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Scarlet Witch’s Perfect MCU Return Can Solve 2 Major Problems
Warning: Spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Marvel has the opportunity to use the potential return of Scarlet Witch to solve at least two major problems caused by her role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Cast as a villain in the Marvel sequel, Wanda Maximoff's (Elizabeth Olsen) trajectory seems vastly different now than it did at the end of Wandavision. Having leaned heavily into her villainy in this latest installment, if Scarlet Witch has any future in the MCU, it will have to be handled carefully or run the risk of the character feeling inconsistent and hollow.
Wandavision is a story of Wanda's grief, power, and mistakes. Having lost Vision in Avengers: Infinity War and seeing his lifeless body being used for experimentation, Wanda escapes into her own mind and power, taking the innocent people of Westview along with her and putting them under her control. It's a sad story and a terrifying display of power. By the end of the series, Wanda realizes what she's done and tries to put it right. She learns something of her true power from Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), then handily defeats her and says goodbye to the false life she's created.
Before Doctor Strange 2, WandaVision's ending left Wanda humbled due to her missteps with the town of Westview. As she seeks to understand her witchcraft more fully by studying the dark magic of the Darkhold, she hears the sound of her twins calling for her help. The tenor of WandaVision coupled with this scene suggests heavily that Wanda was on a repentant path and working toward becoming a powerful force for good in the MCU. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness shifts gears with the character dramatically and has Wanda cross some lines that will make her hard to accept as a hero ever again. This is exactly why Scarlet Witch should return to the MCU: Wanda's arc isn't over and doesn't have a satisfying end yet.
Scarlet Witch Still Needs A Chance At Redemption In The MCU
Alongside needing to redeem and complete an arc for a character who Marvel has spent so much time and money developing after Doctor Strange 2's credits rolled, is the fact that White Vision's (Paul Bettany) storyline is tied heavily to Wanda. It's suggested at the end of WandaVision that the two will meet again and the thread of the character is left dangling with White Vision missing from Doctor Strange 2. Without the return of Wanda, Vision is unlikely to have a satisfying reentry to the MCU.
Wanda undergoes a heroic transformation at the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and collapses Mount Wundagore around herself, apparently destroying the Darkhold in every universe. This suggests the beginning of redemption for Wanda and any return she makes to the MCU will necessarily deal with such. If handled with care, Marvel could use Wanda's return to tie up two loose ends: giving Wanda a satisfying completion to her arc and giving White Vision a place of reentry to the post-Doctor Strange 2 MCU and the multiverse.
