Matt Shakman Interview: WandaVision | Screen Rant
WandaVision fans prepare for the grand finale of the seminal MCU series this week, in which Wanda will be faced with two Visions – the one she conjured in the Hex, and the one Hayward haphazardly brought to semi-life. Who will win and what will it mean for Phase 4?
Director Matt Shakman spoke with Screen Rant about his favorite Easter eggs, most meaningful television eras, and way his affection for the two lead characters has grown over the course of the season.
The series is largely responsible for establishing S.W.O.R.D., which looks to be an important part of the MCU moving forward. Did you feel any pressure to distinguish S.W.O.R.D. from S.H.I.EL.D.? And if, so how did you try to differentiate the two?
Matt Shakman: Oh, it was a super exciting opportunity to build a whole new agency. We started where we start pretty much anything when we design it; we say, "What would it be in the real world?" So, we looked at Cape Canaveral, we looked at the history of the space agencies, and what those worlds looked like and felt like. Then we worked with our production designer, Mark Worthington, and concept designers and storyboard artists, and started to build out the world of S.W.O.R.D.
But we really wanted it to feel grounded and real, to contrast with the sitcom reality inside the hex. We looked at films that I think do that really well - movies like Arrival, for instance, and the temporary base that they built around their extraterrestrial anomaly was a great reference point for us. We imagined that S.W.O.R.D. is exactly the right agency when you have a radioactive anomaly; that they're used to going into foreign planets, very difficult terrain. So, that pop-up base that we built was based off existing radiological and biological chemical response units that are out there.
Since WandaVision is set to lead right into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, did you and Sam Raimi consult with each other to make it a cohesive thread in between the two?
Matt Shakman: We did, yes.
Of all the Easter eggs that were included in the series, were there any that were your favorites, that you absolutely fought for? Even if they don't have any significance in the show so far?
Matt Shakman: I mean, there certainly are some that folks have noticed that are important. A certain license plate, perhaps, in an opening title recently. We have to honor Stan Lee, of course.
But we were very careful about the breadcrumbs that we left, because it is a mystery and a puzzle box. You want to make sure that all the pieces of evidence add up. And then there are fun little easter eggs on the side - many of which people have found already, if not all of them, and then analyzed. We were trying to build this story, and make sure that we were putting out all the little pieces that would eventually add up to complete the puzzle.
Were there any specific comic stories that you read through for inspiration for what would happen in the show?
Matt Shakman: All of them. All of the comics that have addressed Wanda/Scarlet Witch and Vision; everything from Tom King's series to House of M to Vision and The Scarlet Witch to Witch's Road - you name it, all the way to West Coast Avengers and other Avengers comics.
There's a rich history with these characters, and I think it's our joy and also our responsibility to fully understand what has come before so that we can then create something new; a new chapter. And I think that's exactly what each one of those comic book authors was doing when they wrote those series, which is being fully aware of what had come before, but standing on the shoulders of those great creators to create something new.
What I've loved so much about Marvel Studios is that they're not just adapting existing comics, they're creating new entries into this sort of burgeoning narrative world. And so that's what we were trying to do: create a story for now that built on everything before, and that will actually set up a wonderful future for these characters too.
I want to talk about the twins for a second, because one thing I thought was really smart was the way that you guys came up with the hex. We know that when you come out of the hex, Monica's clothes stay intact. Can the twins live outside the hex?
Matt Shakman: I wouldn't be able to give you a good answer to that question today. But maybe if we chat again in a week or two, we could talk about it.
Besides Speed and Wiccan, is there a chance that we could possibly see any more Young Avengers pop up in WandaVision?
Matt Shakman: Yeah, I certainly can't answer it as it relates to WandaVision, but the Young Avengers are great, and it's been really fun to introduce Wiccan and Speed into the world. I know other shows will be addressing some of those characters too, so it's exciting.
Is there a chance that we can get WandaVision on Blu-ray?
Matt Shakman: Gosh, it's a great question. I don't know the answer to that. But that's the thing that should happen if I were in charge of all those decisions.
Every Thursday, I feel like my feed is filled with so much WandaVision fan theory. One that I stumbled upon just recently, was that there's a possibility that there's a secret 10th episode? Have you heard this theory at all?
Matt Shakman: No, I haven't heard this theory. No.
We know WandaVision is super meta with everything that it does. But is there a chance that there's a hidden 10th episode for the series?
Matt Shakman: Gosh, I wonder who would've directed it. But we'll see. I know there was a Making Of episode the following week, so there's some continuing WandaVision in the Disney+ world the following week. But we're wrapping up our show.
Are you up to doing another television series for Marvel, or even a film for Marvel at all?
Matt Shakman: I've loved my experience working with Marvel. They're great, and I'm a longtime Marvel fan. I'm a comics fan, an MCU fan; I was there opening day for Iron Man in the front row, I've been there opening day for every movie since, and I will be in the future. They're great with filmmakers. They're hugely supportive. They're brilliant.
So, yeah, I'd love to work with them in the future. I have no firm plans to do so, but I certainly have loved my experience on this.
Here we are almost at the end of WandaVision. Can you reflect back and look on all these different eras of television that you did, and say which one of those eras was your favorite to shoot or do?
Matt Shakman: Well, I think all of them were a joy. The 70s was really fun, because of those costumes and the hairstyles, and the set was amazing. That's also one of my favorite episodes, just because it's so silly and wonderful, and the twins are born. So, I think I probably would have to pick the 70s.
But, man, I would love to live in a full episode of Agatha All Along.
At the end of the last episode, there's a post-credit stinger where we see Hayward introduce us to a new Vision. Without giving anything away, obviously, what can we expect from this new Vision?
Matt Shakman: Well, that's a great question. And that's, I think, one of the best questions to be thinking about as we move into the finale. You have two Visions on the board now, and which one is the real Vision?
When you got the job for WandaVision and sat down to think about Wanda and Vision as characters, did your mindset on the characters change after really diving into the show?
Matt Shakman: I've been very taken with them as characters in the movies that have come before. Even though they've had relatively little screen time, they left a powerful mark. You believe in their chemistry, they're wonderful together; moments of humor, moments of connection, and then moments of heartbreak. Certainly, with Pietro's death, and then with Wanda being forced to kill Vision at the end of Infinity War.
So, I have been rooting for them. I have loved the sort of strangest couple in the Marvel Universe, and how they seem absolutely right together, even though they don't seem like they should be together at all. That's very charming. I've learned so much more about them as we've gone, and we've created more about them as we've gone along. But hopefully they still remain the same characters that people love from those earlier films, and they feel like we're just continuing to go deeper into their story.