Marvel Studios kicked off 2021 with another wildly successful outing in WandaVision, which happened to be the studio's first attempt at long-form storytelling on Disney+. With a nine-episode run that spanned eight weeks, the MCU found a way to deliver an exciting new story centered around Scarlet Witch and Vision without compromising on quality.
While six of the first seven episodes largely focused on Wanda's sitcom-style reality inside the Hex, the last two grounded the story, weirdly enough, after nosy neighbor Agatha revealed herself to be Agatha Harkness. After the catchy musical number that topped streaming charts worldwide, fans were roughly pushed back into quite a real story that put Wanda and her family into some serious danger.
As it turns out, Episode 8 was one that brought some worry, particularly from the show's leading lady.
ELIZABETH OLSEN ON WANDAVISION EPISODE 8
WandaVision star Elizabeth Olsen sat down with the Little Gold Men podcast from Vanity Fair to discuss her experience on Marvel Studios' first Disney+ show.
When asked if there were any parts of the series that made her nervous, she mentioned "the penultimate episode" as one that was a challenge.
She revealed that she had "a hard time navigating the transitions and the logic," although she pushed through by "just trying to trust the storytelling" and letting that "[take] care of itself:"
"I think the penultimate episode, the kind of Scrooge episode. I had a hard time navigating the transitions and the logic, and I was just trying to trust the storytelling, and the storytelling took care of itself."
She admitted that she was "just hoping that [they] would pull it off" alongside co-star Kathryn Hahn and director Matt Shakman. Praising the team for doing "a great job with it," she specified this episode as one of the examples of her "just trying to trust the storytelling and not get in [her] own way:"
"I think all of us, Matt, Kathryn, we all were just hoping that we would pull it off. It definitely felt like a big lead, and they did a great job with it. That’s an example where I was just trying to trust the storytelling and not get in my own way."
"THIS IS CHAOS MAGIC, WANDA"
While the MCU's core story came to light for the first time in Episode 4 through Teyonah Parris and Randall Park, Episode 8 took the drama and intensity to new levels with a fully-revealed villain. Many of the challenges Olsen described seemed to come through the detailed trip down memory lane, which took an up-close look at Wanda's life.
This episode featured Wanda's most pivotal moments like her parents' death, the experimentation with the Mind Stone, and her early days living with Paul Bettany's Vision. This all culminated in seeing how Wanda created the Westview Hex purely out of grief over losing Vision, which took the exact emotional toll on her that Agatha was looking for.
With Olsen and Hahn largely carrying this episode, the second-longest of the series, it was certainly a tough task looking back on how much had to be set up for the final battles and payoffs in Episode 9. While the longtime MCU star had concerns on if this particular story would work, fans raved over the outcome as her character embraced the mythical Scarlet Witch mantle.
All nine episodes of WandaVision are available to stream on Disney+. Olsen's next MCU appearance will come in next year's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
