Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch Almost Wasn’t the Villain of Doctor Strange 2

Earlier this month, Marvel Studios released the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness episode of Marvel Studios: Assembled on Disney+. The episode featured some new details on the film from those behind-the-scenes like director Sam Raimi, Michael Waldron, and key cast members. Interestingly enough, Waldron revealed that Scarlet Witch was always going to be in the sequel but the character almost wasn’t the primary antagonist of the movie because Marvel wanted to save that for the next Avengers movie. 

“We knew that we wanted Wanda to be in it. I think originally, there was a version where Wanda was maybe gonna turn bad at the end,” Waldron revealed. “That was a big change that I made and had a strong perspective on. Making her a villain from the get-go. It was always like, ‘Well, that’ll happen in an Avengers movie or something.’ My perspective was, ‘Why are we letting some other movie get the best villain ever?’”

During the finale of the Doctor Strange sequel, Wanda Maximoff/Sacrlet Witch appeared to die under falling rubble. Olsen recently teased her MCU future with the actress claiming that she’s in the dark on her next appearance. The actress might be uncertain of her future in the MCU, but it’s doubtful that Marvel Studios would ignore all the fan love for Scarlet Witch. Comicbook.com previously had the chance to speak with Olsen about her recent storyline that began with WandaVision and ended in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

 “I mean, it’s been a ride that I didn’t expect,” Olsen revealed. “I got comfortable just taking up a lane and showing just a couple colors of her and it just helping the story and this film as a whole. And then WandaVision, I got to be all the colors of all the rainbows. That was an amazing opportunity, but also an amazing opportunity to remember playfulness and being able to fail and there’s such a freedom that we had while filming that has informed me now in how I approach her. And so to be with [Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness], I was at first, when I heard, I was like, ‘Really, we do WandaVision and then we do that?’” 

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 exclusively streaming on Disney+!

Do you think Scarlet Witch was a good villain? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!