, that had a strong odor to it [long story snipped] and after they all left, the fire marshal stayed behind to tell me never to do that again..."

LOL! That's funny as hell. You should help write this series. I agree with you about Wanda. She shouldn't be a clown. She should just be exasperated most of the time because things are not going to plan. Her view of America would be very skewed because of her recent experiences. It would be amusing if she complained about him not taking out the garbage on the account of him becoming lazy (another by-product of his efforts to gain his humanity). I wonder if she'll actually be SCREAMING a lot in this series.

[Albert1981]

The pessimism comes from decades of Hollywood not doing great portrayals. And execs and investors have so much sway in things. Hollywood has a lot to prove. You have to understand that there are already criticisms about castings in Shang Chi. And that Asian western portrayals won't be received the same way in the east.

That's completely up to those groups to determine what has been done well.

I think Hollywood has TRIED to improve representation in its films over the decades. No more Good Earth, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing and Breakfast at Tiffany's style portrayals of Asians anymore. I think Asians in the Far East acknowledge that the directors, writers and actors and actresses in Shang Chi are first and foremost North Americans. So they will be influenced by Western culture, for sure. But audiences in the East will probably cut them some slack and understand that. This will not be like martial arts movies from the 1970s. I think Marvel is confident because Black Panther was so well-received by African-Americans and Africans when it came out (for the most part). I have a lot of trust in Feige and his team. As I said, at least they're TRYING to include characters of Asian origin in their movies and giving them a whole movie to themselves. They definitely could disappoint. But I think they will be sensitive to the concerns you raised.

[Albert1981]

Just what Wanda needs. More mind control.

Well, it IS the story of her life. At least she's in good company this time.

[Albert1981]

Paprikash is a Romani dish. It is made in general by other Europeans, but they have their own dishes that she could make. I think Marvel will always Americanize her because they write from their own experiences and perspectives. They probably don't know anymore what it is to be Eastern European anymore than it is to be Romani.

You're kidding?! I had thought it was as Hungarian as goulash! I guess the new writers/directors did maintain Wanda's Romani traditions in Civil War. I agree Marvel will Americanize any non-Americans because most of their creators are Americans. Maybe they should set up Marvel offices in other countries to get different perspectives? Lord knows Disney has enough money to do so.

[GenericUsername]

Well, it IS the story of her life. At least she's in good company this time.

It shouldn't be though. It's a great failure to the character. And wasn't dominant in her existence. She was in the company of others in AXIS, and it was still bad. Same with Secret Empire.

[GenericUsername]

I think Hollywood has TRIED to improve representation in its films over the decades. No more Good Earth, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing and Breakfast at Tiffany's style portrayals of Asians anymore. I think Asians in the Far East acknowledge that the directors, writers and actors and actresses in Shang Chi are first and foremost North Americans. So they will be influenced by Western culture, for sure. But audiences in the East will probably cut them some slack and understand that. This will not be like martial arts movies from the 1970s. I think Marvel is confident because Black Panther was so well-received by African-Americans and Africans when it came out (for the most part). I have a lot of trust in Feige and his team. As I said, at least they're TRYING to include characters of Asian origin in their movies and giving them a whole movie to themselves. They definitely could disappoint. But I think they will be sensitive to the concerns you raised.

It's not been seen that way by the critcisms I've seen. Some hate that it seems too Americanized. But we'll see what the overall reaction is when it's released.

[Albert1981]

It's not been seen that way by the critcisms I've seen. Some hate that it seems too Americanized. But we'll see what the overall reaction is when it's released.

There is a general perception that foreign audiences will love Hollywood films because they love American culture throughout American studios. I think there is something to that. But the criticisms here seem legitimate and valid. I think it will improve from the cheesy martial arts movies of the past, but maybe not far enough for some. We'll see. If the MCU makes Shang Chi characters FUNNY, I think a lot of the concerns will be forgotten. Humor to me solves a lot of problems in movies. Feige and his team understand this. They transformed Thor and Loki into clowns and everybody loves that including me. By the way, I do think Black Panther was too serious, even though it was really interesting. For some reason, and I have no evidence to back this up, Shang Chi will not have this problem (because of less politics being involved).

[Albert1981]

It shouldn't be though. It's a great failure to the character. And wasn't dominant in her existence. She was in the company of others in AXIS, and it was still bad. Same with Secret Empire.

To be fair, a lot of heroes get "mind-controlled". Writers and artists love that trope. I just think they go overboard with this too often with Wanda. It is a great failure to her character. That's why I'm counting on Wandavision to change perceptions of her. If she becomes funny and sympathetic, a lot of problematic issues with her character can be forgiven. As previous posters have stated, Wanda in the comics is often too emo and does act like a stick in the mud sometimes. Even Pietro is more fun-loving than she is. I think the movies WILL definitely influence Wanda and Vision in the books, especially now that Feige is in charge of the comics as well. That is if Wandavision is successful as Iron Man, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Thor: Ragnarok. I think it's easier to change Wanda's personality in the comics than Thor and Loki. And I really hope they do.