All-New Halloween Spooktacular!
"All-New Halloween Spooktacular!" | |
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WandaVision episode | |
Episode no. | Episode 6 |
Directed by | Matt Shakman |
Written by |
|
Produced by | Jac Schaeffer |
Cinematography by | Jess Hall |
Editing by | Zene Baker |
Original release date | February 12, 2021 |
Running time | 38 minutes |
Cast | |
| |
"All-New Halloween Spooktacular!" is the sixth episode of the American television miniseries WandaVision, based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision. It follows the couple as they try to conceal their powers while living an idyllic suburban life in the town of Westview, New Jersey. The episode is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. It was written by Chuck Hayward and Peter Cameron and directed by Matt Shakman.
"All-New Halloween Spooktacular!" was released on the streaming service
Plot
In the fictional WandaVision program, now set during the late 1990s to early 2000s,
Outside Westview,
Vision tries to push through the static wall but begins disintegrating. Lewis begs Hayward to help Vision, but she is handcuffed to a car. Billy senses that Vision is dying and tells Maximoff, who expands the static wall. The new boundary restores Vision but also envelops Lewis and several S.W.O.R.D. agents and turns them into circus performers. Hayward, Rambeau, and Woo manage to flee.
A claymation commercial during the WandaVision program advertises Yo-Magic yogurt.
Production
Development
By October 2018,
Writing
The episode specifically pays homage to the sitcom
The series features fake commercials that Feige said would show "part of the truths of the show beginning to leak out",
Casting
The episode stars Paul Bettany as Vision, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff,
Design
Shakman and cinematographer Jess Hall put together a collection of images from existing series that influenced the framing, composition, and color of the episode's sitcom setting,[22] and Hall created a specific color palette of 20 to 30 colors for the episode based on those reference images so he could control the "visual integrity in color" of the episode. Hall worked with production designer Mark Worthington and costume designer Mayes C. Rubeo to ensure that the sets and costumes matched with his color palette.[22]
Maximoff, Vision, "Pietro", and Billy all wear Halloween costumes inspired by their comic book counterparts' superhero costumes in the episode, while Tommy wears one similar to the costume that "Pietro" is wearing.[23] It was Feige's idea to have the characters wear versions of their comic book outfits in the episode,[24] and Olsen felt it was the perfect way to wear a comic-book accurate costume for her character since she felt you usually "can't take that costume seriously".[25] Rubeo wanted the costumes to look like they could be made at home, and embraced elements from the comics such as bright colors and tights that she felt would be a nightmare if used for actual superhero costumes but were fun for the Halloween versions.[26] Taking inspiration from the comics, makeup head Tricia Sawyer gave Olsen red lipstick to match with her Halloween costume, which she noted was bolder and more stylized than the character's usual makeup and played into the "ultra-revealing Wanda costume (with a suburban mom twist)" look that was a "sexy (for network) costume moment".[27] "Pietro"'s hair style in the episode was created to be an intentional callback to the X-Men film series, in which Peters previously portrayed Peter Maximoff.[28] Agnes wears a classic witch costume in the episode as a way to hint at the character's true identity, which is revealed later in the series.[27]
Filming
Soundstage filming occurred at
Animation and visual effects
Tara DeMarco served as the visual effects supervisor for WandaVision, with the episode's visual effects created by The Yard VFX, Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies (MARZ),
Rodeo FX developed the visual effects for the Hex boundary,
The gazebo in the town square was created digitally for this episode, since the episode's night filming was scheduled for after production on the final episode during which the actual gazebo set was destroyed.[43] Some of the silly string in the Halloween scenes was also created digitally since there was not enough time during filming to clean it off the actors and set between takes.[44] Animation was provided by Titmouse, Inc., while Acho Studios provided the stop-motion animation for the commercial.[21]: 34:17
Music
External audio | |
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Let's Keep It Going (From "WandaVision: Episode 6"/Audio Only) presents the full theme song from the episode by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, MarvelMusicVevo 's channel |
Theme song composers
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Let's Keep It Going" | 0:56 |
2. | "Traffic Light" | 0:30 |
3. | "Fish to Share" | 0:15 |
4. | "Water Balloon" | 0:31 |
5. | "Chile Con Carne" | 0:33 |
6. | "Hayward's Secrets" | 2:08 |
7. | "Yo Magic" | 0:43 |
8. | "Frankenherb" | 1:01 |
9. | "Charming As Hell" | 0:46 |
10. | "Dead or Alive" | 4:51 |
11. | "Super Speed" | 0:42 |
12. | "Freeze Framed" | 0:56 |
13. | "Hexpansion" | 5:36 |
Total length: | 19:28 |
Marketing
In early December 2020, six posters for the series were released daily, each depicting a decade from the 1950s through the 2000s.
