Now that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, is — at long last! — playing on screens around the globe, audiences can finally dissect the movie ad nauseam and reflect on what theories turned out to be true and which ones turned out to be bubkes.
One hypothesized plot point that turned out to be 100 percent correct was that Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) would be the main villain of the movie. The marketing materials kept her role ambiguous, keeping fans on their toes on whether or not the Scarlet Witch would be the cause of the multiversal mayhem faced by Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Wong (Benedict Wong), and America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez).
Following the events of WandaVision on Disney+, Wanda gives herself over to the Darkhold in an effort to be reunited with her two sons. Corrupted by its forbidden magic, she hatches a plan to siphon off America’s dimension-hopping powers (a painful process that would result in the young woman’s death) and travel to a universe where her children actually exist.
The big question, however, is this: why wouldn’t Wanda also try to seek out other loved ones she’s lost over the years like Vision (Paul Bettany), her brother Pietro (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Evan Peters in WandaVision), or her parents?
“I think the main reason when we would talk about if there is this multiverse, and in the version of the universe this woman wasn’t with Vision,” Olsen explained during an interview with Collider. “We liked having that be a mystery. For some reason he’s not in her world. I always thought of her as more of a domestic Wanda. They got divorced. They’re separated. She’s not wearing a wedding band for a reason. Like those kinds of things. We liked the idea of her being on her own. The idea really is that the most important thing once you become a mother in the world are your children, and that’s why.”
After perpetrating a great deal of cold-blooded murder, Wanda realizes the error of her ways and supposedly sacrifices herself to destroy the Darkhold spells not only in the MCU, but in every reality across the multiverse. But let’s be real for a moment: if the character was able to dispatch the incredibly powerful members of the Illuminati with a few waves of her hand, then there’s nothing stopping her from coming back from the dead, especially once the X-Men are brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (in the comics, Wanda is the daughter of Magneto).
“Someone just said, ‘Because you’re bringing in X-Men, Wanda’s a part of the X-Men franchise. Why can’t Wanda be there too?’ In my mind I’m like, ‘Yeah. Why can’t Wanda be with the X-Men too?’ Olsen continued. “I have no idea. I don’t know what I want. I know I want it to matter. There’s no reason to continue to tell these stories unless they’re really strong, good stories, and that they’re adding something to the entirety of the MCU. I will be there if there’s a great idea.”
Speaking to Variety, the actress admitted that while she does expect to reprise the role at some point down the road, she hasn’t been filled in on any plans. It’s standard operating procedure for Marvel Studios, which doesn’t reveal any secrets until the last possible second. “But in my mind, I’m just making the assumption that they’ll have me again,” she said. “I don’t know to what capacity, but I hope I’m back. I hope there’s also more fun to be had in something different. Where do we go? I feel like we’ve done so much with her. It’s been really a wild couple years with her.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theaters everywhere.
