Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Writer Explains Why Scarlet Witch Had to Be the Villain

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has officially been released upon the masses and we finally know all of the films secrets. One of the secrets was that Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch with would go berserk and somehow become the villain of the movie. There were plenty of rumors surrounding the films plot and the one that was most interesting was that Wanda Maximoff was the main villain instead of an evil version of Doctor Strange. Now, Michael Waldron is breaking his silence on why she had to be the villain. While speaking with The Wrap, Waldron explains the reasoning behind the choice.

“There was always the notion of her as part of the ensemble and this discussion of does she go bad at the end? I mean, it’s always been in the cards because it’s who the character is in the comics, building to ‘House of M‘ and all that stuff, there’s Wanda descending into madness,” Waldron reveals. “We were excited about the idea of making her the primary antagonist in the film because it felt like there was no stronger antagonist. And it felt like to have her as just a member of an ensemble only to turn bad at the end would actually be shortchanging both versions of that journey. You’d get maybe a lousy version of her fall from grace, and also maybe a lousy version of her being a villain, as opposed to the really fun version of her being the villain.”

“There’s the feeling that the door had been open for us. She opened the Darkhold at the end of ‘WandaVision‘ and that’s the Book of the Damned. So it was there for the taking. My feeling was that ‘WandaVision‘ pushed her to the place where she reckoned with this grief, but maybe what she hadn’t reckoned with was her anger over all of it, and that was something that I discussed with [Elizabeth Olsen], and I think that that’s what the Darkhold seized on, was that anger and that really clouds Wanda’s decision-making.” The writer added.

Marvel Studios describes Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as follows: “To restore a world where everything is changing, Strange seeks help from his ally Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme, and the Avengers’ most powerful Scarlet Witch, Wanda. But a terrible threat looms over humanity and the entire universe that no longer can be done by their power alone. Even more surprising, the greatest threat in the universe looks exactly like Doctor Strange.”

The film is directed by the legendary Sam Rami and will star Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Benedict Wong as Wong, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/ Scarlet Witch, Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is in theaters now!

What do you think about Scarlet Witch being the villain of the film? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!