Elizabeth Olsen Offers Her Thoughts On Scarlet Witch’s Possible Redemption In The MCU

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange 2
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

The end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness did not bode well for the Scarlet Witch, to put it lightly. Wanda Maximoff went down a deep and dark path in an effort to save her kids which caused major damage to the multiverse. Her future is unknown, but in the multiverse anything is possible, and the actress behind the Scarlet Witch has some thoughts about this topic.

Wanda ended up being the big bad of the Doctor Strange sequel. After trying to destroy Doctor Strange in an effort to be with her kids, she realized her wrongdoings and destroyed the Darkhold. She went down with the book and is seemingly dead, however, in the multiverse anything can happen. Elizabeth Olsen explained her thoughts on the possibility of Wanda’s redemption to Variety

Wanda is heading, hopefully, towards some sort of redemption. I think she was on that road. I don't think any of these characters are ever really gone. Especially when you introduce the Multiverse to multiply all of our bodies and different other universes. Something that playing Wanda has taught me over how many years is how many things and opportunities you can do with one character. It kind of breaks a feeling of limitations when you get to be with a character for so long and continue to change the narrative of how this character is used to tell story.

When CinemaBlend interviewed Olsen about the movie, she explained that she wasn’t sure what was next for her character. She also discussed how she was “confused” by the choice to make Scarlet Witch the antagonist of the Doctor Strange sequel. I’ll admit, I was in a similar boat. The decision was confusing to me too, and I’m very curious to see where Wanda goes next. 

As Doctor Strang once said the multiverse is something we know "frighteningly little" about, and with that anything is possible. Olsen has said herself, that it would be cool to see the X-Men in the MCU, and that she wants to be there for it when it happens. With the word “mutant” now being in the MCU’s vocabulary after the finale of Ms. Marvel, and Professor X showing up in Multiverse of Madness, I think seeing Scarlet Witch with the X-Men is not an unrealistic ask. If anything I think it will likely happen. 

It could also be interesting to see new variants of Wanda throughout the multiverse. With the Scarlet Witch, we've gotten to know, currently under a lot of rubble, it seems like if we were to see Wanda again it might be in a variant form. However, I hope we get to see the Wanda we know and love so she has a chance to redeem herself. 

There’s lots of time and projects to make this redemption arc work out. With Phases 4, 5 and 6 of the MCU planned out, it will be interesting to see if Wanda shows up in one of them, or if she gets her own show or movie further down the road. While we might not see Wanda in an upcoming project anytime soon, you can rewatch her arc from hero to villain in WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with a Disney+ subscription

Riley Utley
Weekend Editor

Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite shows Ted Lasso and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift to Fire Country, and she's enjoyed every second of it.