WandaVision escapade 6 moves its sitcom aesthetic forward to the 2000 s, with a tribute to Malcolm in the Middle‘s anarchic opening recognitions. The Disney+ serial had been launched in black-and-white with occurrences influenced by 1950 s and 1960 s sitcoms like I Love Lucy and Bewitched, but thanks to Scarlet Witch meddling with reality, the town of Westview has experienced some rapid changes.

As discovered by FBI agent Jimmy Woo, astrophysicist Darcy Lewis, and SWORD agent Monica Rambeau, Westview is captured inside a hexagonal vitality orbit( dubbed “The Hex” by Darcy) where Wanda Maximoff controls the townspeople and the fabric of the reality they live in. Inside this superficially bubble, Wanda has resurrected her lost love Vision, been reunited with her dead brother Pietro, and yielded birth to twinneds Tommy and Billy. The stability of this world seems to be slipping, nonetheless, and as WandaVision’s sitcom notes jump into the 21 st century, Wanda’s “show” is fast catching up to the present day.

Related: WandaVision: Why Pietro Has a “MOM” Tattoo

The uncertain camera, light dyes, rock topic arium and jagged typeface of WandaVision’s episode 6 opening credits will be immediately familiar to anyone who has seen Malcolm in the Middle, the Fox sitcom created by Linwood Boomer and performing Frankie Muniz, which led from 2000 to 2006. Muniz dallied the eponymous Malcolm – a midriff child from a tumultuous working class family who learns he has an opportunity for a luminous future where reference is assessments at a genius grade and is brought into special castes for gifted children. Malcolm in the Middle’s opening theme was “You’re Not the Boss of Me” by They Might Be Giants, and played over clips from the evidence with snippets from villain movies, anime and fighting spliced in. And WandaVision’s tribute to Malcolm in the Middle doesn’t end with the credits.

Another signature trope used in Malcolm in the Middle was its protagonist burst the fourth wall to talk instantly to the audience. This was characteristic of the snarky laughter that came into vogue in 2000s sitcoms. Contemporaries like Everybody Abhor Chris and Scrubs had voiceover narration by their respective central characters, and mockumentaries like The Office and Parks and Recreation boasted ensemble gives who were all aware that they were being filmed. In WandaVision, Tommy and Billy take turns to break the fourth wall and talk immediately to the camera. The “recast” Pietro is aware that Westview is a fake reality created by Wanda, and this is highlighted when he notices Billy’s digression to the audience about how his parents are acting strangely. The texts to WandaVision episode 6’s Malcolm in the Middle-style opening theme are also a coded reference to the illusion they are all lives here in 😛 TAGEND

Don’t try to fight the chaos

Don’t question what you’ve done

The game can try to play us

Don’t let it stop the fun

Some dates it’s all confusion

Easy come and easy go

But if it’s all illusion

Sit back, experience the show

Let’s keep it going

Evan Peters’ “man-child” version of Pietro Maximoff frisks a same capacity in WandaVision to that of Malcolm in the Middle’s eldest sibling, Francis, who was undoubtedly cool but likewise a major troublemaker. However, the true nature of this explanation of Pietro – whether he’s a Westview citizen who has been recast, a transplant from Fox’s X-Men movie franchise, or the show’s true-life criminal in disguise – has yet to be revealed.

More: WandaVision: Every MCU Easter Egg In Episode 6

Read more: screenrant.com