WandaVision actress Elizabeth Olsen didn’t quite know what to make of the series pitch. In a post-Thanos-snap world, she wasn’t sure how a show that starts in the 1950s relates to anything that previously happened to the Avengers. However, once Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Jac Schaeffer told her their plans for the series, everything fell into place for her.
“I was really worried about launching a show like that,” Olsen tells Deadline. “The idea that Kevin had about trying to tell this story in a Twilight Zone-y way through a sitcom is so twisted and bizarre to me that I could only be excited to see what they would come up with. Another issue was to bring these superhero characters that audiences are used to seeing on big screens onto a small television.”
The show dropped on Disney+ right at the start of the pandemic. Everyone was indoors and looking for any and every type of escapism they could find to take their mind off of the Covid crisis. WandaVision provided a sense of storytelling that hit a nerve among those who took a chance on the show. Thus kicking off a new era of Disney content that some say excels beyond its cinematic counterparts.
Her performance as Wanda Maximoff has pulled in an Emmy nomination, one of her career’s first major award nominations. Most importantly, Olsen has found value in portraying the character and had a lot of fun while doing it.
“I’m really grateful for this show. I got to have a lot of fun showcasing in a way of being a ham. I haven’t gotten to do that in a lot of my work. You learn in life to become quiet and reserved, and polite, and it’s really fun to have that opportunity to access the skills that you’ve learned throughout the years. It awoke my body up to what I love about work, and I’m feeling residual effects in a positive way preparing for my next job.”