After Spider-Man: Far From Home, many fans were left with a severe lack of new material. In the end, the pandemic didn’t help at all. However, once the wait was over, it was well worth it to cross the finish line. To kick things off, Disney+ released WandaVision, a huge success with both fans and critics. In addition, it even won a Marvel Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series.
Runes, a new feature introduced in WandaVision, were a standout feature. They contain magical incantations thanks to Agatha’s wicked witchy ways by Kathryn Hahn.
To contain the Scarlet Witch at first, they were used to keep her at bay until Wanda learned to use them against Agatha. They can be seen glowing against an orange sky during the climactic action sequence. An interview with a member of the show’s VFX team has revealed that the creation of those new glyphs was hampered by Black Panther.
Black Panther Limited WandaVision
People who pre-ordered The Art of WandaVision are already getting their hands on the book, which is set to go on sale in the next few days. One tidbit in the book reveals how Black Panther influenced some of the visual languages seen in Elizabeth Olsen’s Disney+ series, among many other secrets.
For the first time, the MCU is introduced to the concept of magical runes. These runes were created by Scarlet Witch herself and can be seen in the WandaVision still shown below.
In the book, Marvel Studios senior artist Jana Schrimer mentions that some of their concepts were “said [to have] looked [too] inspired by the Wakandan-style language.”
For the runes, there was a lot of back and forth, according to Jana Schrimer.
The first symbols I did I remember them saying looked too much like snowflakes. Other concepts they said looked a bit too inspired by the Wakandan-style language, so they didn’t choose those. In the end, the final symbols had more of a traditional, witchy look.”
Throughout the course of Black Panther, the written language of Wakanda can be seen on-screen at various points.
Continuity’s Constraints
The MCU presents a lot of challenges when it comes to working in a large, interconnected universe. It’s particularly important when it comes to introducing new characters and concepts.
This isn’t the first time that Black Panther’s Wakandan language has influenced Wanda’s new magic. While working on WandaVision, the VFX team had to make sure that the color they chose for Agatha’s magic didn’t cross-pollinate with any other MCU project; for example, it couldn’t be green like Loki’s, or red in the same way as Wanda.
The teleportation method used by Eros in Eternals had to be distinct from the portals seen in Doctor Strange, and from the type of magic in general, in order to avoid confusion. There were a few things Shang-Chi had to keep in mind when it came to his magical weapons, such as the Eternals.
The more time the MCU is around, the more difficult it will be to keep all the projects consistent. When the X-Men and other mutants get involved, things get even more complicated. Magik and Nightcrawler’s teleportation have to find new visuals that aren’t orange spark portals to stand out from the crowd.
