Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is finally in theaters and while the whole film is one that Marvel fans have been eagerly awaiting for a myriad of reasons, one of the major ones is Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch. With Wanda having evolved into the Scarlet Witch at the end of last year’s WandaVision, fans have been eager to see what’s next for the character as she comes into her power. But the film ultimately took Scarlet Witch on a journey that has left fans with a variety of opinions and some pretty strong reactions, too.
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Warning: Spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness below, both in the article and in the shared reactions. If you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want to know, the time to turn back is now.
As many fans expected, Scarlet Witch was the main villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — though there are plenty of fans who would disagree with that characterization. When America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) is chased by a demon into the MCU’s reality (designated in the film as Earth-616) because of her power to travel through the multiverse, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) quickly realizes what they’re dealing with witchcraft and seeks out Wanda Maximoff (Olsen) for help. It’s then that it’s revealed that she has the Darkhold and has fully embraced the Scarlet Witch and is responsible for the demons chasing America. Wanda wants America’s power so that she can be reunited with her sons by going to another reality (Earth-838) and take on the life of that Wanda who is living a quiet, happy life with her own Billy and Tommy. When Strange declines to turn America over to Wanda, it sets the rest of the film off with Wanda going on a rampage in her effort to get America for her powers including Wanda dreamwalking into her Earth-838 self and murdering the Illuminati of that world. In the end, the horror of everything she’s done gets through to her despite the corruption of the Darkhold when she sees Billy and Tommy horrified by her, crying out for their real mother. Wanda ends up bringing down the source of the Darkhold, Mount Wundagore, destroying it so that it cannot corrupt anyone else and seemingly sacrifices herself with it.
It’s a wild arc and as you might guess, it’s a bit divisive. Many fans felt like it was a waste of all of the character’s progress through WandaVision while others were all for the dark turn for the character. Most had nothing but praise for Olsen’s performance, while others simply didn’t care about the hero/villain aspect of things and were just in awe of Scarlet Witch’s power. Pretty consistent across the board, everyone loved the character and performance generally and took to social media to say so. You can check out how fans are reacting to Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments as well!
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theaters.
