Marvel Exec Admits Reasoning Behind Controversial Character Change

Perhaps one of the most controversial decisions made by Marvel involved one of its most beloved characters in a move that has made no sense to fans since it happened. Now, one of the studio’s executives has spoken out about why they made that decision.

Marvel has become one of the most well-known studios in the film industry. Breaking out under the Disney umbrella with Iron Man as its first release in 2008, the studio has since released about 50 projects spanning feature films and connected television/streaming series. Avengers: Endgame  (2019) is still one of the most successful films, holding the record for the second highest-grossing movie of all time.

Audiences of all ages were introduced to, and promptly fell in love with, the Avengers crew, including Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).

Eventually, the team expanded to include Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). The latter three characters would go on to star in their own original series on Disney+, with Mackie and Stan starring in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Olsen kicking off Marvel’s Phase Four with the first MCU series on the streaming platform, WandaVision.

The limited series featured Wanda and Vision (Paul Bettany) together again in a fictional town set in the 1950s. The appearance of Vision shocked fans, as the character had been killed by Thanos in order for the villain to gain control of the Mind Stone. Each episode of WandaVision saw the characters set in a different decade with the show taking on a sitcom-style delivery for the first several episodes. It’s clear that something isn’t quite right, beyond Vision’s existence, and clearly Wanda is behind it.

It’s eventually revealed that Wanda was so devastated by Vision’s death and the loss of the future they had planned together, that she entraps an entire town in order to construct a fantasy world where she and Vision both survive, get married, and have children. It’s also revealed that Wanda is actually descended from a powerful line of witches and at the end of the season, she’s taken herself to a remote location to further develop her powers.

In order to do this, she uses the Darkhold, or the Book of the Damned, an ancient, evil book of spells introduced throughout the show. The book is so evil, it corrupts anyone who uses it, although it’s made clear that Wanda will do whatever it takes to find a universe where she is able to live out the fantasy of being a mother to her children.

However, the Darkhold does end up corrupting her and Wanda was featured as the surprise villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). The film, directed by horror icon Sam Raimi, was likened to a Marvel horror movie, as Wanda dives deep into her powers and isn’t afraid to kill anyone who gets in her way.

It’s a stark contrast to the Wanda introduced to us in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) who grieves her brother’s death and joins the Avengers to help save her country and humanity. Although many of the MCU films have different directors who take different liberties with their characters (James Gunn’s feud with the Russo Brothers over the characterizations of the Guardians of the Galaxy is legendary among Marvel fans), it was a weird and surprising take for the previously loveable Wanda, shocking even Olsen herself when she learned the direction the character would be taking.

In the recently released artbook, The Art of Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Marvel Studios executive Richie Palmer reveals that it was a deliberate choice they made for the character.

“At the end of the day, we’re all fans of the comics. And in the comics, the Scarlet Witch – for various reasons – doesn’t always do things that are good for everyone around her. She kills people in the comics. She rewrites reality to her whims.”

Palmer explains that they decided on “honoring what she does in the comics because we think it’ll be fun,” and that after the events of WandaVision,  “to see where she would go after that, it might naturally be a darker place.” With the idea of the Marvel heroes saving the greater good comes the reality that they’ve sacrificed parts of themselves and aren’t necessarily personally happy because of it.

While the concept certainly deserves to be explored (like Tony Stark’s anxiety and panic attacks after Avengers shown throughout Iron Man 3 (2013) and then never mentioned again), it was just a sharp twist for the character to have taken from one project to the next. The Doctor Strange sequel suffered disappointing fan responses as a result even though WandaVision remains one of the best and most popular Marvel series.

With Agatha: Darkhold Diaries expected to be released sometime next year as a follow-up to the popular show, it’s possible that Wanda may make a surprise return after her “death” in Multiverse of Madness. As it stands, the beloved character had a disappointing exit from the MCU even if it was meant to honor her comic book origins.

What do you think of Wanda’s character change? Let us know in the comments below!