There’s no doubt that Scarlet Witch was one of the saddest characters in the MCU, but ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ wasted years of character development to make her a villain.
After everything Wanda Maximoff endured, her sudden transformation felt less like a natural progression and more like Marvel rushing to create an intimidating antagonist.
‘WandaVision’ Gave Wanda A Powerful Ending
In ‘WandaVision‘, Wanda was finally facing the loss of Vision and the grief she has endured since she lost him. She made a whole new world in Westview and locked the people in an illusion because she desperately wanted to escape her pain. However, once she realized what she was doing to the town, she made the heartbreaking choice to let the town go, leaving her happiness and her family behind.
It was a strong ending that revealed Wanda’s ability to take responsibility for her actions, even when it meant losing everything. That’s why many fans were upset with her portrayal in ‘Multiverse of Madness’.
Instead of exploring the consequences of her sacrifice and allowing her to struggle with her grief, the sequel made her the primary villain, obsessed with finding an alternate universe where she could live with Billy and Tommy.
‘Multiverse Of Madness’ Rushed Her Transformation
Wanda’s transformation into a villain was the biggest issue. That was a very powerful direction, given her immense power, grief unprocessed, and the influence of the Darkhold. The problem was how quickly the movie pushed her into murdering sorcerers, attacking Kamar-Taj, and hunting America Chavez to steal her multiversal abilities.
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Wanda went from someone who ultimately chose to free innocent people to someone willing to kill countless others for another version of her children. The Darkhold explained this change, but the movie did not give her enough meaningful moments to demonstrate how that corruption took over her.
It was also reported that the two productions were not in sync behind the scenes. Director Sam Raimi and writer Michael Waldron worked on the sequel while WandaVision was still being made, with Waldron later acknowledging that he had not watched the entire series before developing the film.
Elizabeth Olsen also commented on receiving big story breaks late in the process, as well as having scripts change. All of this doesn’t mean that Wanda couldn’t ever be a villain.
However, after her big moment of accountability in ‘WandaVision’, ‘Multiverse of Madness’ required more time to make her fall feel earned. Instead, Marvel delivered a terrifying Scarlet Witch at the cost of a more emotionally satisfying continuation of her story.
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