Earlier today, the WandaVision cast gathered together with Marvel podcast host and entertainment personality Angélique Roché to hold a virtual launch party. The event began with a fast montage of some of the most legendary scenes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe; beginning with a clip from Marvel Studios’ first movie Iron Man and ended with Tony Stark’s iconic snap. The montage changed its pace, switching to show a brief cinematic history of the show’s titular characters Wanda Maximoff and Vision.
The event was quick to launch into action. After a few brief comments from President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige, who referred to the show as “the perfect introduction to the MCU on Disney Plus” and showed off his WandaVision cap, the focus went straight to the main actors Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany. Roché was careful to not press for spoilers as she is familiar with Marvel's strict policy. Instead, she hosted a casual and fun conversation with the cast members. She bounced between her own questions and submitted questions from the online community. Starting off easy, she asked Olsen to describe the new season in three words, to which the Maximoff actor said, “Wild, magic, and love.”
The thirty-minute event had a few technical difficulties and found itself offline for a few minutes, but after it got back online, there were tons of more pleasant surprises. Joining the group were two more WandaVision actors, Teyonah Parris and Kathryn Hahn. Parris who plays Monica Rambeau, the daughter of Captain Marvel’s Maria Rambeau, expressed her admiration for the production team calling her experience “dope” and “fun.” Then Hahn, who plays a noisy neighbor to the couple, shared what her personal “well-meaning but possibly strange tasting” Welcome to the Neighborhood casserole would be, a classic Ohian Green Bean Casserole.
Returning Marvel actors Kat Dennings and Randall Park popped in briefly, teasing the show’s relevance and giving a few more details than the others. Dennings described the show as unique and said fans will be excited to see her character “outside of the world of Thor.” She referred to the upcoming series as “something that everybody’s been waiting for” and many of the cast members agreed that it was going to expand the cinematic universe greatly— whether they are referring to an expansion of the MCU plot or the studios’ traditional genre remains uncertain, along with the role that these returning characters will play in the new series. Park said that his character still has his quirks and hobbies (expect some card tricks), and then dropped a small teaser, saying that this series will expand the cinematic universe by a “ten-fold.” Dennings added a few things about Darcy’s return saying that Darcy has “learned how to be a boss” and comes to the WandaVision world under “some unusual circumstances.”
The last nine minutes of the event came as a huge surprise to all of the viewers. Three seasoned Marvel actors made a short cameo, poking fun at the actors and their new project. Loki’s Tom Hiddleston, the Falcon’s Anthony Mackie, and Dr. Strange’s Benedict Cumberbatch showed up to ask trick questions to the WandaVision crew. “Tom H. from the UK” accused Bettany of copying his characters, calling Vision’s unexpected return as “kind of a Loki thing.” Then “Anthony M.” came on, asking them what makes him their favorite Marvel character. Bettany deadpanned “his humility” and Olsen told him to “sit down” because he’s not in this show. And lastly, “Ben in London” commented, “It looks like you’re jumping through time but we just did that” before trailing off. He returned to ramble for 30 seconds about how fantastic they two are and encouraged fans to “not stop watching tonight.”
Needless to say, this virtual launch was lively and loaded with little Easter eggs and surprises. For the final round of comments, Roché asked the remaining cast members to share a last thought on what they are most excited for their fans to see. Kahn said she is ready to see fans’ have their “minds be blown wide open in ways you can’t possibly imagine” and Parris agreed, encouraging people to “get their Twitter fingers ready” and watch with a strong drink. Bettany said it is “a big swing from Marvel and it pays off” before Olsen ended it, saying “she hopes people can get a lot of joy from it and be entertained.”
WandaVision has a two-episode premiere tomorrow on Disney Plus.