WandaVision Has A Two-Episode Premiere

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WandaVision will be starting out strong with a two-episode premiere on January 15, double the length previously predicted. The series, Disney’s first MCU original to debut on Disney+, has been highly anticipated and shrouded in mystery since its initial announcement. WandaVision stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany as Scarlet Witch and Vision, who seem to be trapped in some sort of alternative reality/nightmare world inspired by different eras of American sitcoms.

After the immense success Disney found with original serialized Star Wars content in The Mandalorian, WandaVision will be an important gauge of how well that success can translate to the world of Marvel. Disney has already announced a number of MCU and alternative Marvel canon series over the next few years, two of which – The Falcon and Winter Soldier and Loki – are set to air after WandaVision later this year. The new shows mark a major moment in Marvel’s onscreen history, as the MCU turns more toward original Disney+ series and away from traditional theatrical releases in the wake of the Infinity Saga’s conclusion.

All that promise has left fans eager with anticipation to see WandaVision for themselves, and they’ll get a double-dose when the show debuts on January 15th. In an official press release, Disney confirmed that “The first 2 episodes will premiere on Disney+ on Friday, January 15,” and that, “Episode 3 will debut on Friday, January 22.” That’s a bit of a divergence from The Mandalorian’s model, where only one episode ever released weekly across the first two seasons. It sounds like WandaVision will resume that more standard structure after week one, but the double-header opening should be plenty to pique viewers’ interest for what’s to come.

 

Like The Falcon and Winter Soldier, WandaVision will be a limited series with no plans for additional seasons in the future. That format makes sense for both shows, as they each more or less fill the role of a theatrical film in the MCU storyline. Scarlet Witch will also appear in the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which means she can’t be contained in the world of sitcoms forever.

It will be interesting to watch how Disney builds out its Marvel series offerings given that caveat – that the broader storyline is constantly changing, and therefore having multiple seasons of any given MCU show won’t often make sense. Shows like Loki, which is set in an alternate timeline, could be expanded into longer-running series, but whether or not they will remains to be seen. Much will be revealed about the televised future of the MCU when WandaVision premieres with a two-episode debut on January 15.