WandaVision's final moments on Disney+ brought a shocking twist for Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff that tarnished her MCU future forever. Five years ago, on March 5, 2021, Marvel Studios debuted WandaVision's finale, in which she defeated Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness, released the citizens of Westview by taking down her sitcom Hex, and made one terrible decision.
It took until Agatha freed the citizens of Westview from Wanda's control that she realized the suffering she caused for her own grief-stricken coping mechanism. In finally understanding what she had done, Wanda freed the New Jersey town's citizens from the Hex before turning her attention to Agatha.
Having reached some degree of acceptance of her grief (including the loss of Vision) and realized her destiny as the mythical Scarlet Witch, Wanda defeated her witchy opponent and got a new, magically heroic-looking costume to go with it.
Finally complete with her official Scarlet Witch moniker six years after her MCU debut and a brand-new Chaos Magic red costume, WandaVision should have ushered in a heroic new beginning for Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff.
And yet, one post-credits scene later, Marvel Studios doomed the MCU's Scarlet Witch as Maximoff was revealed to be studying the Darkhold in isolation. That, in turn, set the stage for her villainous turn five years back for the eventual Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, thanks to the Book of the Damned's corruption.
Excitingly, Olsen may one day get to right the wrongs of her actions under the Darkhold, as its demon author, Chthon, is rumored to be the villain of a Scarlet Witch solo project that would land at some point after Avengers: Secret Wars.
The Darkhold's influence only fueled Wanda's grief, sending her down a destructive path to steal America Chavez's power in the hopes of traveling to another universe to be with her sons, Billy and Tommy.
Having only just regained some sense of heroism after WandaVision, Marvel Studios immediately undid all of Wanda's character development. Fans never got to see Wanda gradually corrupted by the Darkhold, leading to a sudden pivot into a selfish, murderous, and psychotic monster.
Even Elizabeth Olsen admitted the problems with Wanda's storyline in Multiverse of Madness, noting how she didn't discover "what [she was] doing" in the sequel until just months before WandaVision's release, when they were putting the post-COVID finishing touches on the Disney+ series in late 2020.
Furthermore, she confirmed that, as WandaVision wasn't finished yet, Doctor Strange 2's writers hadn't seen the reality-bending sitcom, leading them to develop something of a "similar arc" in both Wanda-centric projects.
Essentially, Marvel Studios attempted to develop a sequel to something that, in itself, wasn't released or even finished yet, and was doing so with different creative teams. That led to a lack of cohesion between the projects, ultimately ruining the final chapter of Scarlet Witch's journey... For now.
Will Scarlet Witch Ever Return to the MCU?
There's no denying that Marvel Studios made some strange decisions with Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which one could argue retroactively worsens WandaVision's overall story.
Many are convinced that Scarlet Witch will return with a larger role to play in the Multiverse Saga's conclusion, especially as WandaVision is reportedly "obligatory" viewing for Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.
Perhaps Wanda somehow survived her sacrifice under Mount Wundagore and ended up crossing paths with Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom. It's easy to see her being manipulated into helping his cause under the guise of repenting for her crimes against the Multiverse by helping resolve the Incursions.
Beyond that, the studio is also rumored to be working on a Scarlet Witch solo project that could fix Doctor Strange 2's mistakes. One would imagine it would take the form of a theatrical blockbuster in the MCU's third saga, but the project is only rumored for now and may not happen at all.
