‘WandaVision’: Wanda and Vision’s House In Episode 3 Looks Almost Exactly Like ‘The Brady Bunch’ House
WandaVision was not just the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe event with heroes, villains, and a great light in the sky.
While the series served a healthy dose of superhero staples, its backdrop was a television history lesson. The series immersed itself in several decades, from the black-and-white 1950s to today’s modern, digitally shot world. To recreate worlds like The Brady Bunch, however, the creators did a lot of research/
What is ‘WandaVision’?
According to IMDb, WandaVision is a series about Wanda Maximoff and Vision, played by Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, as they settle into a suburban lifestyle away from the all the chaos of the Avengers world. However, in true Marvel fashion, this sells the series short. The very premise comes with its own set of complications—the biggest of these being Vision’s deathduring the Infinity War.
To tell this story, create Jac Schaefer borrowed from the pop culture before it not just to copy what was already done, but to show how it helps to build us. In episode one, Wanda appears to project a psychic world based in the Dick Van Dyke show before moving through the eras and lampooning everything from Brady Bunch to Malcolm in the Middle.
Creating the sitcom world
Schaefer immediately started thinking about ways to make the show unique after taking the job as showrunner.
“The question is, why?” Schaeffer told The New York Times. “What in her personhood, what in her past, led to this moment? Let’s explore that, unpack that and look at the full human before us. And still have it be entertaining, with all the bells and whistles and all the blasty-blasty, all in one thing.”
Schaefer was tasked with taking the series’ base concept and adding a layer that was both in touch with the MCU and different than everything in it. To figure this out, Schaefer broke the series down and went from there.
“At the center was Vision and Wanda and her infamous story of loss, both in the comics and in the MCU,” Schaefer told the Times. “And then there was a lot of speculation: Yes, she creates a false reality, but is it false? Is it real? How does she contain it? What is the nature of her powers? Who are the helpers that are involved? Who are the antagonists? All of that was really up for grabs.”
The answer to all of this was through television. In a later episode of the series, we learn that while Wanda’s life was filled with death and chaos, her family used classic television to drown out the surrounding dangers. While Schaefer considered exploring genres outside of the family sitcom, from CSI to Roseanne, she decided that the wholesome backdrop of family television was a way to show her descent into madness.
Eventually, they chose some of the most iconic series in television history. However, one homage, in particular, was especially noticeable to fans of The Brady Bunch.
Here’s a story
Perhaps the most iconic sitcom that the series lampoons, WandaVision, went above and beyond to capture The Brady Bunch’s retro appeal. The source series remains a time capsule of the late 1960s and early 1970s. As such, its look remains a perfect jump-off point for a series such as WandaVision. The homages, however, didn’t just end with tone and feel.
The house that Wanda and Vision live in is a copy of Dick Van Dyke’s house. However, with every passing era, something changes. After the show turns into color after the first two episodes, BuzzFeed notes its groovy turn. The third episode’s credits ended with a hexagonal tribute to character squares from the Brady theme song. The staircase turns into the type of wood-slatted set–up from the iconic Brady living room.
Furthermore, as Vision ventures out into the yard, it bears a resemblance to the Brady household’s studio yard. From the iconic seventies fashion to the bed arrangement and a familiar-looking doll from a classic Brady Bunch episode, WandaVision doesn’t just parody the shows it features. It becomes them. While this might seem like a gimmick to some, it is a testament to the MCU’s most ambitious television project yet.
Eventually, Wanda, Vision, Agatha, and the rest of the cast come back to the real world. However, the journey along the way provided nostalgia, Easter Eggs, and a loving look at the worlds of television’s past.
