MCU star Elizabeth Olsen just revealed her true and honest feelings about the twist revealing Wanda Maximoff’s villainous turn in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Director Sam Raimi made a bold choice in Doctor Strange 2 by making Wanda Maximoff the sequel’s main villain, which was her first time being a true MCU antagonist after seven years of heroic storylines.
Tying directly to the events of WandaVision on Disney+, this marked a drastic and shocking twist for that show’s leading character, who finally seemed to find a sense of redemption after her experience with the Hex and leaving her family behind.
And with Olsen expecting Wanda to return to the MCU before too long, it’s no surprise to see that she herself felt a sense of shock seeing such a drastic change to her veteran hero.
Elizabeth Olsen Reflects on Villainous MCU Turn
Speaking with Buzzfeed, Wanda Maximoff star Elizabeth Olsen addressed her thoughts on Wanda Maximoff being the main villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
When reflecting on the most surprising moments of her Doctor Strange 2 prep, Olsen admitted that she had a “shocked” reaction to her discovery that Wanda would be the villain of the sequel:
“I was shocked the moment they told me what it was about. I was shocked at the moment they said, ‘You’re the villain.’ No one told me until right before we shot it, so that was shocking.”
She also addressed whether it was difficult playing the character as a villain, noting how she only wanted to make sure that it wasn’t anything that had been seen before from Wanda in the past:
BuzzFeed: “Was it difficult playing Wanda as a villain?”
Olsen: “No, but I think my goal is to make sure that nothing seems like a repeated arc. I try really hard now to make it repetitive, because I think that might not be fun for fans.”
Screen Rant also spoke with Olsen about Wanda’s villain twist, with Olsen even admitting that Sam Raimi put her in situations she never foresaw with Wanda:
“I mean, it was fun. Initially, I was like, ‘Oh no! Not our Wanda.’ But then it became something to lean into, and Sam definitely put me in situations where I was like, “I can’t believe I’m doing this right now,” when I was playing the alt-Wanda often.”
Olsen enjoyed seeing the “evolution of the character” and giving her a different feel and tone, although Raimi also made sure that she focused on “her humanity” at the same time:
“I love having an evolution of the character. I love having a different tone to play. But Sam was always bringing me back to her humanity as well. As much as we were pushing elements, he always wanted to make sure that it was coming from a really pure place.”
WandaVision and Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman shared his own reaction to the shocking twist in early 2023, only noting that he was aware of the turn but also mentioning how proud he was of everything he and the team accomplished with Wanda:
“I talked a lot to Michael Waldron and I talked to Sam Raimi and we also shared lots of the art department as we were creating the Darkhold and her costume and other things that would continue on, so there was a lot of synergy on it. I’m aware of, certainly, the conversation on the internet about Wanda and her character. I’m so proud of everything we did on ‘WandaVision.’ That show is really special, working with Lizzie, and telling that story was so unique and fun.”
When Will Wanda Return to the MCU?
Although Wanda went full villain in Doctor Strange 2, she eventually came back around once she interacted with her alternate self and realized the error of potentially destroying the Multiverse simply to find her children again.
Olsen herself wants to see Wanda redeemed at some point in the future – one of a number of evolutions she wants to see with the character after playing her for such a long time.
And even though the Multiversal sequel ended with Wanda seemingly meeting her demise on Mount Wundagore, it’s almost a guarantee that she’ll be back for future outings either in or after the Multiverse Saga.
WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are now available to stream on Disney+.
