606-2
Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Scarlet Witch and Vision
Ok, time to talk about WandaVision! At the time of this writing WandaVision has been completed for a few weeks and while I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, I’ll say this: I really enjoyed it. Maybe I’ll just get my thoughts out with the old Good, Bad and Ugly review structure.
The Good: First off, both Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany are an absolute joy to watch on screen and I have enjoyed both their chemistry and characterizations of these comic heroes from the start. The existing MCU cast, including Kat Dennings as Darcy and Randall Park as Jimmy Woo, are great and I applaud Disney for further connecting the movies in this cinematic universe. The highlight of the new cast is easily Kathryn Hahn as Agatha, but the others, including the various towns’ people are good too. Secondly, the overall story, including the sitcoms through the year’s story telling device, was both phenomenal and smart, especially considering it’s something most viewers can relate too. Thirdly, it was nice to see some actual impacts from Infinity and Endgame, even if it was just limited to Wanda’s grief. The further character development of both Scarlet Witch and Vision was solid and I really cannot wait to see how they are impacted in coming movies and series. Lastly, I loved that they re-cast Quicksilver with Evan Peters from the Fox X-Men movies. I just thought it was a really great nod.
The Bad: While I don’t really blame the producers or Disney for this it was a bit of a bummer that after 18 months since the last MCU film that all we initially got was a cerebral black and while homage to old sitcoms. Sure, every week thereafter had a bit more story and MCU involvement, but wasn’t what the fans wanted after so much downtime. That said, if this was released as planned I’m not sure that it would have had the same accolades that it got. Also, I didn’t really love Monica’s part in this story. I get that they are connected to Captain Marvel 2, but it’s not exactly my favorite arm of the MCU.
The Ugly: This might be a hot take, but Wanda was the villain in this story. I know that she is suffering and I realize that she has been through a lot, but I wish they were clearer that she was either A) well out of her mind and not able to help making the HEX or B) have Agatha be in control of her actions. I’m also not sure why the director of SWORD was painted as such a bad guy. Yes he threatened to kill Wanda but she also took an entire town hostage for days. What was he supposed to do?
Pros: Scarlet Witch- I’ve reviewed her before but this one has a few good changes. 1. I like the lighter, redder coloured hair and 2. I like the different energy effects that don’t look like red cotton candy .
Vision: Sold detailed sculpt for a figure that did not see a single release until much later on, good articulation allowing for a number of cool poses and I love the look of the translucent cap.
Cons: Scarlet Witch- Nothing comes to mind that is much different than issues surrounding Marvel Legends female figures; it’s a really solid figure.
Vision- The only issue I have is that his hard plastic cape is a bit too long and interferes with lower leg poseability.
