Elizabeth Olsen Breaks Silence On Daniel Craig’s Scrapped Doctor Strange 2 Role

Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a wildly popular franchise that expands both TV and movies. We’re currently in the midst of Phase Five, although fans are still reflecting on what went down in Phase Four. This is definitely true for Doctor Strange 2, which made Wanda Maximoff into the villain. And Elizabeth Olsen recently broke her silence on Daniel Craig’s scrapped role for the blockbuster. Cue the FOMO. 

Aside from his career leading franchises like James Bond and Knives Out, the 55 year-old actor has a bit of a habit for doing movie cameos. Craig famously appeared as a Stormtrooper in The Force Awakens, and he could have had a role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Specifically Daniel Craig nearly played Balder the Brave. Elizabeth Olson recently appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where she spoke about expecting Craig to appear in Sam Raimi’s Marvel movie. Host Josh Horowitz shared a clip on Twitter of this interview, where she said:

Yes, that's what I thought was going to happen. I saw the art. They made a costume. They had a design!

Well, now I’m bummed. Comic book fans have been hoping to see Daniel Craig join the MCU in a variety of different roles. And so the fact that he was in the works for Doctor Strange 2 and a costume was even built is almost painful. Get this man into a shared universe stat!

Elizabeth Olsen shared an honest take on what it was like working on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness while promoting her new HBO series Love and Death. Eventually the conversation turned to her tenure in the MCU, as so many are wont to do. In addition to this tidbit about Craig, she also revealed that rewrites for her movie with Benedict Cumberbatch were constantly coming in; so much so that she had to stop reading them at a certain point. 

Daniel Craig in Glass Onion

(Image credit: Netflix)

Doctor Strange 2 was filmed at the height of the pandemic, and Elizabeth Olsen basically went right into production after wrapping on WandaVision. Olsen spent a great deal of time working on that movie across the pond, and at the height of COVID. And it sounds like there were plenty of challenges along the way. You can watch the clip of the Ingrid Goes West actress below:

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Of course, the biggest question is what comes next for the Scarlet Witch in the MCU. Despite her apparent death at the end of Doctor Strange 2, the fans don’t buy that Wanda is actually gone for good. Will she get her redemption arc after her murderous actions? Only time will tell.

For now Olsen claims she has no idea when she’ll be back in the MCU. But perhaps the most obvious choice would be in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which will offer the opportunity for the shared universe’s heroes to unite for the first time since Endgame. Kang is supposed to be the next Thanos-level threat to the multiverse, so the good guys are going to need all the help they can get.

The next Marvel movie hitting theaters is The Marvels on November 10th. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.