Amid rumors circulating that Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch will be back in Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel Studios has reiterated her status in the MCU–and she's still very much considered to be dead. Wanda Maximoff has been a core player in the MCU since her introduction in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and she and her partner, Vision (Paul Bettany), finally received their own solo project in 2021's WandaVision. Wanda's leading status was short-lived after she returned in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, only to be killed after bringing Mount Wundagore down on top of herself.
Despite her apparent demise, Marvel fans haven't given up hope that the Scarlet Witch will return in the MCU, and rumors are heating up that Olsen could be back for 2026's major crossover event, Avengers: Doomsday. Marvel Studios is remaining adamant that Wanda is dead in the MCU, with a new VisionQuest promo doubling down on her fate.
VisionQuest is the third part of the WandaVision trilogy, focusing on Paul Bettany's White Vision after the events of the 2021 series. To make sense of his new memories, Vision has recruited various MCU AIs in his own mind space, including his old arch-nemesis, Ultron (James Spader). In the new trailer for VisionQuest, Ultron tells Vision, "that dead witch really did a number on you," which can only refer to Vision's former lover, Wanda Maximoff.
The comment is another instance of Marvel Studios reiterating Wanda's death as canon, following the studio's clarification in Agatha All Along that Wanda was definitely killed in Doctor Strange 2. The second WandaVision trilogy installment took place after the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and saw Agatha stumbling upon Wanda's literal dead body, albeit in an alternate magical reality.
Ultron's comment isn't the only reference the new VisionQuest trailer makes to Wanda Maximoff. As much of the series focuses on Vision untangling his past memories and reconciling them with his present, archival footage from Avengers: Infinity War and WandaVision is also interspersed in the trailer, suggesting these are among the core memories Vision will revisit in the show.
While it's not the return of Scarlet Witch fans were hoping for, it seems Olsen's character will still have a presence in VisionQuest.
VisionQuest will stream on Disney+ beginning October 14, 2026. Created by Terry Matalas, the series is led by Paul Bettany alongside James Spader, Ruaridh Mollica, Todd Stashwick, James D'Arcy, Emily Hampshire, and more.
Is Wanda Maximoff's Death Really Permanent?
Marvel Studios is making it clear ahead of Avengers: Doomsday's release that Wanda Maximoff's death was real in the MCU. That said, no matter how many times Marvel tries to convince audiences that Scarlet Witch isn't coming back, it does nothing to deter fans' hopes.
Agatha All Along showrunner Jac Schaeffer clarified that her show's comments on Wanda's fate were "from Agatha's perspective," but that, seeing as the character wasn't there at the time of Wanda's demise, she couldn't truly know what happened. The same could be said for Ultron in VisionQuest. While the robot has likely learned of reports about Wanda's fate, he and Vision were not present at Mount Wundagore, so they couldn't truly know for certain.
It makes sense that Marvel Studios would want to push the narrative that Wanda died in the MCU, either to temper audience expectations about her return or to keep her role in upcoming Marvel projects, such as Avengers: Doomsday, a secret so it remains a surprise for fans.
Adding to that is the Multiversal element, because even though Earth-616's Wanda Maximoff perished, it doesn't mean that a variant couldn't come and take her place, which is what happened to Loki in Avengers: Endgame.
While Olsen is not expected to reprise her role as soon as VisionQuest, the WandaVision trilogy is said to be important for Avengers: Doomsday, and Wanda could serve as that missing link, particularly if rumors of her role as one of Doctor Doom's Latverian Witches pans out.
