WandaVision: Elizabeth Olsen On Scarlet Witch’s Family and Evolution

WandaVision is going to take a deeper look at its titular characters, Wanda Maximoff and The Vision, than the Marvel Cinematic Universe has done to this point. They characters have appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and one went on for Avengers: Endgame. Despite so many appearances by Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany in these roles, audiences have barely “scratched the surface” on these characters according to WandaVision director Matt Shakman. Now, Olsen has opened up about what some extra time with and evolution of Wanda Maximoff will mean for the Marvel character.

“I know what it means,” Olsen told Comicbook.com in the interview seen in the video above, responding to what it means for Wanda to become a full-on Scarlet Witch. “I do think it is, it’s almost like it’s when I say coming of age story for her, it’s more like coming up of a woman age story. Like you know, you start to come to terms with your past and who you are and take accountability for things and kind of coming to terms with yourself. I’ll say.”

Wanda’s lineage in Marvel Comics adds more importance to her in the Marvel Universe, in addition to being a powerful and integral character on her own. In the books, she is the daughter of X-Men legend Magneto and sister to Quicksilver, with only one of those relationships ringing true in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so far. As for whether or not those family ties will become an issue, “I don’t know,” Olsen says, simply.

Still, family is definitely going to be an issue for Wanda, as the character will be welcoming her own children to the world in WandaVision. “I think as much as I can understand parenting you would do anything to protect your family and your children,” Olsen says. “I think what it does bring up for her is this reflection of her own experiences from when she was a child and her you know, throughout her family.” It’s a “tough background,” as Olsen calls it, one which has seen Wanda Maximoff lose just about everyone she as loved throughout her MCU tenure (her parents, her brother, her Vision).

Not only did Olsen channel the evolution of Wanda’s tragic story, she also had to do so under a guise of existing in a sitcom which pays honest homage to different eras of such television shows. “It was so nerve racking and there was a lot of adrenaline, a lot of quick changes, and it totally confused my brain,” Olsen said of shooting in front of a live audience. “I was really grateful when we added the fourth wall!” It took her a minute to understand how to not perform for the audience but feed off of their energy. “I think it was an amalgamation of Mary Tyler Moore and Elizabeth Montgomery and I think I threw in some Lucy in the 70s because there was a good bit of physical comedy.”

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WandaVision premieres its first two episodes on Disney+ this Friday. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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