Accidentally-Correct Writing: There actually is a Westview (technically, West View) in New Jersey. Unlike the show, the real place is an unincorporated community in the town of Ridgefield Park, an inner ring suburb of New York City.
Acting for Two: Paul Bettany portrays both Wanda's recreation of Vision that lives in Westview, and the reactivated Cataract Vision that shows up in the climax. He also plays the original Vision in a flashback during the show's penultimate episode.
The entire cast and crew, but especially Paul Bettany, who was thrilled to try his hand in acting in a sitcom, noting how difficult but fun it was to portray Vision in a comedic matter rather than what would be traditionally expected in MCU movies.
Teyonah Parris had been a longtime fan of the MCU and was excited to audition for it, even if she didn't even know what role she was in for. Once she considered the thought that it was Monica Rambeau her expectations grew, and the Squee was high once it was confirmed.
Billing Displacement: Debra Jo Rupp (Mrs. Hart) gets a main cast billing, despite only playing a prominent role in the first episode and having a minor speaking role in the last episode. Meanwhile Josh Stamberg (Tyler Hayward) only gets a supporting cast billing despite playing a major role in all of his appearances, being the secondary villain of the show.
California Doubling: Westview is said to be in New Jersey but, like a lot of MCU projects, the series was filmed around the Atlanta and Los Angeles areas.
To capture the sitcom feeling, the exterior scenes were filmed at the Warner Bros. Ranch in Burbank.
The neighborhood where Vision meets Agnes during the Halloween episode is a real community in Williamson, Georgia; Rolling Hill Drive is the name of the actual road, "Ellis Avenue" (which is the original border of The Hex) is a re-signing of Williamson Zebulon Road.
Cast the Expert: Early in pre-production, the producers hired Dick Van Dyke to advise them on the way Golden Age sitcoms were staged, blocked, and filmed, reasoning that doing so would be less expensive than wasting time trying to figure it out themselves.
A minor case, as some of the crew were a bit miffed at Disney blowing the twist that "Geraldine" was actually an adult Monica Rambeau when the show was first announced, though by the time the show actually aired they'd made their peace with how this altered her early appearances into a new kind of suspense.
Around the time of Multiverse of Madness's release, Elizabeth Olsen admitted that she wished Marvel made the fan theory regarding Evan Peters reprising as Fox Quicksilver come true, since the Multiverse is such an important aspect going forward for the MCU.
Creator's Oddball: The show is this for Kevin Feige and the MCU as a whole. Rather than being an action-packed bonanza with huge CGI setpieces like the movies, WandaVision is largely an homage to the highly acclaimed sitcoms of the mid-to-late 20th and early 21st century, adding in some psychological and supernatural horror elements for good measure.
Completely Different Title: WandaVision is known as La Bruja Escarlata y Visión ("The Scarlet Witch and Vision") in Spain. Like what happened with Moana (renamed Vaiana in Spain), the reason was to avoid copyright issues, this time with a Spanish film studio also named WandaVision.
On January 29, 2021, some images and clips leaked from the show's Halloween Episode, showcasing Wanda using her powers while wearing her Halloween costume, a young Wiccan and Speed, and Evan PetersreprisinghisroleasQuicksilver (while wearing a Halloween costume of his own, modeled after the character's Silver Age appearance), alongside Vision breaching Westview and telling Darcy to save the people trapped inside while in extreme pain.
On February 11, 2021, all the subtitles for the sixth episode leaked out, alongside various screencaps from the episode itself. The same day, a storyboard for episode 8 from Wanda's visit to S.W.O.R.D. to see Vision's body (which was partially shown in the fifth episode), also leaked.
An excerpt of a script from the seventh episode, detailing a conversation between Vision and Darcy, got out before the show began airing. Interestingly, the script indicates that it was originally written for the eighth episode.
Screencaps of Wanda creating a copy of Vision in Westview and White Vision leaked out before the release of the eighth episode.
Defictionalization: The Strücker watch advertised in the second episode and Monica's S.W.O.R.D. necklace seen in the third episode would eventually become real products distributed by Marvel themselves. Replicas of Wanda's and Vision's wedding rings were also made available for purchase.
