Marvel didn’t tell Scarlet Witch star Elizabeth Olsen she would be the “lead villain” of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness until mere weeks before shooting.
In the Doctor Strange sequel, Wanda – having been corrupted by the Darkhold and embarking on a frenzied attempt to find her children – meddles in the multiverse to find alternate versions of Billy and Tommy.
At L.A. Comic Con (via Popverse), Olsen revealed that Scarlet Witch becoming outright evil was a surprise to her right up until filming: “I thought that I was in an ensemble cast, and I thought that I was one of the good guys. And then three weeks before I was sent to London, they said, ‘You’re our lead villain!’ And I had no clue. And I finished filming WandaVision, I was like, ‘Huh, it would’ve been helpful to know that,’ just so I could have pulled the thread through a bit.”
Olsen added, “But I think that the story told itself, and I was able to kind of massage things in Doctor Strange to hopefully tell a different story for her.”
Those words are echoed in our own interview with Olsen just prior to the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. There, she revealed the immensely quick turnaround between filming WandaVision and the Doctor Strange sequel, as well as Olsen’s efforts to be the throughline for the Scarlet Witch – due to Multiverse of Madness’ writers not being in the loop on everything that went down in the Disney Plus series.
“We literally finished WandaVision on a Wednesday and I flew to England on the Friday to make this film,” Olsen recalled back in 2022. “I had just experienced a lot of WandaVision, but no one else on Doctor Strange had. It was trying to continue what we had done and what we had learned into this film as much as possible.”
Olsen also referenced conversations between WandaVision creator Jac Schaeffer and Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron as a way of maintaining Wanda’s story arc.
“We didn’t have edits to share with anyone because we had just finished filming days before. So there’s a lot of overlap and a lot of influence from the experiences in WandaVision that [lead] into Doctor Strange.”
Despite continued fan support and breadcrumbs in the likes of Agatha All Along, Scarlet Witch hasn’t been seen since the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ending, having seemingly perished under the crumbling Darkhold Castle during the sequel’s third act.
Scarlet Witch may not be in the MCU’s future (as of yet), but there’s plenty to be excited about. Discover more in our guides to upcoming Marvel movies and Marvel Phase 6.
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