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A very small edit from June ‘23 that’s really just small and minor compared to my usual capers. A dedicated ‘House of M’-style edit of the series would be good (if it can be pulled off), and I am thinking a little bit about it right now, but I’m not sure what’s possible and what isn’t when you take the TV material and put it next to the source material.
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The whole purpose of this was to get rid of the Wanda apologism there is in the series, specifically in the fifth and ninth episodes.
I’m not going to debate that Wanda’s acting in incredible grief and unbelievable pain – she had no choice but to do something that was probably the most painful thing of her entire life. And then when it was reversed and ultimately meant nothing and saved no one, she had to live with the consequences of it all.
But, in spite of that – she literally enslaved nearly 4000 people, robbed them of their lives & identities, and forced them to co-operate in a dreamworld – all to try and play happy family and satisfy the fantasy needs of 1 person. Heartache and trauma or not, that is not okay, and it should not be justifiable from anyone in or out of The Hex’s borders.
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10 minutes into episode 5, during Tyler Hayward’s briefing where Rambeau is also present and her testimony is read aloud, describing Wanda’s control as a terrifying and excruciating violation, the episode’s only tweak is made.
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The conversation is much more straightforward with Monica not defending Wanda. Now when Tyler states Wanda blasted her out of the Hex, Monica doesn’t defend by claiming she survived because Wanda protected her (IF that’s true). I see it as like your friend deliberately crashing the car when you’re a passenger, but you say it’s fine because they forced you to wear your seatbelt – they still deliberately crashed the car with you right there, how is that excusable at the start??
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Secondly, when Hayward points out Wanda’s holding thousands hostage, Monica doesn’t retort that Wanda created the Hex’s border, so the bad thing could have been worse – because that doesn’t magically (pun absolutely intended) stop the bad thing from being bad in the first place.
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In the finale, the changes only happen towards the end, and they’re more thorough this time.
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When the Hex comes down and Wanda leaves the house, the Jimmy Woo portion of the mid-credits scene plays out with him starting to co-ordinate helping the town. I like the character and it’s good to see him in action, and I was always on the fence about the mid-credits tease. (If it led to “Secret Invasion” and that was good, then great, or if it lead to Captain Marvel 2 and that wasn’t almost immediately panned heavily by audiences, then also great – but neither seemed to shake out, so hey ho). When Wanda gets to town, Monica no longer says anything about sacrifice – she looks at her open-mouthed (understandable for someone afraid) and Wanda just apologises and leaves as usual.
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In the mid-credits, in lieu of the Photon/Skrull sequence, it’s Wanda in the cabin in Sokovia with The Darkhold, hearing the voices of Billy and Tommy somewhere.
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Finally, in the post-credits scene, I took the teaser trailer for ‘Multiverse of Madness’ and modified it to work here. I took most of it out (since No Way Home is referenced and other non-sequential things that would be spoiled here) and just focussed on the Wanda parts. So it’s the Marvel logo -> Wanda and Strange in the “orchard” so Westview is acknowledged by both, before the focus shifts to the topic of The Multiverse -> then showing a future (or in this case, a possible) evil Scarlet Witch before the trailer title plays. It’s short, it’s punchy, it’s hopefully a good “tease” of things - and also, hopefully, this links everything together solidly between the series and film, since they definitely didn’t feel as interconnected as they could (/Should) have been.
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Footnote: I’m merely a self-taught editor/VFX artist here, so some areas may well be mostly good as a result, since I have to be realistic with the footage in front of me and what I can do with it, respectively. If you do have any particular notes and feedback, feel free to give me your thoughts, but please be constructive and don’t be an ass about it.