Release
"All-New Halloween Spooktacular!" was released on the streaming service Disney+ on February 12, 2021.[52] The episode, along with the rest of WandaVision, was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray on November 28, 2023.[53]
Reception
Audience viewership
Nielsen Media Research, which measures the number of minutes watched by United States audiences on television sets, listed WandaVision as the third most-watched original streaming series for the week of February 8 to 14, 2021. 596 million minutes were viewed across the available six episodes, slightly higher than the previous week.[54]
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 95% approval rating with an average score of 7.60/10 based on 22 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "'All-New Halloween Spooktacular!' doesn't reveal too many cards, but offers much in the way of new treats to chew on—including some delicious work from Kathryn Hahn."[55]
The A.V. Club reviewer Stephen Robinson gave the episode an "A−". Discussing Director Hayward's speech to Rambeau, Robinson called it "a villain monologue and not exactly a subtle one" and was glad Hayward "isn't a method-acting villain who convincingly plays the part of Nice Guy until the dramatic plot twist". Robinson also praised Hahn in her scene with Vision.[12] IGN's Matt Purslow said "WandaVision has gone from strength to strength with each new episode, and that trend certainly doesn't stop with Episode 6. While it may not have a surprise up its sleeve as outlandish as last week's unexpected visitor, Episode 6 returns to the uneasy mystery vibes of earlier chapters for quieter, but no less spectacular effect." Purslow felt Peters worked as "the perfect weird uncle" and pairing him with Billy and Tommy helped make those two more interesting characters. Vision exploring the town to investigate produced some of the series' "most unsettling imagery" while Maximoff extending the hex was "a huge set piece for the episode". He gave the episode a 9 out of 10.[10]
Christian Holub, writing for Entertainment Weekly, felt Maximoff and Vision had "two of the worst superhero costumes in" comics and stated his enjoyment that they were turned into jokes for the episode as Halloween costumes. He gave "All-New Halloween Spooktacular!" a "B". His colleague Chancellor Agard was left "a little cold" by the episode and felt this was because he did not have an emotional connection to Malcolm in the Middle, though it could have also been something "lost" switching between the sitcom reality and the S.W.O.R.D. material. However, the scene between Vision and Agnes made him "sit up" and he called it a "very brief yet disquieting conversation". Agard praised Hahn's performance in that moment.[56] Giving the episode 4 out of 5 stars, Abraham Riesman at Vulture did not think everything in the episode "worked, but the good stuff, the Westview stuff, was literally and figuratively magical". He said the Halloween costumes were fan service, but "refreshing and fun" since cinematic adaptations rarely incorporate direct adaptations of comic book costumes. He also enjoyed Peters' performance in the episode, and said the scene between Vision and Agnes was "unsettling", with Hahn "just completely nail[ing] the creepiness of the subverted sitcom in a way that previous episodes have only aspired to".[9] Also giving the episode 4 out of 5 stars, Rosie Knight wrote for Den of Geek that some viewers may have been letdown by "All-New Halloween Spooktacular!" after the previous two featured "huge reveals", but said this episode "showcases the real power of WandaVision: the emotional story at its heart". Knight enjoyed Peters' performance, calling him "pitch perfect as the annoying troublesome uncle", and said Vision trying to escape the Hex was a "solid tragic hero moment" for Bettany.[57]
Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone said "All-New Halloween Spooktacular!" was the first episode of the series where the sitcom material did not feel "presented in air quotes", with the early scenes coming across as "a more convincing recreation rather than an ironic one". However, he was disappointed the episode did not lean harder into the sitcom material beyond the early scenes, thinking Bettany could play "a very amusing freaked-out dad" and the series was better equipped to imitate a show like Malcolm in the Middle than The Dick Van Dyke Show or Bewitched as done in the early episodes where "less seemed to be more".[23] IndieWire's Ben Travers was more critical of the episode, giving it a "C+" and stating that there was "zero payoff on last [episode's] closing twist, very little progress made toward Maximoff addressing her trauma, and too many empty, less-than-spooktacular shows of force. Aside from its weekly small-screen aesthetics, WandaVision still feels far too much like an inflated feature film that just keeps dragging out its story" each week.[58]
Accolades
Hayward and Cameron were nominated for
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