Though the likes of Loki, Hawkeye, and the ongoing Moon Knight have been huge hits, too, it’s not hard to argue that WandaVision remains the crowning achievement of Marvel Studios’ TV output. The very first MCU show to hit Disney Plus, WV both struck a chord with viewers and earned critical acclaim — not to mention a bunch of Emmy nods. It’s easy to forget, then, just how weird a concept this superhero/sitcom mash-up initially seemed.
In fact, the idea was so out of left-field that Paul Bettany was originally convinced that it wasn’t going to work. Bettany, who starred opposite Elizabeth Olsen as reconstructed synthezoid spouse Vision, appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers and admitted that his first reaction to being pitched the series was not a positive one.
“I was really resistant,” Bettany explained. “really didn’t want to do it and I said, ‘I think this is a really bad idea.’ And they said, ‘well, we think it’s the only way we can get the energy that they had where they’re projecting past the cameras to an audience.’ And I said, ‘okay, okay.'”
Though Bettany went along with it and put his trust in Marvel to know what they were doing, it sounds like it wasn’t until WandaVision was actually going before the cameras, and he and Olsen were performing in front of a live studio audience, that Bettany really understood the magic of what they were making.
“I was so nervous and then I got on stage and I got my first laugh and I’m so shallow that I was like, ‘I’ve wasted my entire life! I should be doing sitcoms,” he joked. “What have I done?'”
Bettany’s skepticism over WandaVision‘s concept is funny when you remember that he originally thought he was getting fired when Kevin Feige called him in to a meeting to talk about his Marvel future. Given that, you might expect the Avengers: Infinity War star to be happy to do anything — although, to be fair, it must’ve been a tough sell to imagine his robotic character working in a sitcom setting.
15 months and an Emmy nomination apiece for Olsen and Bettany later, fans are eager to see the Maximoff-Vision family back in the MCU. Scarlet Witch will feature prominently in May’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but we’re not entirely sure if Vis himself will have a cameo. Wherever Bettany turns up in the franchise next time, however, we’re guessing he’ll be a little more open-minded.