Prior to starting WandaVision, Jac Schaeffer had already established herself as one of Marvel's top talents, having penned the screenplays for both Captain Marvel and Black Widow. Now, she finds herself with the unique challenge of writing for two of Marvel's most eccentrically wonderful characters in Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and The Vision (Paul Bettany).
Having written for Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Schaeffer was already well-versed on badass female superheroes, but when she started to break down Wanda as a character, she was quick to realize how much the Scarlet Witch, easily the most powerful of them all, differed from her Avengers teammates.
"With all of the characters in the MCU that I’ve been lucky enough to write for, my goal is always to understand them as fully as possible and I think with Carol Danvers and Natasha, a lot of that writing - they’re so clever and the quips and they’re both so confident. Carol has so much swagger and Natasha can hang with the boys - all of that is so much fun to write and what was different about Wanda and what I kind of hadn’t done before - she’s quite a serious character.
She speaks plainly, there’s not a lot of artifice to her and I think, in a little way, there’s a bit of a blank slate that made it fun to insert her in a sitcom world, but her seriousness, her gravity is kind of beguiling. I’m used to writing sassier, funnier characters, and to be authentic with her, in her pain and in her trauma, was a really fulfilling experience."
While future installments are already expected to dive even deeper into Wanda's past, it's fair to wonder whether that muddled family history could be the launching off point for the introduction of mutants into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, despite our best efforts, Schaeffer wasn't tipping her hand in either direction.
"Oh, you’re sneaky, just slipping that one in like ‘No big deal, just going to ask her about mutants. Just going to keep my voice normal, not tip my hand.’ - Yes, I cannot speak of such things, but I appreciate your question. (*laughs*)"
Check out our full video interview - which contains potential minor SPOILERS - with head writer Jac Schaeffer below and don't forget to like and subscribe!
Welcome to WandaVision. Coming soon to Disney+. Marvel Studios' captivating new series "WandaVision" stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, and marks the first series from Marvel Studios streaming exclusively on Disney+. The series is a blend of classic television and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff and Vision—two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives—begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.
WandaVision returns with a brand new episode on January 29, exclusively on Disney+