See Elizabeth Olsen Becoming A Villain In The Doctor Strange 2 Final Trailer
Is Wanda changing sides?
This article is more than 2 years old
For seven years, Elizabeth Olsen has played one of Earth’s mightiest heroes, but that looks like it might be changing with the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. There have already been lots of hints Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff would be turning to the dark side in Marvel’s latest blockbuster. With the release of the film’s final trailer, her turn seems all but certain.
Released yesterday, the final Doctor Strange 2 trailer opens with a flashback montage to scenes from the past of both Benedict Cumberbatch’s many appearances as Doctor Strange and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda. It dates as far back as Olsen’s appearance in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron to Disney+’s WandaVision. It ends with Wanda in full Scarlet Witch gear saying to someone off-screen, “I sacrificed everything… and it meant nothing.” You can watch the trailer below.
That doesn’t sound like something a hero would say, and it isn’t the only moment in the trailer pointing towards Wanda’s turn to the dark side. In this and other trailers, we see Wanda locking horns with heroes like Captain Carter and a seemingly variant version of Captain Marvel. The final trailer also shows someone trapping Wanda in the Mirror Dimension, which is one of Doctor Strange’s moves. Of course it could be a variant of Strange or Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), but with each passing promo, trailer, and TV spot more and more evidence suggests Wanda is no longer on the side of the angels.
It shouldn’t be too surprising that the Elizabeth Olsen character could potentially fall from grace. Throughout the history of the MCU, Wanda has crossed moral lines. Wanda and her brother Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) start off as antagonists in Age of Ultron, and her actions in WandaVision weren’t exactly saintlike. Likewise, her character in the source material starts off as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Later, she proved to be the villain of the 2004 Marvel Comics line-wide events Avengers Disassembled as well as the following year’s House of M. In fact, for a time she’s considered so dangerous that House of M kicks off with the Avengers and X-Men having a meeting to discuss whether or not executing the imprisoned Wanda is an option.
Of course, with the Multiverse involved, anything is possible. In scenes in which she appears to be acting as a villain, Elizabeth Olsen could be playing a variant of Wanda. There are already signs that the Marvel Zombies timeline of What If…? will factor into Doctor Strange 2, with some fans suggesting at least one of the Wandas we’ve seen in the trailers is the powerful undead Wanda of that fan-favorite episode.
We’re certain to know more tomorrow when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness finally sees its wide theatrical release. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Rachel McAdams, and quite possibly more rumored actors and characters than we have room to name. Doctor Strange 2 is directed by horror legend Sam Raimi, from a script by Loki writer and producer Michael Waldron.
