Marvel Studios Boss Kevin Feige Takes Credit For WandaVision’s Sitcom Setting, Reveals Title Inspired By BlacKkKlansmen
John F. Trent
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Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige appeared to take full credit for WandaVision’s sitcom settings as well as revealing the inspiration for the show’s title in a recent interview.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 20: President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige at the San Diego Comic-Con International 2019 Marvel Studios Panel in Hall H on July 20, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
Discussing the show with Rolling Stone, Feige detailed where the original idea came from and referenced the Tom King written Vision comic book series from 2015 and 2016.
Feige explained, “the [2016] Vision comics series was on my desk for a long time. I just loved the white picket fence, the mailbox that says “Visions” on it, and the image of Vision and his android family in this suburban home.”
“At the time, we were under a lot of pressure finishing Infinity War and Endgame. And while we were in Atlanta shooting those two films together, there was a cable channel in the hotel where I was staying that every morning had Leave it to Beaver and My Three Sons. Rather than watching the news in the morning, I just had that on,” he detailed.
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Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff in Marvel Studios’ WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Feige elaborated, “I found great comfort in old sitcoms. I found it so soothing. The way those people had a problem and got to figure it out, man, you think “everything will be OK today,” as we head out to whatever production issue we were having.”
“I also started showing my kids The Brady Bunch. So I started to become fascinated with the idea of being able to play with that genre in a way that could both subvert what we do at Marvel and subvert what those shows were,” he added.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 20: President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige and director Chloe Zhao of Marvel Studios’ ‘The Eternals’ at the San Diego Comic-Con International 2019 Marvel Studios Panel in Hall H on July 20, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
Feige then went on to detail how the show came about with Bob Iger approaching him about Disney+.
“Around that same time, [then-CEO of Disney] Bob Iger told us about Disney+, and said, ‘We want Marvel Studios to start doing programs.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, so now I have an opportunity to not just have this stuff rattle around my head. We could actually turn this into something,'” said Feige.
He continued, “We pitched it to Paul and Lizzie. We started working with a creative exec at Marvel named Brian Chapek, and then [executive producer] Mary Livanos took it on, just trying to flesh it out: “Could this be something?” Then Mary brought in [head writer] Jac Schaeffer, and we hired [director] Matt Shakman, and the rest is history.”
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Paul Bettany as Vision and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff in Marvel Studios’ WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
He then emphasized that the idea for the sitcom setting came from him, “But it really started with this idea of the love of television and the comfort that television brings, which is kind of a false comfort, we all have to admit.”
Elizabeth Olsen would then claim that not just the sitcom setting, but Wanda warping reality was also Feige’s idea.
She stated, “What I was told at the beginning was that Kevin thought there would be a way to have Wanda transform the reality she was in into a sitcom.”
“I kept thinking about one of the bits in the Twilight Zone movie, with the boy who has the bunny rabbit come out of the TV. So in my head, what we were making was this twisted relationship with television. It was a pretty solid start [laughs], from his concept to what we ended up making,” she added.
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 08: Elizabeth Olsen attends the UK Fan Event for “Avengers Infinity War” at Television Studios White City on April 8, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)
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Feige also says he came up with the show’s title as well.
He explained, ” I didn’t want to call the show Wanda and Vision or The Scarlet Witch and Vision. I was at the AFI [American Film Institute] luncheon in 2018 and I remember looking at the board where it listed the top 10 films and seeing BlacKkKlansman.”
“I remember thinking, “How cool is that? They just mushed those two words together and the audience just accepts that as a title.” So I thank Spike Lee for making BlacKkKlansman. I know that’s the weirdest connection ever, but that’s how it came about,” said Feige.
Paul Bettany as Vision and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff in Marvel Studios’ WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
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