Authors: Amy Mackin & Janeth Sierra-Rivera
Among many other things, the year 2020 marked the first year without a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film in over a decade. So it came as no surprise that Marvel fans were excited for the new Disney+ (pronounced Disney Plus) mini-series, “WandaVision.”
The series is based on well-known characters Wanda Maximoff, also known as Scarlet Witch, and Vision, an android in a synthetic body, who were first introduced to the MCU in “Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015). In the series, Wanda and Vision are seen living idealized suburban lives in the town of Westview, however, they quickly begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.
The first two episodes of the Marvel Studios original series were made available on Jan. 15, 2021 – with new episodes released every ensuing Friday. However, despite great anticipation, “WandaVision” has generated mixed reviews.
The show has received generally positive criticism from critics, having earned a score of 7.5/10 on IMDb, a 94 % on Rotten Tomatoes, and is referred to as “a wonderfully weird and strikingly bold step into the small screen of the MCU (Marvel Cinema Universe).” (Source: Rotten Tomatoes). However, others quickly took to social media to share their own opinions:
In addition, analysis of popular video-sharing social networking service TikTok demonstrates that
#wandavision has 163.4M views, although most videos using this hashtag seem to explain the ending of episode three, theories,
and the overall premise of the show.
- Top TikTok posts during the Jan. 15 – 22 time frame:
- The first top TikTok video is that of @mataya04petrea, with a total of 609.7K views, in which she says that she refuses to accept the fact that Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff) is related to the Olsen twins.
- The second top TikTok video is that of @_aanasper, with a total of 431.3K views, in which she expresses her confusion and theory regarding certain color symbolism within the show.
Full Analysis:
Purpose:
To analyze the social media conversations about “WandaVision” and determine whether those conversations had changed between the two air dates.
Analysis Time Frame:
This social media analysis was conducted using a Jan. 15 – 22 time frame.
Overall Trends:
- Between the dates of Jan. 15 to Jan. 22, “WandaVision” generated approximately 184,000 social media posts, with the highest volume of posts (68,279) taking place on Jan. 15 and the second-highest (47,151) taking place on Jan. 22.
- On both of these days, some users shared their love for the show, the characters, and their excitement for what’s to come, other users shared their confusion over what happened in the released episodes.
Top Tweets Included:
Trending Hashtags:
The top trending hashtag was #wandavision with 121,840 total mentions on social media. Most posts associated with the hashtag were advertisements regarding the release of the show and viewers’ opinions of the show. The second most used hashtag was #disneyplus with a total of 8,871 mentions.
Top Words:
The words #wandavision, wandavision, and “wanda” and “episode” were among the most popular words used to generate conversation about the show. These conversations included Easter eggs (hidden messages, images, or features within visual media), spoilers, theories, and other information regarding the show itself.
Sentiment:
- “WandaVision” has generated a neutral sentiment of 40.4%, a positive sentiment of 37.8%, a negative sentiment of 21.7%.
- Neutral sentiment revolves around people tweeting when the release of an episode occurs, people asking for the opinions of the show, and theories/spoiler discussion.
- Positive sentiment is focused on the excitement surrounding the series, the enjoyment of the show (particularly that it is interesting), and a love for the characters.
- Negative sentiment is based on the audience’s confusion of the series, and that people do not understand the show.
- All this data suggests that more users seem to generally be enjoying the series and are excited for what is to come, but that there are still many viewers who are disappointed in the show, outright confused or a combination of the two.
Follow-up Conversations:
While some say that only true Marvel fans can understand the complexities of “WandaVision,” some say that going back and re-watching “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is necessary. What are your thoughts on this? And if you have watched “WandaVision”, what is your opinion on the mini-series itself?
