If you’ve been on the Internet at all in the past month, you’ve probably seen some of the conversation surrounding Marvel Studios’ WandaVision. The series had quite a lot of hype and expectation prior to its launch, especially as – thanks to the circumstances surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – it became both the first Marvel Cinematic Universe content in over a year, and the first of Marvel’s nearly a dozen new TV shows set to exclusively debut on Disney+. While many viewers have argued that WandaVision has met that hype, the series has been met with some scrutiny, with some arguing that it is too fixated on its sitcom-inspired approach, or that it is a far cry away from the kind of big blockbusters that the MCU is known for. The most recent criticism of the show – something that has since become a topic of conversation on social media – has been the very nature of its release, with some expressing disdain for the fact that it is splintered out into weekly installments. While everyone’s viewing preferences are different and have only grown more so in the age of “binge drops” from streaming services like Netflix, making that argument for WandaVision deeply undermines the nature of the series’ storytelling. On both a narrative and a cultural level, WandaVision is proving why weekly episode releases still work – and how they still can in the years ahead.