According to Matt Shakman, a scene was filmed for the finale in which some combination of Monica, Darcy, the twins and Fake Pietro/Ralph attempt to steal the Darkhold, only for Agatha's rabbit Señor Scratchy to transform into some kind of monster and attack them, resulting in what he describes as "a Goonies-style chase scene". While filming was completed, Shakman's comments suggest it was left out due to a combination of unfinished special effects and pacing issues it might have caused. YMMV on how much this scene would have added to the show versus distracting from more important action.
In November 2023 a clip cut from the final episode was released revealing that "Ralph Bohner" was supposed to be the missing person Jimmy Woo had come to Westview to look for. He's seen using a tool from a fire truck to cut off an ankle monitor and sneak away.
There’s also a deleted scene where Agatha flirts with an FBI Agent.
Demand Overload: The premiere of the seventh episode caused Disney+ to go down for 10 minutes, due to too many people trying to watch it. The same thing happened again during the premieres of the eighth and ninth episodes.
For his opening scene in the show's fourth episode, Randall Park actually learned how to perform the card trick that both he and Jimmy Woo were unable to figure out in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
God Never Said That: There was a significant backlash for the finale lacking a previously-reported "Luke Skywalker"-level cameo, akin to the surprise appearance of the character in the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, described but not happening. However, this is a case of misreporting getting out of hand; a piece from TVLine hypothesized that the series could have a surprise on that level in an interview, to which Elizabeth Olsen agreed. Olsen, however, never said that said surprise or surprises would be in the form of a cameo, much less a jaw-dropping, secretive one.
Irony as She Is Cast: Randall Park and Kat Dennings had previously been sitcomstars themselves, whereas Jimmy Woo and Darcy Lewis are much more serious looking in on Wanda's artificial sitcom setting for herself.
Missing Trailer Scene: A scene of Agnes riding a bicycle from the third episode can be seen in the second trailer, but doesn't appear anywhere in the episode itself.
Not Screened for Critics: The fourth through ninth episodes weren't screened for critics in order to prevent spoilers from leaking out. This, interestingly, occurred after the series had already initially been screened to critical acclaim.
The Other Darrin: Actually ends up being a plot point. The fact that Evan Peters from Fox's X-Men Film Series is playing Pietro Maximoff, rather than Aaron Taylor-Johnson from Avengers: Age of Ultron is actually addressed in-universe, hinting at the sign that something is up. The creator's even admitted they invoked this trope as an homage to the Trope Namer itself!
After leaking his character's surprise appearance, Rodri Martín was replaced as the European Spanish voice of Pietro Maximoff, despite having already recorded at least some of the role.
Jackson Robert Scott was initially cast as Billy and had filmed a few episodes before the COVID hiatus. By the time the filming got back on track, there was a scheduling conflict which necessitated the recast to Julian Hilliard.
Out of Holiday Episode: Episode 6 is a "Halloween Spooktacular!" but it premiered on February 12, right before Valentine's Day.
Production Posse: The fourth project to have Christophe Beck, Robert Lopez, and Kristen Anderson-Lopez in the music department, and the first such project to be unaffiliated with the Frozen franchise.
Promoted Fanboy: Director Matt Shakman grew up a huge Marvel fan, "dressing up as superheroes until they told me to stop".
Real Life Writes the Plot: The Covid-19 lockdowns began after the filming of Episode 1, which altered the plot in a number of ways as some actors had to maintain social distancing while others had a reduced role. See What Could Have Been below.
Release Date Change: This was originally intended to be the second Marvel Cinematic Universe series on Disney+ and the fourth installment of Phase 4, but production delays and/or theatre closings caused by the government response to COVID-19 forced the earlier series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and films Black Widow and Eternals to be pushed back. WandaVision was moved forward from Spring 2021 to January 15, 2021, because its production was further along (plus it was far easier to stay within COVID protocols due to being filmed entirely on interior sets), becoming the first installment of Phase 4. In hindsight, the shuffling managed to benefit the show, as WandaVision being the first Phase 4 property managed to not only demonstrate the MCU's new format of TV and film interconnectivity, but also demonstrate what Marvel could not have done at the movies.
