What MCU stuff do you need to see to understand WandaVision?

[Klorox]

Hey guys. I don't want to distract from the main WandaVision thread, but if this isn't allowed, my apologies to the moderator who needs to close this, and I'll repost it in there.

I've seen all the MCU movies, but now my wife wants to watch WandaVision with me. She has seen just a couple of movies, and they're alright in her opinion.

I definitely don't want to turn her off to this show by telling her the best way to get these characters is to watch 22 movies.



What films would she need to see to understand the relationship between these two?

I'm thinking Age of Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War and Endgame. I'd precede this with telling her that Wanda and her brother got their powers from a Hydra scientist, and that Hydra is basically the MCU version of Nazis.

Do you think that would be adequate? Is there stuff I should leave out? Is there more I should show her?

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Klorox
I'm thinking Age of Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War and Endgame.

These are pretty much everything you need. Note that Disney+ has had these featured on the banners for the home page for the past few days.

Also note there's a new series, "Legends," with capsule summaries of MCU heroes. The first two episodes coincidentally feature Wanda and Vision. Together they're about 15 minutes, so that would be an easy introduction, but probably chock full of spoilers from the movies.

There will be some characters from elsewhere in the MCU, but no need for your wife to watch the source movies unless she really wants to.

For instance, Jimmy Woo from Ant-Man & the Wasp will have a role, and apparently Darcy from the Thor movies will also be making an appearance.

[Darth Credence]

Honestly, after having watched the first two episodes, I don't think you need to have seen anything. They do a good, succinct review of the two of them right off the bat, so no one should be confused as to who the characters are, and thus far nothing else has tied into the movies directly. Now, if the show goes the way I am expecting, then I would say that you need the last three Avengers movies (I don't think Civil War would be needed at all). At the very least I believe that in the long run you need to know what happened at the very end of Infinity War, and the general outcome of Endgame. Anything beyond that is gravy.

[theNater]

I'm a numbers guy, so what sticks out to me is that you're suggesting 10+ hours of movies as prep for 4.5 hours of TV. Endgame in particular seems inefficient, featuring Wanda for maybe 10 minutes out of a 3 hour movie. You might want to try skimming through those movies for just the Wanda and/or Vision scenes. Alternately, I was able to find a 10-minute supercut of Wanda and Vision stuff on YouTube.

Do you know how much backstory your wife wants? Like, if she's seen some WandaVision trailers and feels like she's good to go, you could just roll with it. Maybe she'll like the first few episodes so much she'll want more right away, and you can mention that the characters also appear in these movies. Little out of order, but shouldn't hurt anything, especially given the lack of direct connection so far.

[KillianHawkeye]

I would say that you need the last three Avengers movies (I don't think Civil War would be needed at all).

Civil War is when the seeds of their relationship are planted.

Honestly, you could skip Age of Ultron. You don't need to see their origin stories to understand the show, and they barely even interact with each other at all. The first Wandavision episode pretty much explains that Wanda is magic and Vision is robot, and that's all you need to know about their powers. What's important to know is their relationship and that Wanda is mourning Vision after the heroes failed to save him.

Heck, skip Endgame, too. Just reveal that Thanos' victory in Infinity War gets reversed, but that Vision is still dead (which is heavily implied in a conversation between Wanda and the Hulk IIRC). Because other than like two minutes where you can see how angry and broken she is, the film isn't about her.

So we're down to two movies (Civil War and Infinity War) and a brief bit of explanation for the bare minimum.

[Kitten Champion]

We're only two episodes into WandaVision, saying what will or won't be significant from the character's history by the time the show concludes is a bit glib at this point. They may even cover those salient points in the character's arc themselves through the course of the show, or they may not.

It's especially difficult to know what's relevant given WandaVision leans heavily into the surreal and psychological, and not merely a continuation of its character's story as a continuity of events.

[Psyren]

None - just watch this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHT1f-4xRHE

You can use this to target any of the films you need to refresh yourself on more specifically.

[JeenLeen]

For what it's worth, I never saw Ultron (the movie where Vision is created, I gather). I saw Civil War and the two endgame movies.

