WandaVision intentionally kept it all in the family. When writer Jac Schaeffer and the other series creators sat down to decide which sitcoms to homage, they examined which shows aged better than others. They quickly discovered that shows about family often stood the test of time, and so they used that family theme to ground the new Marvel Cinematic Universe series.
"When we looked back and we were doing our research and looking at these older shows, there were shows that were a little disappointing and that were not acceptable for today," Schaeffer recalled. "We had a really incredible writers' room full of people who are -- part of our job was to keep an eye on these things."
"Fairly quickly, we zeroed in on family sitcoms, and there were a lot of different sort of workplace sitcoms and other types of sitcoms, but the family piece kept us very, very centered," she explained. "Then, you know, I can't speak to the larger puzzle of what the show is, but that was also a piece that kept us, I think, on the right track."
On the series so far, WandaVision has paid tribute to The Dick Van Dyke Show and Bewitched. If the trailers are any indication, homages to shows like Brady Bunch, Full House and Modern Family are on the horizon as well. Notably, Schaeffer also recently discussed how The Twilight Zone inspired some of the non-sitcom elements of the show, particularly when Wanda's reality begins to crack.
Disney+'s WandaVision takes place following the events of Avengers: Endgame, which saw Earth's Mightiest Heroes reverse Thanos' Infinity War snap and bring back half of all life in the universe. In the wake of that, Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, has found herself in a bizarre reality where her life is a sitcom. However, something insidious lurks beneath the surface of this picture-perfect world, and that may spell trouble for more than just Wanda and Vision.
Written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, WandaVision stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes. A new episode of the series releases every Friday on Disney+.