The following article contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of MadnessMarvel Studios’Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnesswas released this past Friday and has accumulated an impressive $500 million worldwide. Director Sam Raimi marked his return to the MCU with the new film, joining screenwriter Michael Waldron to create one of the more controversial MCU projects to date.
Raimi brought his unique direction to theDoctor Strangesequel, infusing the film with his iconic horrific vision, which labeled it for many as Marvel Studios' first true horror flick. The horrific elements at play were evident, but the leading cause behind the fear was a notable MCU character, Wanda Maximoff. The Elizabeth Olsen character embodied the persona of the Scarlet Witch, murdering anyone who impeded her attempt to travel the multiverse in search of her children.
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The violence was pretty graphic compared to other MCU projects, especially the Scarlet Witch’s vicious handling of the Illuminati. Many were surprised by the character’s violent plunge into darkness, but Waldron defended the arch based on the events inMarvel Studios' original seriesWandaVision. While speaking with Variety, Waldron noted that her tremendous grief and possession of the Darkhold were the driving forces that unleashed the depravity within her character.
“Having watched and experienced and studied ‘WandaVision,’ I felt like she was at the point, in possession of the Darkhold, where she was ready to break bad,” expressed Waldron. “She had reached that point that she reaches in comics, and that we could believably pull it off.” Audiences, however, felt the shift in Wanda’s character was abrupt, with no genuinely natural progression from one end of the spectrum to the next. Marvel Studios could have somewhat alleviated the issue with a more robust bridge connecting the character’s arc fromthe end ofWandaVisionto her arrival inMultiverse of Madness.
However, Waldron and the team at Marvel Studios felt the connection was strong and laid the appropriate path for Wanda’s violent descent into darkness. “My interpretation of ‘WandaVision’ is that she confronts her grief and she lets go of the people she has under her control,” noted Waldron. “But I don’t think she necessarily resolves her grief in that show, and I don’t think she resolves her anger.” Waldron further explained thatthe iconic Darkhold, which Wanda got from Agatha, fed on her anger and desire to have her lost children back, which ultimately allowed her character inMultiverse of Madnessto act as she did.
The sudden change in Wanda’s character may feel unnatural to fans who missed theWandaVisionseries, but the plot laid a foundation for her eventual submersion into madness. The level of brutality in her character was unexpected, but it made sense in the scope of her emotional navigation through trauma. It’s unclear if the audience willsee the Scarlet Witch in the MCU again, but as Waldron noted, “it remains to be seen.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessis currently playing in theaters.
