WandaVision Originally Included Therapy Scenes For Monica Rambeau
Marve Studios opened up Phase 4 with a bang in 2021, delivering the nine-episode WandaVision series as its first Disney+ exclusive in January. The MCU found a way to pay tribute to the history of TV sitcoms while delivering an exciting story focused on the unusual couple in the Westview Hex with eight weeks of unexpected plot twists.
Along with multiple MCU regulars coming back in this series, WandaVision introduced the adult version of Monica Rambeau in Teyonah Parris' first of multiple Marvel appearances. In Monica's first outing since 2019's Captain Marvel as an 11-year-old, the SWORD leader went through an intense journey physically and emotionally as she saw her first real character development in the MCU.
Aside from everything that came to fruition in Monica's story, there was even more planned out for her arc that didn't make it to screen.
A JOURNEY OF MENTAL HEALTH FOR MONICA
In an appearance on EW's The Awardist podcast, WandaVision head writer Jac Schaeffer revealed a scrapped therapy session scene for Teyonah Parris' Monica Rambeau .
Schaeffer pitched something that "mapped...the stages of grief" with Monica having a therapy scene since the writers "were very pro-therapy." However, this idea was taken out with there being "not a lot of time in the pop-up base" for Monica to actually do these sessions.
"My pitch was mapped to the stages of grief, it ended up being kind of a reductive thing. In early drafts and in the writer's room, we did a lot... Or, I don't know if you know this or not, Teyonah [Parris], but [your character] had a therapist in the base, the pop-up base. There were therapy scenes because we, in the room, were very pro-therapy. We saw this show as being really, truly, about mental health. So we were like, 'Well, we've got to have a therapist,' and then realized that there's not a lot of time in the pop-up base for Monica to be stepping into her sessions at all."
STICKING WITH WANDAVISION'S THEME OF GRIEF
Even with the extensive plotline Monica received in WandaVision, Schaeffer revealed that it would've been a tough extra story to navigate with Monica doing therapy sessions. While the SWORD captain certainly had plenty of reason to take part in those sessions, she already had plenty on her plate by simply dealing with the Hex situation in Westview.
Thankfully, Teyonah Parris is far from done in the MCU, already confirmed to co-star in 2022's The Marvels with Brie Larson and Iman Vellani. This sequel could bring another opportunity to tackle the mental health angle as Monica deals with her mother's death and her newfound superpowers, all while tackling the unknown mystery behind her contention with Carol Danvers.
WandaVision is available to stream on Disney+. The Marvels is set to release in theaters on November 11, 2022.
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