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The Marvel drought is over. With no MCU movies released since 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, Marvel Studios’ cinematic universe has reopened with its first TV show on the Disney+ streaming service. WandaVision picks up some time after Avengers: Endgame and finds the characters of Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) living their lives in a sitcom world, with different episodes highlighting different eras of the genre.

In the three episodes provided for review, the show recreates the feeling of sitcoms from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s on the surface, while something more sinister is brewing underneath. WandaVision wants you to relish in these classic eras of TV, while also asking why the characters are there, how it happened, how it connects to the larger Marvel universe, and–most importantly–how long it will be before the characters themselves figure out what is happening.

After redefining what superhero franchises are over the last 12 years, Marvel Studios is stepping into something of a new genre of storytelling with WandaVision. Taking two of the MCU’s heroes, who happen to also be locked in a tragic love story, and dropping them into a vintage comedy is a risky move. Thankfully, though, it works like a charm.

WandaVision’s commitment to the premise of revisiting classic sitcom settings is endearing. Gone, for the most part, are the cutting-edge visual effects, sweeping musical scores, and over-the-top superpowers MCU fans have come to expect from the franchise;What you get instead is more akin to shows like Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie, in which “flying” objects are hanging from fishing wire and transformations are shown via jump cuts that never quite match–all techniques that those who worked on the show went to great lengths to recreate. It’s a good thing they did because anything else would be distracting. Instead, it’s easy to sink into the world of the show, almost as if you’re watching reruns late at night on TV Land.

That comfort allows WandaVision to build a sense of foreboding below the surface. Starting pretty early on in the first episode, it’s clear that something isn’t quite right–whether it’s the main characters being unsure about small details in their life prior to the show or lines of dialogue that show cracks in the armor of their black-and-white reality. And, honestly, not knowing what’s happening, in this instance, is scary, and the show does a good job of keeping it guarded, only giving small hints and clues.

For Marvel fans who don’t appreciate the classical TV setting quite as much, this will likely be what draws you in further. WandaVision wants you guessing and theorizing about the mystery that’s unfolding, taking logical and illogical leaps in hopes you’ll figure out what the endgame (no pun intended) is. And with it being a weekly release on Disney+, you’ll have plenty of time to do it. Plus, as the trailer shows, eventually more familiar aspects of the MCU will creep their way into the show over the course of its nine episodes.

However, that might not be something all viewers will be interested in waiting for. After all, most of the MCU thus far is made up of movies, which tell a complete story in one sitting. WandaVision, meanwhile, is taking a slow burn approach to its mystery. It’ll be weeks before you get any concrete answers, if they come at all. If you stuck with it, though, based on the first three episodes, it’s going to be worth the journey.

Just as much an achievement as the aesthetic of the show and the story it’s telling, though, is the cast. Bettany and Olsen, in particular, are incredible leads. Bettany’s Vision is played as essentially a bumbling husband trying to navigate a world he doesn’t quite fit into. If that sounds like the version of the character Bettany has played in the films, that’s because this take on Vision closely aligns with what we’ve seen previously.

Now, however, he seems unable to figure out what it is that makes him not fit in this particular world. His core remains the same, though. He’s an all-knowing entity that cares deeply for Wanda, even if he is unsure of himself.

Wanda, on the other hand, feels greatly evolved from where we last saw her in Avengers: Endgame. Throughout the MCU franchise, Wanda has never been too clearly defined (and I’m not just talking about her ever-changing accent). Since her introduction in Avengers: Age of Ultron she’s primarily been used as a side character that exists to drive the plot forward.

With WandaVision, though, Olsen is attempting to let Wanda stand on her own two feet. Gone is the vaguely European accent she sometimes used for the character. In its place is a voice that sounds heavily inspired by I Love Lucy star Lucille Ball. She’s confident in a way MCU fans haven’t seen in Wanda before. And after the events of Avengers: Endgame, you can’t blame her for having that confidence.

