WandaVision, the multiverse and ComfortTV

After three years of extensive peer-revision, I’m very happy to announce the publication: Moore, C. L., Comerford, C., & Vettoretto, R. (2024). Binge-watching and mental illness versus comfort TV and mental health in WandaVision. Critical Studies in Television, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020241229038

WandaVision launched the Disney+ subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platform by blending the sitcom and the superhero genres in a nostalgia-inducing fusion of Marvel comics, cinema and television. The series represents the canonisation of Marvel media into a single cohesive narrative ‘multiverse’, yet the story focuses on the personal experience of the character, Wanda, and her struggle with loss, grief, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In this article, we explore how WandaVision presents a unique examination of the tension between the role of screen media as comfort TV and the pervasive fears over the obsessive escapism of binge-watching. The article also assesses the potential risks of excessive media consumption through the framing of American sitcoms and superhero families from the 1950s and onward.

The following MidJourney images were generated to represent the article: