Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnesscovered a lot of bases throughout its runtime. Not only did it serve as the first standalone sequel forBenedict Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer Supreme, but it was also the fourth Marvel Cinematic Universe project to explore the concept of the multiverse followingLoki,What If…?andSpider-Man: No Way Home. In addition to dabbling in the superhero and horror genres, thanks to the deft hand ofSam Raimi,Multiverse of Madnesstransforms into a tragedy where Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) is concerned. Throughout the film, Wanda intends to travel to a universe where her children, Billy (Julian Hilliard) and Tommy (Jett Klyne), are alive. She seeks the multiverse-hopping powers ofAmerica Chavez(Xochitl Gomez)to accomplish her goal, leading to death and destruction on an unimaginable scale as she fully embraces her mantle of the Scarlet Witch.
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What Happens to Wanda in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’?
In the film’s final act, America manages to gather control of her powers and sends Wanda through the multiverse to Earth-838. Earlier in the film, she’d used the Darkhold’s power of dreamwalking to possess her Earth-838 self in order to try and find America; upon seeing Earth-838’s Billy and Tommy, she tries to reunite with them. That goes south once she attacks their mother (her 838 self), leaving them utterly afraid of her. After her Earth-838 self tells her “Know that they’ll be loved,” the Scarlet Witch says that no one will use the power of the Darkhold again. Making good on her word, she uses her chaos magic to collapse Mt. Wundagore - destroying all copies of the Darkhold across the multiverse and burying herself within Mt. Wundagore’s innards.
It Sure Looks Like She’s Dead!
For all intents and purposes, it looks as though this is the end of Wanda’s tenure in the MCU. But the Scarlet Witch’s comic book history has featured her escaping the jaws of death more than once. A major example is the fan-favoriteHouse of Mstoryline byBrian Michael BendisandOlivier Coipel, where Wanda used her powers to restructure reality into a world where mutants ruled. Much likeMultiverse of Madness, Wanda sought a world where she could be with her children - and also grant some measure of happiness to her father, Magneto. But when other heroes remembered the world as it was and rebelled, Wanda put things back to the way they were (and depowered the mutant race in the process.) No one could find her, and she was presumed dead untilNew Avengers #26by Bendis andAlex Maleev. Hawkeye, having come back to the land of the living, attempted to find Wanda. The archer soon discovered that she was living in Wundagore but had no memory of her powers or the actions she had taken. More recently,The Trial of Magnetominiseries byLeah WilliamsandLucas Wernerckdealt with Wanda’s apparent murder and the suspicion that Magneto could be the culprit - however, Wanda was resurrected shortly afterward.
How Exactly Did Wanda Die?
There’s also the matter of how Wanda’s death was depicted inMultiverse of Madness. Though she’s seemingly buried under a pile of rubble, there’s a flash of red light that matches Wanda’s powers. It’s entirely possible that Wanda could have used her powers to potentially hop into another universe, and is seeking atonement for her actions. It would be an interesting way to continue her story and bring her back for a future film or TV show.
Will We See Wanda Again in the MCU?
Given the nature of Wanda’s powers and her connections to the Avengers and X-Men, it’s fairly reasonable to expect Olsen to come back as the Scarlet Witch. She has been given the chance to flesh Wanda out inMultiverse of Madnessand theWandaVisionseries on Disney+; playing a version of Wanda who is powerless or has stripped herself of her powers as atonement could give the character a new dimension. 838-Wanda could even cross over into the MCU’s main Earth proper and bring Billy and Tommy back. This further fuels the possibility that the MCU’s television side is gearing up for an adaptation ofYoung Avengersand the twins are key members of that team.Olsen even talked about a potential return during an interview with Collider, though she admitted she didn’t know what capacity that return might entail.
Recently while doing promotion for her Max seriesLove and Death, Olsen once again brought up her future as the Scarlet Witch. She expressed a desire to lean more into some humor-based elements of Wanda’s character, as well asa possibility of redemption for the chaos-controlling heroine. She also had issues with how Wanda was portrayed inMultiverse of Madnesscompared toWandaVision, especially as screenwriterMichael Waldronhadn’t watched the series. “I had to attack the same themes in order for it to be interesting for me, I think, and potentially for the audience. I had to come at it from a different point of view so that it wasn’t repetitive,“she told Vanity Fair, adding that she didn’t particularly “miss” playing Wanda. No matter what happens, it’s safe to say thatMultiverse of Madnessis probably not the last audiences have seen of the Scarlet Witch, especially if a different writer is given the reigns to the character or Olsen is allowed more input into her portrayal.
