WandaVision: Evan Peters Arrives as the Latest Westview Resident
Head writer Jac Schaeffer explains what Darcy Lewis sees on the screen — Wanda recast Pietro??
Don’t you hate it when a long-lost family member shows up out of the blue to crash on the couch and totally disrupt the flow of everyday life? Playing off of this classic sitcom troupe, and a clear-cut situation for comedy, at the end of Episode 5 of Marvel Studios’ WandaVision, “On A Very Special Episode…,” the doorbell rings and Wanda Maximoff is shocked to see who’s standing there. Could it be? Is it? No way…
Standing on the other side, in full Hawaiian-shirt and leather jacket glory, is Pietro Maximoff… played by Evan Peters. As Dr. Darcy Lewis notes from the S.W.O.R.D. base outside of Westview, this isn’t who we think it is — “She recast Pietro?” she says, flabbergasted. From the looks of it, yes, that’s exactly what Wanda did. She recast Pietro for the latest episode of ‘WandaVision,’ once again playing into a familiar pattern of sitcoms of yesteryear simply replacing a character without much fuss.
Trying to wrap your head around what’s going on, just like the popsicle-, sorry, Vision? You’re not alone, as head writer Jac Schaeffer still can’t believe this is really happening, either.
“We loved the idea of [bringing him back],” Schaeffer told Marvel.com. “And then we were like, how in the world are we going to make this make logical sense? Like, how do we justify this? Because that's the thing, you can hatch a million great ideas, but to make them land, to make them be grounded, to make them feel organic to the larger story.”
The idea to do this came early on, from Schaeffer and executive producer Mary Livanos, who were determined to make this work. “This show is such a mind scramble, and because it's working on so many levels, and there's so many notions of what's real and what's not, and performance, and casting, and audience, and fandom, and all of that, we just thought it would be the biggest thrill to bring Evan over to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”
This whole idea was easier said than done, as Schaeffer continued, “We thought like, how do we give him this entrance, and then enjoy that, and then make it crazy? And we had long had the idea of the trope of the brother, or the relative, or whoever comes to town and like, stirs things up with the family — that sitcom trope.”
Right from the get go, Peters was up for it. “We were rooting for it for so long, and didn't know if it would be possible,” Schaeffer explained. “It was complicated to make happen. Evan was always up for it — like, always, always, always. He is a comic book fan, and a Marvel fan. He is always up for the absolute weirdest option. And he's a pleasure — truly a pleasure to work with.”
“Everybody was really excited. I think Kevin [Feige, Marvel Studios president] wanted to make sure that there was a reason for it, that it made sense. And I hope that's what we did.”
But what’s going to happen next? We’re all just going to have to tune in and find out.
Catch a brand-new episode of Marvel Studios’ WandaVision this Friday, streaming exclusively on Disney+!
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