Doctor Strange Director Teased Scarlet Witch’s Inclusion Years Ago

Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Infinity War
(Image credit: (Marvel))

Over the summer, Marvel chief Kevin Feige took to the legendary Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con to announce the Phase Four slate for the massive cinematic universe and completely wowed fans. One of the highlights of the upcoming lineup is a sequel for the Master of the Mystic Arts titled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and will have Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch coming along for the ride.

It’s an awesome pairing to say the least. Both Dr. Stephen Strange and Wanda Maximoff are incredibly powerful and really have their cool power-wielding hand movements down! They may each deal with different types of “magic” but the idea of the pair interacting sounds like it’s been in the works for a while. Just take a look at what director Scott Derrickson said years ago ahead of the release of the first Doctor Strange movie:

from r/marvelstudios

Is your mind blown? During a Reddit Q&A back in 2016, Scott Derrickson actually kind of teased an upcoming partnership between Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch! He certainly could have said “no” or “never” but his response makes it sound like it was in the plans the whole time! Anyone starting to think the folks over at Marvel really like planning ahead? We love and respect an anti-procrastination studio!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently being written and will be the fourth film in the MCU’s Phase Four slate following Black Widow & Eternals in 2020 and Shang-Chi at the top of 2021. The sequel will be the “first scary MCU movie” according to Scott Derrickson, who will be going back to the horror roots he has brought to The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister and Deliver Us From Evil.

The second Doctor Strange movie will first be set up by the Disney+ series WandaVision, which comes to the new streaming service right before the movie's spring release. So, whatever happens in the Elizabeth Olsen-led show could have importance for her role in The Multiverse of Madness. WandaVision is said to start as a laugh-track-type sitcom and, peculiarly, also star Paul Bettany’s Vision. As we know, he’s very much dead at the hands of Thanos.

Scarlet Witch’s involvement could stir alternative realities or conjured up ones, and with Doctor Strange in the mix, the Mystic Arts have a hand in the sequel as well. Sounds like an awesome ride! Maybe even add in the newly returned Tom Holland as Spider-Man for a cameo?

The pairing is going to be twisty, exciting and unexpected either way! Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness comes to theaters on May 7, 2021 and will be followed by Thor: Love and Thunder in November 2021 to round out Phase Four.

What would you like to see from the Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch pairing? Sound off in the comments below

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.