Director Matt Shakman calls working on set a “director’s dream” in an exclusive WandaVision interview with Sam Eckmann (Gold Derby). Marvel started this year on a high note when the “genre-defying” television series dropped on Disney Plus in January.
Fans were initially a little confused by the vintage styles and Dick van Dyke-esque comedy. But as the series continued, fans fell in love with the energy, the action, and the ways the series explored the characters of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany). Director Matt Shakman gives insight into what it was like working on this award-winning series.
Exclusive WandaVision Interview
Director Matt Shakman describes what it felt like to work on the series and the kind of work that went into pulling it off. He describes working on the show as “doing pilot after pilot” as each episode was an individual homage to culturally iconic sitcoms through the decades.
Shakman put the actors through “sitcom bootcamp” where they watched shows like Bewitched and The Dick Van Dyke Show and took notes on “acting styles and comedy styles.” He wanted the performances to honor and respect those legendary performances and the actors that brought them to life.
Marvel is no stranger to bold moves and the MCU Phase 4 lineup of movies and television series they have planned for release on Disney Plus is proof. The trailer for the upcoming series Loki is also proof that Marvel is taking bigger leaps during Phase 4.
WandaVision “Genre-Bending”
But WandaVision was the first experience of the type of experimental projects fans could expect from this new batch of MCU superheroes. Director Matt Shakman says of his experience directing WandaVision:
Tone is really the great mystery of the show, and it’s the great mystery of everything I like to do. I think the most fun thing to do as the director is to figure out how you can make those big turns and pull them off. And I think part of it is having the most amazing cast in the world and incredible writing.”
WandaVision set the tone for the next phase and reminded fans why they’ve come to love the franchise. It also reminded them of the great things that can happen when they trust the people behind the scenes and trust their process. When “film and TV” made director Matt Shakman feel like he had to “pick a lane,” we’re all glad that he “never quite got that memo!”
This isn’t the only exclusive WandaVision interview. Watch Teyonah Parris, Elizabeth Olsen, and Katheryne Hahn reunite to talk about what it was like working on the show!
