Director Sam Raimi made a bold choice in Doctor Strange 2 by making Wanda Maximoff the sequel"s main villain, which was her first time being a true MCU antagonist after seven years of heroic storylines.
Tying directly to the events of WandaVision on Disney+, this marked a drastic and shocking twist for that show"s leading character, who had finally seemed to find a sense of redemption after her experience with the Hex and leaving her family behind.
And with Olsen expecting Wanda to return to the MCU before too long, it"s no surprise to see that she herself felt a sense of shock seeing such a drastic change to her veteran hero.
Elizabeth Olsen Reflects on Villainous MCU Turn
MarvelSpeaking with Buzzfeed, Wanda Maximoff star Elizabeth Olsen addressed her thoughts on Wanda Maximoff being the main villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.When reflecting on the most surprising moments of her Doctor Strange 2 prep, Olsen admitted that she had a "shocked" reaction to her discovery that Wanda would be the villain of the sequel:
"I was shocked the moment they told me what it was about. I was shocked at the moment they said, ‘You’re the villain.’ No one told me until right before we shot it, so that was shocking."She also addressed whether it was difficult playing the character as a villain, noting how she only wanted to make sure that it wasn"t anything that had been seen before from Wanda in the past:
BuzzFeed: "Was it difficult playing Wanda as a villain?"Screen Rant also spoke with Olsen about Wanda’s villain twist, with Olsen even admitting that Sam Raimi put her in situations she never foresaw with Wanda:
Olsen: "No, but I think my goal is to make sure that nothing seems like a repeated arc. I try really hard now to make it repetitive, because I think that might not be fun for fans."
"I mean, it was fun. Initially, I was like, "Oh no! Not our Wanda." But then it became something to lean into, and Sam definitely put me in situations where I was like, “I can’t believe I’m doing this right now,” when I was playing the alt-Wanda often."Olsen enjoyed seeing the "evolution of the character" and giving her a different feel and tone, although Raimi also made sure that she focused on "her humanity" at the same time:
"I love having an evolution of the character. I love having a different tone to play. But Sam was always bringing me back to her humanity as well. As much as we were pushing elements, he always wanted to make sure that it was coming from a really pure place."This story is developing. Check back for updates!