The reshuffling also led to some unintentional effects. For instance, a speech Hayward delivers that highlights a rift between those who got blipped and those who didn't ended up becoming unintentional foreshadowing for TFATWS which explores this on a widespread scale. Darcy also ended up having a bizarrely brief role in the final episode (stopping Hayward from escaping) because Kat Dennings couldn't attend the new filming dates, and the one scene she had already shot was not being used. She filmed her single line in front of a bluescreen as the producers figured Darcy needed some kind of role in the story's resolution after she'd been such a big presence in the rest of the show.
The soundtrack for "Breaking the Fourth Wall" was released three days early due to the sudden popularity of "It Was _____ All Along".
Role-Ending Misdemeanor: Rodri Martín, who had previously voiced Evan Peters' Quicksilver in the European Spanish dubs of Fox's X-Men films, tweeted about his character's surprise appearance ahead of time. Martín was swiftly fired and his role in the dub was given to Manuel Gimeno.
Kat Dennings hadn't played Darcy Lewis since Thor: The Dark World way back in 2013. She comes back in the role eight years later.
An unusual case for Evan Peters as a recast version of "Pietro Maximoff"/Quicksilver. While he is technically reprising his role from the X-Men Film Series as Quicksilver (with the most recent project being 2019's Dark Phoenix), he's not "really" Pietro; he's Ralph Bohner, a resident of Westview implanted with fake memories of the MCU Pietro.
The same goes in some foreign language dubs, such as the Japanese dub or the Latin American Spanish dub (Luis Leonardo Suárez), when Quicksilver's respective voice actors reprise their roles.
So My Kids Can Watch: Debra Jo Rupp said she has a great-nephew that threatened to never speak to her if she didn't take the job.
Throw It In!: Paul Bettany was responsible for the memetic line "What is grief, if not love persevering?" in the Avengers Compound scene, as he felt that the scene needed to emphasize that while grief is a traumatic feeling, it ultimately is important to go through. He also felt that the line emphasized Vision's philosophical nature.
Trolling Creator: A fairly common occurrence with the cast in the lead-up to the show was to raise expectations and ultimately mislead speculating fans about the content of the series.
Paul Bettany teased that the show was going to feature an actor who he's always wanted to work with, and that his scenes with this actor are great and are going to be pretty intense. That actor turned out to be himself as none other than a "White" Vision. He actually gave an advance warning the day before the final episode aired, having seriously underestimated just how much the fans would latch on to his statement and spend a whole month getting their hopes up about some big surprise cameo they wouldn't actually be getting.
Teyonah Parris mentioned that she couldn't wait for fans to find out who the aerospace engineer that she hyped up in an episode was. Then it turns out to be either nobody important or someone not present in the series at all depending on how you interpret subsequent events.
Hours before the finale aired, Evan Peters posted a video joking about how cool it was to visit another movie universe, hinting at a full-blown Role Reprise and a Multiverse connection. Then it's revealed that he just turned out to be playing a random civilian brainwashed by Agatha into playing Quicksilver.
Wag the Director: Elizabeth Olsen had a fair amount of influence in designing Wanda's final Scarlet Witch costume. She had not been a fan of the previous Avengers costume, publicly expressing discomfort at how the old costume left her showing a fair amount of cleavage during battle scenes.
This was originally intended to be the second Marvel Cinematic Universe series on Disney+ and the fourth installment of Phase 4, but production delays and/or theatre closings caused by the government response to COVID-19 forced the earlier series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and films Black Widow and Eternals to be pushed back. WandaVision was moved forward to January 15, 2021, because its production was further along (plus it was far easier to stay within COVID protocols due to being filmed entirely on interior sets), becoming the first installment of Phase 4.
Producers Jac Schaeffer and Mary Livanos considered having every episode filmed in front of a live studio audience, but the idea was quickly shot down and limited to just the first episode, which is fittingly called "Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience".
Jackson Robert Scott was initially cast as Billy and had filmed a few episodes before the lockdowns hit and had to shut down production. By the time the filming got back on track, there was a scheduling conflict which necessitated the recast to Julian Hilliard.
Jac Schaeffer claimed that before learning she could use the adult Monica Rambeau, she had a different character in mind for the role that Monica eventually came to serve.
There was originally going to be a scene in the final episode where Monica, Darcy, Ralph, and the twins would try to steal the Darkhold from Agatha's basement. Agatha's pet rabbit, Señor Scratchy, would stop them from stealing the book by transforming into a giant demon familiar and chasing them around the basement, Goonies-style. Though the scene was shot, the effects weren't finished in time and ultimately didn't fit the pacing of the episode.
