WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for much of what happens in WandaVision. If you are not fully caught up on the Disney+ show, please stand by. If you are caught up, stay tuned!
Well, I would say that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is off to a pretty amusing start with their new line-up of multi-episode Disney+ exclusives. By kicking things with off with the return of Elizabeth Olsen, as Scarlet Witch, leading one of the most bizarre comic book adaptations ever, the franchise, in its typical fashion, resolved a few pressing mysteries while prompting new questions for us to ponder. For instance, how does the WandaVision cast intend to follow-up such a game-changer of a TV series?
Developed by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, the 9-episode miniseries event brought back a few MCU veterans, newcomers to the live action comic book adaptation scene, and even one surprising cameo suggesting a groundbreaking movie universe crossover to perform this mind-boggling, avant-garde recreation of classic sitcoms throughout history. It also helps that a few stars already had experience acting in television comedies.
That being said, is a return to sitcom glory (or even a more traditional debut of it) to be expected for some of WandaVision’s most notable cast members? We shall figure out the answer to that and more when we take a dive into what the stars of the hit MCU show have next on their plates, starting with the magical, Marvelous main character herself.
Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch)
Ironically, one of Elizabeth Olsen’s first acting gigs was an uncredited 1995 appearance on Full House with her older twin sisters, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, years before sending up other sitcoms of the era as her MCU character on WandaVision. Now officially dubbed the Scarlet Witch, the 32-year-old actress will continue to explore Wanda Maximoff’s journey in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, director Sam Raimi’s upcoming Benedict Cumberbatch-led sequel, which is currently filming and set for a 2022 release.
Paul Bettany (Vision)
Sitcoms have never appeared on Paul Bettany's filmography, so I suppose we can thank his comedically charged performance as a medieval hype man in A Knight's Tale and JARVIS' built-in penchant for sarcasm in the early MCU movies for his smooth transition into the sitcom dad role. The 49-year-old actor, who also played the closeted title character of Amazon Prime's Uncle Frank, will next star in the BBC/Amazon Prime original miniseries A Very British Scandal as Duke of Argyll Ian Campbell during the time of his messy divorce from Duchess Margaret (Claire Foy). However, despite its tearful conclusion, the WandaVision finale hints that we have not yet seen the last of Bettany as Vision (or, perhaps, as White Vision).
Kathryn Hahn (Agnes/Agatha Harkness)
From her hilarious recurring spot on Parks and Recreation, major role in 2015's The Visit, and voicing Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Kathryn Hahn was fully prepared to play a nosy neighbor on WandaVision, who turns out to be a witch named Agatha Harkness, whom the 47-year-old Emmy nominee hopes to reappear as someday. Until then, she is set to reunite with her Anchorman co-stars Will Ferrell and (fellow MCU actor) Paul Rudd for a series adaptation of the true crime podcast The Shrink Next Door for Apple TV+, where she will also reprise her role on the animated musical series Central Park in Season 2.
Teyonah Parris (Monica Rambeau)
Even though Teyonah Parris had already been announced as the MCU's grown-up Monica Rambeau, her identity was revealed on WandaVision in a pretty memorable way. Hopefully, 2021 will be the year horror fans finally see the Dear White People star in the Jordan Peele-produced "rebootquel" of Candyman, helmed by Nia DaCosta, who will also direct Parris in Captain Marvel II, which likely sees the newly super-powered Monica officially debut as Photon (or, as the comics currently refer to her as, Spectrum) in 2022. The 33-year-old is also filming the sci-fi comedy They Cloned Tyrone, with John Boyega and Jamie Foxx.
Randall Park (Agent Jimmy Woo)
Before first appearing in the MCU in 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp, Randall Park was best known as Louis Huang on Fresh Off the Boat, Kim Jong-Un in The Interview, and, of course, "Asian Jim" on The Office in 2012. While I am sure that we will see more of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent turned Fed, Jimmy Woo, after WandaVision, I cannot be certain of where or when. I can say, however, that the 46-year-old Always Be My Maybe writer and star has a voice role in August 2021's Paw Patrol: The Movie, among a number of other projects in development, including a currently untitled collaboration with Hawaii Five-0's Daniel Dae Kim.