It also can’t be understated how funny Olsen and Bettany are in these roles. That might be one of the most surprising things about WandaVision. While there was always an awkwardly comedic dynamic to their relationship in the past, they’re outright hilarious in WandaVision as they completely embrace the tropes and humor of sitcom classics.

They also happen to be surrounded by a very talented supporting cast. Of note, Katheryn Hahn stars as their wacky neighbor Agnes, who happens to drop by quite a bit to gossip with Wanda and complain about her husband Ralph. Hahn is perfectly cast in this role, with her remarkable comedic talents easily blending in with the surreal sitcom setting.

Then there’s Teyonah Parris. Parris plays Monica Rambeau, who the MCU first introduced as a child in 2019’s Captain Marvel. Now grown, Monica finds herself in WandaVision’s sitcom world. How she got there and what her role will ultimately be remains to be seen but, as with Hahn, Parris’s comedic sensibilities work well with the show’s sense of humor.

In all, WandaVision is an undeniable success. Marvel Studios attempted something they hadn’t tried before and wound up with a show that’s somehow a classic family sitcom that is also propelling forward the storytelling of the universe of epic films that has been unspooling for over a decade. Now you will just have to wait for the slow burn narrative to reveal itself.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Intel is going through a senior executive shakeup, with former CTO, Pat Gelsinger, returning to the company to take up the position of CEO.

A skilled engineer at heart, Gelsinger spent many years at Intel before rising through the ranks to the position of CTO. He left the company in 2009 and since gone on to serve as CEO for VMWare. His return to Intel comes at a crucial time for the company, as it continues to struggle with the pressure that AMD is mounting on it.

“My experience at Intel has shaped my entire career, and I am forever grateful to this company,” Gelsinger says in a statement. “To come back ‘home’ to Intel in the role of CEO during what is such a critical time for innovation, as we see the digitization of everything accelerating, will be the greatest honor of my career.”

Gelsinger replaces Bob Swan, who has led Intel since June 2018. Swan was originally meant to act as an interim CEO, transitioning from his previous position as CFO, before being named the permanent replacement months afterwards. The return of an engineering-focused CEO to the company has already been welcomed by investors, with Intel’s stock price increasing by more than 12% since the announcement.

Intel recently revealed its line-up of 11th generation processors for desktop CPUs, with the flagship Core i9 featuring two fewer physical cores than last generation. Despite boasting a high 5.3GHz single-core boost speed, Intel’s processors have been stuck on a 14nm process for years now, something which Gelsinger might be quick to change.

With the launch of Hitman 3, Google’s Stadia platform is finally getting one of its most interesting features: State Share. As proposed in 2019’s pitch for the service, this allows Stadia players to share their game states with others, letting them to hop into the game and take on a Hitman mission with the same loadout, objectives, and difficulty setting.

Game states created with State Share are playable chunks of Stadia games that you can share just like you might a video or screenshot. It’s essentially like handing your save file over to someone else, but instantly. If the other player has access to that Stadia game, they can essentially click a link and jump into the game at the point the share came from, complete with all the same parameters. In Hitman, that means players can share their particular missions, with their difficulty setting, starting location, disguise, objectives, equipment loadout, and smuggled gear. State Share places players at the beginning of the mission you just ran with the same setup you used.

Sharing a game state from the end of a mission includes your rank on the Hitman leaderboard, so anyone playing with State Share can see how they rank against you. It also includes the new Celebration Tag in Hitman 3 that gives you a rank based on how well you fared. The tags include Amateur, Professional, Silent Assassin, and Professional ICA Shadow Assassin, providing another way to compare yourself to anyone you share your game state with.

As IO executive producer Forest Swartout Large explained in an interview with GameSpot, though, State Share with Hitman 3 isn’t just about giving you a chance to show off your assassination skills and challenge others to beat you. Hopping into a game state also lets you experience aspects of Hitman you might not have access to in your own game. If the player sharing their game state has unlocked different weapons, for instance, you can use those weapons when you play the game using State Share. But playing Hitman through State Share won’t affect your game when you go back to it–you won’t make progress on your own Hitman account, and using State Share won’t unlock new weapons and items. You’ll still have to earn those yourself by playing through the game and completing objectives.