Darcy's bizarrely brief role in the final episode is because Kat Dennings was busy after the lockdowns extended the hiatus and couldn't attend the new filming dates, and the one scene she had already shot was not being used. She filmed her single line in front of a bluescreen as the producers figured Darcy needed some kind of role in the story's resolution after she'd been such a big presence in the rest of the show.
The biggest post-COVID change to the finale was the scene where the townspeople confront Wanda. Originally, they were supposed to swarm Wanda like zombies and attack her. Instead, they stand at a distance and reveal how miserable they are by having to act out parts in Wanda's sitcom fantasies, which Jac Schaeffer found more psychologically compelling.
An earlier version of Wanda and Vision's goodbye scene had the former use a "binding spell" to keep her connected to Vision after he ceased to exist.
Agatha Harkness was originally imagined as a more mentor-like figure for Wanda, much like her original character in the comics, with Jac Schaeffer even imagining a version of the story where the two of them "walk out into the sunset" at the end of the show. This changed as Schaeffer eventually realized that having her be a proper antagonist would work better structurally, though parts of the original concept were still kept in the final incarnation of the character.
This show along with all the other Disney+ series were going to have their entire seasons released at once, as with the MCU Netflix shows, but changed to a weekly schedule after seeing how well it worked for The Mandalorian.
Doctor Strange was planned to appear in the series finale, and Benedict Cumberbatch even signed off on a deal to make his appearance official, but was ultimately written out because Kevin Feige feared his presence would've taken attention away from Wanda in her own shownote Specifically, he wasn't enthused at the idea of Strange coming in to save the day or teach Wanda how her power works, thus undermining Wanda's power and Character Development. Especially when Wanda is going to be a co-lead in Strange's next movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Had it gone through, the in-universe commercials seen on the show would've been revealed to be messages Strange was sending in an attempt to get through to Wandanote The Claymation commercial for Yo-Magic is a remnant of this idea, as it was not changed after Strange's inclusion was dropped. One idea that was dropped was giving Strange a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo as the pharmacist in the Nexus commercial.
Another idea regarding Doctor Stranger's appearance in the show would've had him trapped in a Mirror Dimension closet by Agatha Harkness.
Monica was initially going to have scenes of her going to therapy in order to deal with the grief of losing her mother, which would've tied into her shared feelings with Wanda's sorrow in the series. This ended up getting scrapped by Jac Schaeffer, as there was basically no room for such a subplot with the Westview conflict occurring.
The writers tried to design "a chaos dimension" that Wanda would've made using her chaos magic, but it was ultimately deemed unnecessary.
After seeing just how popular the sitcom theme songs were, songwriter Kristen Anderson-Lopez admitted that she wanted to add a Michael Jackson-style Thriller dance sequence when Agatha briefly takes control of the town, as a proper sendoff to the musical numbers.
A leaked storyboard image and the script for episode 8 shows that Wanda was going to lash out at the SWORD receptionists for acting as though Tony Stark was the only Avenger lost in Endgame, while treating Natasha and Vision's deaths almost as an afterthought.
Word of God: When asked if the Darkhold shown in the series is the same one that appeared in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Director Matt Shakman replied that he tends to think that it is the same book, and that they simply gave it a new design. Granted, the show's head writer has gone on record stating that they did not take into consideration that the Darkhold had already appeared in previous Marvel TV entries.
Randall Park and Kat Denningsbothclaimed their characters weren't victims of "The Blip". Park thinks Jimmy wouldn't have had enough time between Ant-Man and the Wasp and this series to learn Scott Lang's card trick if he was, while Dennings joked Darcy was spared because her reaction to all the people disappearing would be too hilarious.
David Lengel, the actor who portrays Harold Proctor/Phil Jones, explained through his Instagram that the piano that his grandmother owned is forever gone as it became a permanent cardboard piano due to Wanda.
You Look Familiar: Asif Ali, the actor who plays Norm/Abilash in this show, previously made a brief appearance in the Season 1 finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., playing a guy tasked with monitoring Hydra's Centipede soldiers.
(technically, West View) in New Jersey. Unlike the show, the real place is an unincorporated community in the town of Ridgefield Park, an inner ring suburb of New York City.