For 7 of its 9-episode season, WandaVision is easily the most creative and narratively exciting thing Marvel has done since Black Panther. The way the show explores grief in a sitcom backdrop is ingenious and compelling to me, and for the first time, we finally get a good sense of Wanda and Vision's relationship, something that was severely lacking from the MCU movies. It's unfortunate, then, that the last two episodes veer into more pedestrian and predictable territory, climaxing in a battle where CGI bodies fight it out in the sky with no real consequence or weight whatsoever (go figure).

Despite that, the show still manages to resolve the story in an affecting way, never losing sight of its central two characters we've come to learn and love throughout the season. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany are terrific, both given substantial material that allows them to really act and not stand as the background roles or plot devices they were relegated to in the movies. Kathryn Hahn and Teyonah Parris are also great, though more could have been done with their characters in the final episode considering everything that came before. However, for the most part, WandaVision fires on all cylinders, and as much of a cynic I am when it comes to Marvel, I'm shocked by how much I enjoyed it.