WandaVision’s Perfect Line About Grief Was a Late Addition, Says Bettany

That one WandaVision line about grief that captured the attention of the internet was actually a late addition to the series, according to Paul Bettany. As of last Friday, Marvel’s first Disney+ series has officially come to an end. It was a wild ride that began with classic sitcom homages and ended with a typical MCU spectacle-driven finale. In between all that was a deeper exploration of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Bettany), the MCU’s oddest couple that has often been relegated to the sidelines of the expansive franchise.

In particular, WandaVision served as a poignant examination of Wanda’s grief. She, perhaps more than anyone in the Marvel universe, has endured countless traumas, and the series finally presented the opportunity to dive into that. WandaVision episode 8 specifically was a trip into Wanda’s past and some of the most heart-wrenching moments she experienced. A scene with Vision set after Avengers: Age of Ultron sees the synthezoid easing her through the loss of her brother Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). He gives a little monologue about the nature of grief before concluding, “What is grief, if not love persevering?“

That line deeply resonated with viewers and has made its way around the internet (in some instances, as a meme). However, as Bettany revealed in a new profile with Esquire, the line and those that came before it were a bit of a late addition. As in, they were added while Bettany and Olsen were rehearsing the scene on set. Bettany approached WandaVision‘s head writer, Jac Schaeffer, and said, “I just don’t think the scene in the Avengers compound is doing what we need it to do. I think it needs to be somehow about the purpose of grief and that grief isn’t all bad.” Schaeffer then devised Vision’s full commentary on grief, which goes like this:

“It can’t all be sorrow, can it? I’ve always been alone, so I don’t feel the lack. It’s all I’ve ever known. I’ve never experienced loss because I’ve never had a loved one to lose. But what is grief, if not love persevering?”

The past year has seen many endure unimaginable losses in a very short span of time, which is why so many have related to WandaVision and that line about grief. Those words, in a way, managed to both give peace and to connect the series to current events in a way that might not have been predicted before. Many fans might have gone into WandaVision expecting a Marvel CGI-fest, and while the finale provided plenty of that, it also stayed true to its determination to work through Wanda’s emotions. That, more than anything, is what made WandaVision so special.

Considering how beloved that line has become, it’s incredible to consider it wasn’t in the original script. It’s also proof that, sometimes, the best things emerge unexpectedly. WandaVision was such a carefully constructed show, yet it’s clear there was still room for on-set collaboration and ideas. Though the show might be over, Bettany and Schaeffer can rest easy knowing what they created will stick around for far longer than its initial run. One could almost say WandaVision will… persevere.

Source: Esquire

About The Author

Rachel Labonte
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Rachel LaBonte is a news, feature, and movie review writer for Screen Rant with a deep passion for film and television. A graduate of Emerson College, she majored in Media Arts Production while specializing in screenwriting. She’s been a writer ever since high school when she realized she was rather good at it and joined as many entertainment news clubs as she could while in school. Most notably, she wrote for Emerson’s website Emertainment Monthly, and one of her film reviews won an Evvy (Emerson’s student awards) for Best Review. Her deep love of movies led to her working at a movie theater for five years, which she loved despite the angry customers. An avid reader who constantly buys books before reading the ones she already owns, Rachel is a huge fan of superheroes (especially of the Marvel variety) and wizards and will likely never be able to catch up on all the movies/TV shows she longs to watch.

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