‘There was no Plan B’: WandaVision creator never considered anyone other than Evan Peters to play ‘fake Pietro’ in Disney+ series
He switched Universes to play fake Pietro in Disney+’s WandaVision.
And the show’s creator Jac Schaeffer told the NY Times following Friday’s season finale that no-one other than Evan Peters was ever considered for the part.
‘It was an enormous question mark for a very long time. And it took a while to figure out if it would be possible,’ Schaeffer explained.
‘It was late that it was finally confirmed that we could do it. But we were writing for it….. There wasn’t a Plan B.’
Switched Universes: Evan Peters surprised fans when he showed up as ‘fake Pietro’ in Disney+ series WandaVision after creating the Marvel character for rival studio Fox
Peters originated the Marvel mutant character of Pietro Maximoff AKA Quicksilver in Fox’s X-Men movie franchise.
Disney, which owns the Avengers franchise, had the rights to Wanda Maximoff AKA Scarlett Witch.
The Marvel characters of Wanda and Pietro are twins and in the 2015 Avengers: Age Of Ultron film, Pietro was played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
For WandaVision, however, Schaeffer sought and eventually got permission to have Peters play ‘fake Pietro’.
This not only tied in Wanda’s connection to her deceased brother with the series plot but also added weight to the ‘fake’ by having the actor who played the character in a rival universe play him on the Disney+ show.
Major role: Peters originated the Marvel mutant character of Pietro Maximoff AKA Quicksilver in Fox’s X-Men movie franchise (pictured with Jennifer Lawrence in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse)
Hid her mutant background: Disney, which owns the Avengers franchise, had the rights to Wanda Maximoff AKA Scarlett Witch, played on screen by Elizabeth Olsen
‘Real Pietro’: The Marvel characters of Wanda and Pietro are twins and in 2015’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Pietro was played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. The character was killed in the movie
No Plan B: WandaVision creator Jac Schaeffer told the NY Times no-one other than Peters was considered for the part. ‘It was an enormous question mark for a very long time. And it took a while to figure out if it would be possible,’ Schaeffer explained
Subtext: This not only tied in Wanda’s connection to her deceased brother with the series plot but also added weight to the ‘fake’ by having the actor who played the character in a rival universe play him on the Disney+ show
It transpired that the world Wanda created – complete with sitcom tropes from various decades – was just a way to cope with the loss of Vision, who perished in Avengers: Endgame and is played on screen by Paul Bettany.
Vision’s death meant fans had to suspend belief at first when WandaVision debuted and accept he was still living.
But, director Matt Shakman confirmed, ‘The whole show has really been about Wanda processing grief. That’s been the engine behind everything, from the earliest episodes all the way up until now.’
As of now, there doesn’t seem to be any immediate plans for a second season of WandaVision, with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently confirming that Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff will move directly to Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
Superhero twist: Vision, played by Paul Bettany, died in the movie Avengers: Endgame leaving fans to suspend belief at first when WandaVision debuted and accept he was still living
Smoke and mirrors: However, the penultimate episode revealed the world Wanda created, complete with sitcom tropes from various decades, was just a way to cope with grief and loss