Early in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios is setting an early exciting trend of bringing dazzling new costumes to the franchise, even for heroes that have already been around for a while. Fans just saw this at the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier with Sam Wilson's Wakandan Captain America suit and that continued from the MCU's first Disney+ outing in WandaVision .
Elizabeth Olsen closed out her first solo project in the MCU by taking on the mythical Scarlet Witch mantle at the end of her battle with Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness . As she took control of her full power, she also garnished herself an epic new costume , which brought cheers from all across the MCU fandom.
Thanks to a new post on social media, fans now have some inside information on how part of the costume was developed.
THE STORY OF THE SCARLET WITCH CROWN
Marvel Studios Director of Visual Development Andy Park took to Instagram to share the story of how he developed the Scarlet Witch crown for her final outfit in Marvel Studios' WandaVision .
While he went through "a ton of variations" for the headpiece, Park revealed that the final design was "inspired by the more bejeweled look Kevin Wada did in the comics."
The designs utilized "negative space" while some swirls were directly taken from "her magical hex shapes & the movement she makes with her fingers" while using her impressive powers:
"Designing the Scarlet Witch CROWN: I was of course 1st referencing the source material being the comic book origins from her original creation by Jack Kirby & Stan Lee. Then I looked at all the different ways she was drawn by incredible artists through the decades from John Byrne, Alan Davis, Olivier Coipel, & Kevin Wada, just to name a few notable ones. Then I started playing with shapes- big, overall silhouettes to the more internal details. I did a ton of variations that I’ll show eventually. But the one that was approved that you saw in the show was 1st inspired by the more bejeweled look Kevin Wada did in the comics. It was mainly the use of negative spaces that inspired me to explore those kinds of options. The swirling internal shapes were inspired by her magical hex shapes & the movement she makes with her fingers when conjuring those powers. It was all a very fun exploration & a joy to create under the leadership of our director Matt Shakman & the leadership of Marvel Studios."
The approved design was then taken to 3D modeler Adam Ross, who used Elizabeth Olsen's head scan to finalize the piece.
"After I got the approved design I handed it off to our master 3D modeler Adam Ross. He created the actual form on top of Elizabeth Olsen’s head scan & then it went to the talented specialty costume creators at Ironhead to make it in reality. Them along with our brilliant costume designer Mayes Rubeo made her suit come to life in a way that was simply breathtaking! What a joy the whole process was!"
The full post can be seen below:
"THAT MAKES YOU...THE SCARLET WITCH."
Elizabeth Olsen has seen a handful of variations to her outfit within the MCU, all using inspiration from the comics in some form. Her newly revamped suit in WandaVision was not only visually stunning, but it also helped her progress as a character as she fully embraced the myth read out by Agatha in the Darkhold .
The crown was the first part of this costume to be teased in Episode 9, glowing on her forehead as she tried to take Agatha on a frightening trip down memory lane . This made for a more exciting reveal when it came back in their final battle as Wanda took her powers back, fitting herself with the full red-and-black outfit.
Now that Elizabeth Olsen has her new look, the wait continues to see it in action once again when she teams up with the Sorcerer Supreme in next year's Doctor Strange sequel. It will be interesting to find out how much depth her suit's origins are given in this film, but it should look just as incredible in battle here as it did upon its arrival.
All nine episodes of WandaVision are available to stream on Disney+. Olsen will appear next in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , which comes to theaters on March 25, 2022.