Kat Dennings (Darcy Lewis)
Kat Dennings actually joined the MCU in 2011's Thor just months before hitting sitcom glory with 2 Broke Girls and, even more fascinating, landed her first starring role on the short-lived comedy Raising Dad opposite a young Brie Larson in 2001. The 34-year-old actress has been able to confirm that there is more of her as Darcy Lewis to come after WandaVision, but she was not able say much else, other than the slightly disappointing reveal that it will not be in Thor: Love and Thunder.
Josh Stamberg (Director Tyler Hayward)
After many recurring spots and guest appearances on notable series like The Affair and Parenthood, Josh Stamberg landed a major, major starring role on a TV series as S.W.O.R.D.'s ruthless director Tyler Hayward, which also served as a reunion for him and his Afternoon Delight co-star Kathryn Hahn, and Paul Bettany, whom he appeared in the 2010 fantasy action thriller Legion with. At the moment, there is, evidently, nothing to report on what the 50-year-old actor has in store next, but I would be willing to bet his time on WandaVision could be the beginning of one vengeful MCU arc.
Debra Jo Rupp (Mrs. Hart/Sharon Davis)
For all of its heart-stopping cameos, one of the more endearingly heartwarming appearances on WandaVision was that of Debra Jo Rupp as the wife of Vision's boss, Mr. Hart, in a wonderful callback to her best-known role on That '70s Show as the aggressively motherly Kitty Forman. This, of course, would turn out to be nothing more than her sitcom-esque persona under the manipulation of one grief-stricken Wanda Maximoff, but I digress. The 70-year-old Friends actress is swerving a bit further into dramatic acting by starring in the dark comedy Butterscotch, which is currently in pre-production.
Julian Hilliard (Billy Maximoff)
When Eagle-Eyed Marvel Comics fans were able to preemptively put together that WandaVision was taking inspiration from the famous House of M storyline, it became pretty clear that the pair of infants Wanda and Vision held in the trailer were going to be their magically created twin boys, Billy and Tommy. Playing Billy is Julian Hilliard, whom you may recognize mainly from several horror movies and TV shows, including Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House as a young Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and in Color Out of Space as Nicolas Cage's onscreen son. The 9-year-old will retain his early Scream King status when he appears in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It in June 2021, as a real-life child who claimed his homicidal acts were the result of demonic possession.
Jett Klyne (Tommy Maximoff)
Playing Billy's fraternal twin brother, Tommy, is Jett Klyne, who has also gained quite the reputation for horror from roles such as the real Brahms in 2016's The Boy, a younger Harvey Kinkle on Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and a child with a very disturbing imaginary friend in the 2020 Shudder original film Z. I would not be surprised if both Tommy and Billy would one day reincarnate into their superhero personas, but there is no telling if the young WandaVision stars will be there to reprise them when the time comes. However, Klyne does have another project on the horizon, which is not horror, but a crime thriller of horrifying circumstances called 13 Steps, which has completed filming.
Evan Peters (Pietro Maximoff/Ralph Bohner)
As far as I (and likely the rest of the Marvel fandom) are concerned, no addition to the WandaVision cast was more bewildering and exhilarating than Evan Peters, seemingly filling in for his Kick-Ass co-star Aaron Taylor-Johnson's slain MCU character by also reprising his X-Men franchise role of the same speedy superhero. However, some viewers were a little disappointed to learn in the series finale that the actor's Pietro Maximoff was really an ordinary man named Ralph Bohner (pronounced as it appears) under the control of Agatha Harkness, but I thought it was amusing enough. So, despite what we may have hoped, it does not appear that Peters is returning as Quicksilver, but is returning for Season 10 of American Horror Story and will also star opposite Kate Winslet in the crime drama series Mare of Easttown for HBO Max.
There are so many other great performers I wish I could have mentioned from WandaVision, such as David Payton as next-door neighbor Herb, or Asif Ali as Vision's co-worker Norm, or Ithamar Enriquez and Victoria Blade from all those creepy, Easter Egg-laden commercial interludes. Perhaps we will be able to put the spotlight on them another day. Besides, as this series has proven well, at Disney+, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is capable of pretty much anything by now.
