Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness made $450 million at the box office globally during its opening weekend. The movie seems to be on track to becoming another $1 billion blockbuster for Marvel. That’s a significant accomplishment for the titular character, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who is now one of the prominent faces of the Avengers. But Multiverse of Madness is also a movie about Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen). Even though she doesn’t share the title, she is one of the film’s main characters.
Considering how Doctor Strange 2 ends, we have no idea what’s next for Wanda. The post-credits scene focuses entirely on Doctor Strange and sets up his next adventure, but actress Elizabeth Olsen seems to think that Wanda’s story isn’t done. Before going any further, you should know that big Multiverse of Madness spoilers follow below.
The Multiverse of Madness post-credits scene
Captain America: Civil War wasn’t just about Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). It was also very much a Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) movie, advancing Iron Man’s arc right alongside Cap. Multiverse of Madness will feel familiar in that regard.
Civil War was a much bigger crossover event, an Avengers-like movie that set up Infinity War and Endgame. Doctor Strange 2 did not have as many Avengers in it. But, like Civil War, it could still lead to a critical development in the MCU.
It’s unclear when we’ll get to that, but the film’s post-credits scenes introduce a big cameo. It also marks the debut of Charlize Theron, who will play Clea in the MCU. Together with Strange, she wants to prevent a massive incursion, which is the teaser that Marvel used throughout the film for what we expect to be a Secret Wars adaptation.
But there was no Wanda in the Multiverse of Madness post-credits. And that’s because Marvel couldn’t really use the character, considering how the movie ends. The implication is that the Scarlet Witch kills herself while destroying the Wundagore Castle and the Darkhold. We don’t see a body, so we can’t say for certain that Wanda is dead in Multiverse of Madness. And we can’t trust that Marvel is telling us the whole truth.
Did Wanda survive Multiverse of Madness?
That said, we don’t need the MCU’s Wanda to live through the events of Doctor Strange 2. We just met another Wanda who is living a more peaceful life in the Illuminati’s reality. And she has just witnessed what an evil version of herself can do. Not to mention that the Illuminati universe just lost an entire team of superheroes. Marvel could always find a way to transplant a different Wanda into the MCU, just as it did with Thanos (Josh Brolin), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) in Endgame.
The more exciting course of action is having the Scarlet Witch survive and truly redeem herself. That would be an exciting story to tell, given the killing spree she went on in Multiverse of Madness.
What seems clear is that Wanda still has a future in the MCU after Multiverse of Madness. And it’s not because of the rumors that said Marvel is developing other Scarlet Witch projects. It’s because Elizabeth Olsen isn’t done with the role. According to various interviews during the Multiverse of Madness press tour, she appears to be excited to continue to play the character in the future.
“No, you just got me excited!” she told Collider when the X-Men came up. “I don’t really know what I do next after this movie.”
The actress added that she wants to know “what fans want and what the ideas are. But I guess you just said it, if we’re bringing X-Men back, I’ll wanna be there! I have no actual plans yet. I am very excited to talk with Kevin [Feige] about that at some point.”
Elizabeth Olsen’s interviews
She echoed the sentiment that she expects to be back in an interview with Variety.
“It’s weird that I’m expecting to return, but no one’s told me I’m doing anything!” she said. “But in my mind, I’m just making the assumption that they’ll have me again. I don’t know to what capacity, but I hope I’m back. I hope there’s also more fun to be had in something different. Where do we go? I feel like we’ve done so much with her. It’s been really a wild couple years with her.”
Olsen also addressed her MCU contract with Collider. She told the blog that she signs extensions every time they want her to do a movie. “I just signed a very short one at the beginning, so everything’s constantly just, it’s always adjusting for me,” she said, adding that she doesn’t think Multiverse of Madness is the end for Wanda.
But she wasn’t willing to speculate on what follows for her character. “I don’t know in what capacity I’ll be back. I don’t know how to do it without, I don’t want spoilers,” she said.
“I don’t know what I want,” Olsen continued. “I know I want it to matter. There’s no reason to continue to tell these stories unless they’re really strong, good stories and that they’re adding something to the entirety of the MCU. I will be there if there’s a great idea.”
What about an older Wanda?
But she did offer one potential scenario for Wanda after Multiverse of Madness in an interview with ComicBook.
“There are a few images in my head of, I think they’re from Witch’s Row, as she’s aging and decaying while using her power, and there’s something in that, this older woman, who’s aging from her power, that I’m interested in. And I don’t really know what that means, but I kind of would love to be old.”
All that tells us is that Elizabeth Olsen isn’t done playing Wanda in the MCU, even if the Wanda of the primary MCU reality might be dead. That should be welcome news to all of the heartbroken fans following the events of Doctor Strange 2.
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