A new theory postulates that Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch will play villain to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange in the Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
The theory comes from Reddit user cdhelt1225. Not only does the theory indicate Scarlet Witch will be a villain or at least an antagonist, but she will also be able to explain why Spider-Man is no longer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Scarlet Witch as a Villain
Reddit user r/cdhelt1225 theorizes that Wanda becomes the Scarlet Witch and does a big House of M thing. Her reality warping powers remove Spider-Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and bring in the Fantastic Four and the Mutants into the film universe. The Spider-Man part of the theory hinges on Sony and Disney not coming to a deal to bring Spider-Man back into the MCU.
The theory even states that Scarlet Witch would be the big bad of the MCU for Phase 4 and Phase 5 because she will radically alter reality. The Avengers and Doctor Strange would have to find a way to bring reality back to the way it was.
Here’s the full theory from cdhelt1225:
After the loss of her lover, the vision, she becomes obsessed with wanting to bring him back. This she alters reality by: 1. Removing spiderman from the timeline (depends if sony makes another deal) 2. Create the fantastic 4 3. Creates the xmen 4. would still have main MCU timeline the falcon and winter soldier. 5. She would eventually alter time entirely and create the house of M.
It’s quite possible a House of M inspired storyline is on the horizon. Elizabeth Olsen revealed she wanted to do a House of M story while promoting Avengers: Infinity War back in 2018. (Related: Avengers: Infinity War Star Elizabeth Olsen Reveals the Storyline She Wants in a Solo Scarlet Witch Movie)
Olsen stated:
“I would love to [do a standalone], and I would love it to be House of M, which is a comic book series of The Vision and Scarlet Witch having a make-believe family.
She [Wanda] believes she has twin children- she alters her own reality to believe that, but really she has a miscarriage and Vision goes along with it. Then they [Vision and her family] have to tell her that she was make-believing the entire time, and she has a very traumatic experience and screams, and kills all the mutants – but that’s an X-Men story, so we’d have to adjust the ending.”
In fact, she even revealed she wanted the storyline to include Magneto.
“But if they’re like a Michael Fassbender being my daddy crossover, I would say, ‘Yes, please.’ I love Michael Fassbender.”
It’s more than likely that the upcoming Disney+ show WandaVision could introduce us to this House of M storyline that is further explored in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
Olsen revealed that Vision will return for the show and that it will be set in the ’50s. (Related: Elizabeth Olsen: Disney+ WandaVision Show Set in 1950s)
“There’s quite a few other comic books that we’re pulling from and it’s going to be Wanda and the Vision, and I think at the Disney+ launch chat, they showed a photo of us in the ’50s.”
In fact, Marvel Studios will actually be bringing in a number of sidekick characters for WandaVision, a hint they might be playing House of M alternate versions. Teyonah Parris will be play the adult Monica Rambeau, Kat Dennings will reprise her role from the Thor films as Darcy Lewis, Randall Park will again play the role of Agent Jimmy Woo from Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Kathryn Hahn will be in the show in an unspecified role.
As for Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, it’s possible Doctor Strange might attempt to undo Scarlet Witch’s reality altering powers, but finds himself lost in this multiverse of madness where he will come face to face with Nightmare. (Related: Doctor Strange 2 Villains Revealed)
The Pretender Scarlet Witch
Wanda Maximoff is no stranger to the villain role in the comics. She originally started out as a villain opposite to the X-Men, as part of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. In fact, the comic book X-Men story line by Jonathan Hickman House of X currently denounces Wanda Maximoff as a pretender due to her actions that caused the decimation storyline in House of M. Her actions cemented her among the worst of humanity that have done harm to mutant kind. The only one who has done worse than her is Bollivar Trask, the creator of the mutant-hunting Sentinels.
This story follows a retcon in 2014 where Wanda Maximoff was not a mutant, but an experiment by the High Evolutionary.
Even in the films, she started out as a villain in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
There has been speculation about how Wanda in the MCU might introduce mutants into the film universe. She’ll maybe do a reverse of her “no more mutants” line that introduced the decimation story line.
What do you think about this theory that introduces the mutants into the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Sound off in the comments below or let’s talk about it on social media!