Hitman 3 will be the first Stadia game to support State Share when it releases on January 20. Since Hitman 3 is also compatible with the missions released in Hitman and Hitman 2, those games will also include the State Share feature.

While the Hitman games let you drop into missions and share mission parameters, not every game will use State Share in the same way. Hitman places players at the start of a mission, but other games might drop you right at the point where the game state was saved. Stadia product manager Catherine Hsiao told GameSpot that how games utilize State Share is up to developers and will depend on their particular vision for their game.

“For example, a game state could do something like take you to the beginning of a level with a custom character,” Hsiao said. “It could have certain inventories, certain loot drops in a dungeon, certain objectives. It really depends on how the game implements it.

“This works really well with games that have any sort of user-generated content, or where you’re creating something within the world. Then you can actually easily create a state and share it with your friends to be able to play together. If there are certain parts of the game that you really like, you could replay them yourself, or actually share them with others.”

Maybe the most surprising thing about State Share is how easy it is to use. In supported games, you create game states to share the same way you snap a screenshot or save a video–the state is saved along with the captured footage or image. Accessing the State Share is as simple as clicking a link, since Stadia runs out of your browser. You have to have access to the game on Stadia, either through its subscription plan or by purchasing it through the service; if you don’t have the game, the State Share link will take you to the Stadia store page for it.

Hsiao said she expects State Share will make it easier for content creators to interact with their audiences, going beyond just showing off videos or live streams so that they can accept challenges from the fans watching them, or share their own game states so viewers can try out what they’re seeing. And the State Share process streamlines a lot of what members of the Hitman community were already doing among themselves, IO communications manager Travis Barbour said.

“We’ve really been quite happy to see that players have really attached to this idea of being creative and finding groups and styling their way through Hitman,” Barbour said. “They’ve been sharing all of these settings on Discord–you have to choose this location, you have to do this and you have to go there and do that. We see that quite a lot.”

Share State knocks down the barriers that might stop other players from getting involved in these sort of ad-hoc competitions and play sessions, Barbour continued. Where you previously had to find the right Discord servers or forums where players were creating challenges for one another, sharing game states is done with a single simple link.

State Share goes live with Hitman 3’s launch on Stadia on January 20. We’ll have to stay tuned to see what other games support the feature in the future, though.

Ray Fisher, who played Cyborg in the 2017 DC movie Justice League, has levelled a variety of accusations over his experiences while shooting that film, and the fall-out continues. Following last week’s reports that Fisher had been written out of the upcoming Flash movie, Fisher has confirmed this is the case.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Fisher stated his role in the Flash would have been much more than the reported cameo appearance. “Despite the misconception, Cyborg’s involvement in The Flash was much larger than a cameo,” he said. “And while I do mourn the lost opportunity to bring Victor Stone back to the screen, bringing awareness to the actions of [DC Films boss] Walter Hamada will prove to be a much more important contribution to our world.”

Fisher went on to accuse Hamada of interfering with the investigation into the alleged abusive behavior of Joss Whedon, who directed the extensive Justice League reshoots, and producers Jon Berg and Geoff Johns. Fisher states that Hamada “disparaged Whedon and Berg in an attempt to cover for Johns,” claiming that Hamada was attempting to protect “his friend.”

This follows comments that Fisher made last week where he called Hamada “the most dangerous kind of enabler,” and claimed that he had been forced out of The Flash. In response, Warner stated that it was Fisher who declined to be involved in The Flash, and that “given his statement that he will not participate in any film associated with Mr. Hamada, our production is now moving on.”

Fisher will appear in the DC universe one more time, in Zack Snyder’s upcoming reworking of Justice League. Snyder left the movie during production but is preparing a version of the project closer in tone to what he originally intended. The new Justice League will be released as a four-part miniseries on HBO Max later this year.

For more, check out GameSpot’s guide to every upcoming DC movie and show we know about to date.