5 Years Ago, The MCU Ruined Scarlet Witch With One Scene

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The finale of WandaVision on Disney+, which premiered on March 5, 2021, ended with a surprising and damaging twist for Elizabeth Olsen’s character, Wanda Maximoff, significantly altering her path in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After defeating Agatha Harkness and freeing the town of Westview from her magical control, Wanda made a fateful decision with lasting consequences.

Agatha didn’t understand the extent of the pain she’d inflicted until she released the people of Westview from Wanda’s magical control. Once she fully grasped what she had done, Wanda lifted the spell on the town before confronting Agatha.

After coming to terms with her grief, including the loss of Vision, and embracing her identity as the Scarlet Witch, Wanda overcame her magical rival and earned a powerful new costume reflecting her heroic status.

After six years in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and now officially known as the Scarlet Witch with a striking new red costume, WandaVision seemed poised to start a hopeful new chapter for Elizabeth Olsen’s character, Wanda Maximoff.

Despite this, a scene after the credits showed Marvel setting up a dark path for the Scarlet Witch. It revealed Wanda Maximoff secretly studying a dangerous book called the Darkhold, which ultimately led to her becoming a villain five years later in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as the book corrupted her.

There’s a possibility Wanda Olsen, the Scarlet Witch, could eventually redeem herself for the harm she caused while using the Darkhold. Rumors suggest the book’s creator, the demon Chthon, will be the main villain in a future Scarlet Witch movie or series, likely after the Avengers: Secret Wars film.

The Darkhold made Wanda’s sadness even worse, leading her to desperately try and take America Chavez’s abilities. She believed this would allow her to find a universe where she could be reunited with her sons, Billy and Tommy.

After briefly showing Wanda Maximoff as a flawed but potentially heroic figure in WandaVision, Marvel Studios quickly reversed her growth as a character. Instead of a slow descent into darkness fueled by the Darkhold, she abruptly became a villain – selfish, violent, and mentally unstable – leaving fans disappointed.

I was really fascinated to hear Elizabeth Olsen talk about the challenges with Wanda’s story in Multiverse of Madness. Apparently, she didn’t fully understand what her character was supposed to be doing in that movie until just a few months before WandaVision came out! They were actually finishing up WandaVision – doing all the final tweaks after the COVID delays – in late 2020 when things finally clicked for her about the sequel. It’s amazing to me how much of the puzzle came together so late in the process.

So, I learned something interesting – apparently, the writers on Doctor Strange 2 hadn’t actually finished watching WandaVision when they were working on their script. This led to a bit of an overlap, a surprisingly “similar arc” for Wanda in both projects. It’s a little frustrating to hear, honestly, that two big Marvel stories ended up treading some of the same ground because of timing issues.

As a big Marvel fan, it’s been frustrating to watch the story with Scarlet Witch unfold. It feels like Marvel tried to make a sequel to a story that wasn’t even complete yet, and kept changing who was working on it. That’s why things felt so disjointed and, honestly, why the ending to her arc didn’t quite land for me… but I’m holding out hope they’ll revisit it!

Will Scarlet Witch Ever Return to the MCU?

It’s clear Marvel Studios took some unexpected turns with Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and some feel these choices actually make the story of WandaVision seem weaker in retrospect.

Fans widely believe Scarlet Witch will be a major player in how the Multiverse Saga ends. This is largely because watching WandaVision is said to be essential for understanding the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars movies.

It’s possible Wanda Maximoff didn’t actually die when she collapsed Mount Wundagore and somehow met Doctor Doom (played by Robert Downey Jr.). He could easily have tricked her into working for him, convincing her that helping to fix the problems caused by the Multiversal Incursions was a way to make amends for her past actions.

I’m really hoping the rumors are true about a Scarlet Witch solo movie! It sounds like it could be a fantastic way to address some of the things that didn’t quite land in Doctor Strange 2. I picture it as a big, exciting movie within the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but honestly, it’s still just speculation at this point and might not ever become a reality.

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2026-03-16 09:11