How 'Wandavision' Has Gone Full 'Twilight Zone'

As Marvel's new series Wandavision continues its parade through 20th-century sitcom history, presumably hurtling towards an epic conclusion set in the Perfect Strangers-verse, it's become clear that the show is also pulling from a non-comedic classic of early television: The Twilight Zone. The first two episodes definitely evoked Rod Serling's beloved show's tone, presenting a seemingly idyllic mid-century existence that occasionally devolves into mind-bending existential weirdness. And Wanda and Vision's Westview neighborhood recalls the eerily manicured backlot suburbia of Twilight Zone episodes such as "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street." 

The third episode, though, really dove headfirst into the Zone, We've already seen several examples of Wanda overwriting reality to suit her whims, and at the end of "Now in Color" Wanda ejects Geraldine from the fantasy rerun-world after she mentions Ultron. And, fair enough, we'd probably do the same if someone brought up that goddamn movie. 

This seems like a direct shout-out to the classic Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life" -- the one where a tyrannical superpowered child controls reality and punishes those who defy his selfish whims by wishing them into some unseen cornfield.

And a lot of fans are also theorizing that future episodes (possible spoilers) will introduce Mephisto, the Devil of the Marvel Universe. This, again, is in keeping with the history of The Twilight Zone, a series that featured multiple episodes in which some random schmo turned out to be The Devil. In the '80s reboot, Morgan Freeman even invited Lucifer over for a friendly game of poker.

Of course, it's quite likely that this is all just in the service of teeing-up the villain of the new Doctor Strange movie, set to come out in 2022 ... here, in The Corporate Synergy Zone.

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Top Image: Disney