Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany helped kick off Phase 4 of the MCU on Disney+ with their efforts on WandaVision, a show which recently earned 23 Emmy Nominations in various categories. With Olsen's Wanda Maximoff having fully evolved into the Scarlet Witch, she will now continue her journey in 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and more.
Director Sam Raimi is taking over the reins on this movie from Scott Derrickson, lending his expertise on the horror genre to Marvel Studios while adding to his superhero movie resume.
While the movie's plot is still being kept under wraps, the MCU's multiverse is set to blow wide open with some of the most intense events Marvel has ever put to screen. With the giant green octopus Shuma-Gorath as a main villain and incredible powers on display from the two leads, Raimi won't be holding anything from an intensity standpoint.
That intensity seems to be coming through in numerous ways both on and off the screen according to Olsen herself.
THE MCU'S SCARIEST MOVIE YET
MCU star Elizabeth Olsen, via the @MProjectsUpdate Twitter page, spoke about her experience going from WandaVision on Disney+ into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in theaters.
Olsen admitted that it was "odd going from WandaVision and bringing this character to a different film" more firmly entrenched "in the Marvel films." Additionally, she described the sequel as being "a very scary movie" and revealed that Marvel is "trying to create the scariest Marvel movie" in the MCU to date:
"It was really hard. Sam Raimi is lovely, and I got to learn a lot from him. It was odd going from WandaVision and bringing this character to a different film that felt more based in the Marvel films.
I felt like I was putting on old shoes...It’s a very scary movie. It’s old Sam Raimi. They’re trying to create the scariest Marvel movie. So there’s that!"
The full quote can be viewed in the tweet below:
SMALL SCREEN TO BIG SCREEN
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has regularly been teased as Marvel's first effort at a horror film, which will especially be the case now that horror expert Sam Raimi is in the director's chair. Olsen's quotes seem to confirm this direction for the MCU's twenty-eighth movie, and considering everything announced for it so far, there's a solid foundation for some scary story material.
It's also interesting to hear Olsen speak on the challenges of taking Wanda Maximoff from a lead role in WandaVision to a supporting lead appearance in her next theatrical release. Although Wanda surely has her movie history from appearances in five other MCU flicks, fans are already intrigued as to how she will transition between two unique release platforms.
No matter how the story in this movie plays out, MCU fans will be in for a more terrifying outing than anything delivered in the past. With a multiverse worth of trouble and multiple powerful heroes and villains sharing the screen, Marvel has the recipe to bring exactly what the cast-and-crew say they're looking for in this film.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to debut in theaters on March 25, 2022.
