ATTENTION SPOILER: This story discusses the highlights of “Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” by Marvel Studios, which is currently in theaters. Don’t read until you’ve seen the movie.
In fact, from the moment Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feigi announced that Elizabeth Olson would star in the Disney + series “WandaVision”, he also made it clear that the events of this show will be linked to Olson’s subsequent appearance as Wanda Maximoff in the feature film “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”
What did Feigi do? no reveal – and what Disney carefully concealed in its marketing of the film until it hit theaters – is that Wanda does not appear as Strange’s compatriot in “Multiverse of Madness”: she is the villain.
At the end of WandaVision, Wanda fully accepts her identity as the Scarlet Witch, one of the most powerful bearers of magic in the universe. But it must also free its grip on the city of Westview to free its citizens from mind control. In doing so, she abandons her children Billy (Julian Hilliard) and Tommy (Jet Klein), who can only exist within the Wanda magic spell over Westview.
In Multiverse of Madness, we learn that the loss of her children – combined with her extensive study and exposure to Darkhold, a book on corrupting dark magic – has brought Wanda into an all-consuming fixation to find her way back to her boys. This leads Wanda to relentlessly persecute America Chavez (Hochitl Gomez), a teenager with the power to travel around the universe. Wanda wants to take power from America so that she can be in a universe where her boys still exist, but that would kill America in the process. So Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Wong (Benedict Wong) and the other wizards of Kamar-Taj choose to defend America and stop Wanda.
Big mistake. huge. With Wanda fully in control as the Scarlet Witch, she kills almost everyone on her way to America, including the Illuminati, a team of superheroes in an alternate land that includes Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier and Hailey Atwell as Captain Carter.
In the hands of horror director Sam Raimi, it’s horrible to watch. This is also controversial for some fans who have had difficulty comparing the deplorable Wanda at the end of WandaVision to the Scarlet Witch of Multiverse of Madness, who is ready to gut the lives of anyone who stands in her way.
It turns out that Olsen was one of those people – in the beginning. In an interview with Diversity, she discusses her surprise when she learns of Wanda’s turn to the dark side, how she received it and what was the most challenging scene for her. (Hint: Wanda’s boys are involved.)
What was your reaction when you learned that Wanda is the villain in the movie?
Um, of course, yes, I know this, why it’s something known as Dr. Strange. So at first I thought I was nervous and conflicted because I hadn’t finished WandaVision yet, but we were almost done. And I said to myself, “Oh God, how do I make all this work together?” We got there; I got there. And it became an amazing opportunity for people to be won over by this woman in WandaVision and feel her, and then, you know, to manipulate them in this movie, where they can be on her side and then feel conflicted. So I decided that what I really needed to do was learn how to do it right.
You said in the past that you worked to ensure that this film honors what happened at WandaVision. What specifically do you think the film needs to have this connection to?
There were just strokes that I thought were almost too similar, as opposed to reflective. I just wanted everything to feel like a version of progress, even if progress is someone who has a different reaction to pain and loss. We also haven’t seen her react to what happened in Westview. Even if we watched her go through trauma and loss, we didn’t see her go through the loss of children. I think that for any parent – I would guess, because I am not – the loss of a child would always be much harder than the loss of someone else important in your life. I just wanted to make sure that this is a constant evolution forward and not repeated. So, these were just minor adjustments. I couldn’t make any big changes because kits and things like that were being built. And schedules were being made, albeit in progress. But, yes, I was trying to figure out how not to repeat ourselves? How to create evolution? How do we make this different, but still part of the woman we know?
How did it feel to kill all these characters? I mean, I’ll never get over the idea of snapping Patrick Stewart’s head.
I – I was – I also had to kill more. It was hard for me. I thought these were human beings and Wanda was good to end his life? But she just had to buckle up and think that all these people were in her way, and she warned Dr. Strange not to bother her. And he did. He did not listen. So I just had to go from that point of view.
Was there a scene that you found particularly challenging to play?
I think the hardest thing was – I know we’re doing this interview after it came out, but I’m still worried about talking about it without spoilers. But there is a time when I have to click on people I love, and that was a difficult scene. One of the people I love – the little people I love – they threw things at me on stage and accidentally hit me in the face very hard. And that was the best reaction. And I felt so bad that I used him as an actor and let him know how I responded to those people I love. Because they were terrified after that. It really was something I didn’t like at all, but I knew it would be good for the stage.
Given how this movie ends, do you expect to return to MCU?
It’s weird that I’m expecting to come back, but nobody told me I was doing something! But in my mind, I’m just guessing they’ll have me again. I do not know in what capacity, but I hope to return. I hope there is more fun in something different. Where are we going? I have a feeling we’ve done so much with her. It was a really wild year with her.
additional screen reader
Add Comment