I think Civil War (to get a sense of their personalities and relationship) and the first of the two anti-Thanos movies is all you need, at least as long as you know who is alive at the end of the second movie. I don't think I gained anything extra from the last one.

Now, there might be some cameos or easter eggs that you'd need to know Wanda's background better, and that take the movie she's introduced in, but I enjoyed the first two episodes with limited info.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Klorox
Do you think that would be adequate? Is there stuff I should leave out? Is there more I should show her?

You mentioned four movies up front. Is your wife willing to sit through all four of them, or does she want to get by with the minimum necessary?

If the minimum, then JeenLeen is probably right, Civil War and Infinity War are the bare minimum. If she wants to watch no movies, I think the Disney+ Legends profiles should be fine, since those are designed for people who are curious about the show but might not want to watch several movies.

So, really depends how much time your wife is willing to invest.

[Psyren]

We're only two episodes into WandaVision, saying what will or won't be significant from the character's history by the time the show concludes is a bit glib at this point. They may even cover those salient points in the character's arc themselves through the course of the show, or they may not.

It's especially difficult to know what's relevant given WandaVision leans heavily into the surreal and psychological, and not merely a continuation of its character's story as a continuity of events.

While this is true, we do know from previews/trailers that some of the cast and characters from other MCU films who will show up in this one.
Adult Monica Rambeau from Captain Marvel is already present, and we know we're going to get Darcy Lewis from Thor 1 & 2, along with Jimmy Woo from Ant-Man.
While you probably won't need to have seen the debut appearances of these characters to understand WV, it couldn't hurt.

We also know that whatever is happening in WV, it is going to lead into Doctor Strange 2, so knowing what went down in the first outing for that movie couldn't hurt either.

All that is covered in the video I linked anyway, which is a great deal shorter than watching a bunch of Marvel movies back to back.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Psyren
While this is true, we do know some of the cast and characters from other MCU films who will show up in this one.

Out of consideration to other readers, the rest of this paragraph would be better off in spoilers. I spoilered the same information in my first post above, because I know that for some people, coming across this information in a thread before viewing would have substantially reduced their enjoyment of the show.

[Psyren]

Out of consideration to other readers, the rest of this paragraph would be better off in spoilers. I spoilered the same information in my first post above, because I know that for some people, coming across this information in a thread before viewing would have substantially reduced their enjoyment of the show.

Sure, I can do that - though generally I don't consider info from trailers or previews outside the show itself to be spoilers.

[Palanan]

Thanks for spoilering.

[An Enemy Spy]

You don't NEED to see any of the movies since none of them directly lead up to this series. You just have to be generally aware of who Wanda and Vision are and that he is dead, which can be easily explained without having to watch entire movies where they aren't even the main characters.

[Gallowglass]

Yeah, I think you are overestimating what someone needs to know in order to enjoy this show.

"Wanda is a superhero with mysterious witch like powers like telekinesis and reality manipulation that she doesn't always have great control over but that make her arguably the most powerful superhero in the current known universe. Vision is a robot who can pass through objects, and do most everything superman can do (fly, super strength, super endurance, shoot beams out of his head, etc.). They both got their powers from the same source, the mind gem. That may or may not be important, we'll see. But that bond drew them together and they fell in love. Then, in order to try and save the universe, Wanda was forced to destroy the vision which obviously traumatized her. (note: not really important to get into the whole, she destroyed him, then thanos rewound time and did it again himself, which is just irrelevantly confusing) The last time we saw Wanda, at the end of the last movie, she was still a member of the Avengers and the Vision was still destroyed. We have no idea what happened between then and the start of this series. But something screwy is going on that will be explained by the show."


I don't think knowing who any of the minor characters or organizations are is necessary, i think the show will present that pretty clearly to the novice viewer (IF it ends up mattering)

[Klorox]

None - just watch this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHT1f-4xRHE

You can use this to target any of the films you need to refresh yourself on more specifically.

Wow, this is perfect. Thank you!

Thanks everyone, actually. I’ve had such a hectic week, I forgot I posted this until I got around to watching episode 3 today.

You’re all awesome!

[Psyren]

Happy to help :smallsmile:

Feel free to join us in the main WV thread!