For decades, Scarlet Witch had been a Mutant in Marvel Comics, meaning that prior to Disney's acquisition of Fox, including her in the MCU should have been off-limits, right? No, due to her overlapping connections between the Avengers and X-Men, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver could be introduced to the MCU in Avengers: Age of Ultron, devoid of their Mutant origins.
The two debuted as miracles of Hydra experimentation and antagonists to the Avengers, until they redeemed themselves and switched sides to take down Ultron. Just one year prior, Fox debuted its own Quicksilver, played by Evan Peters, in X-Men: Days of Future Past, but that wouldn't prove to be a conflict for long as Aaron Taylor-Johnson's MCU version was killed off in his first appearance.
Since then, Wanda has been on a complicated MCU journey that has seen her become an Avenger, the catalyst for the Sokovia Accords, and the wife of Vision. Just recently, WandaVision finally saw her assume the name of the Scarlet Witch as she realized her full potential and discovered her true power comes from magic.
Following her dramatic turn into the Scarlet Witch, Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff just recently starred opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. As the two magical Avengers dive headfirst into the Multiverse, only just now meeting for the first time, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has revealed how they almost shared the screen much sooner.
Scarlet Witch Was Almost in 2016's Doctor Strange
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige spoke with Bionic Buzz at the red carpet premiere of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and offered a surprising revelation surrounding the original plans for Scarlet Witch in the MCU.
Feige confirmed that Scarlet Witch was almost introduced in Doctor Strange instead of Avengers: Age of Ultron due to a desire to see the two appear together and "sort of fit in that same world:"
"At one point, one of the initial ideas we had for Doctor Strange was to introduce Scarlet Witch in the Doctor Strange movie because those two characters were always two we really wanted to see together and sort of fit in that same world. Obviously, we ended up introducing her in [Avengers: Age of Ultron], and thank god we did, because we got to do all the other things with her. But this is really something that has been in the works for a very long time, and finally, here we are.
What If... Elizabeth Olsen Was in Doctor Strange?
Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch has turned into a major player for the MCU, meaning it may be best she wasn't introduced and inevitably sidelined in Doctor Strange. Cramming the origin stories of two powerful and significant magical heroes into one film would have caused nothing but disaster and only dragged down the 2016 blockbuster.
Wanda being introduced as a spell caster - as opposed to a general super-powered hero - from the beginning drastically changes the path she has been down in the MCU. Perhaps if Doctor Strange had been there to help in her early days then her path of chaos could have been avoided, dodging the disasters of Captain America: Civil War and WandaVision altogether.
Both Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver proved to be major pieces of the Age of Ultron puzzle, removing them from the equation would change the film greatly, leading to a very different final product. Given this scenario, Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver probably wouldn't have joined the MCU at all, taking away a key component of Wanda's character.
Ultimately, the final result paid off as Marvel Studios finally got their wish of putting Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch together, and even created two of their most popular characters along the way.
Scarlet Witch wasn't in 2016's Doctor Strange, but she is in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which is playing now in theaters worldwide.
