Elizabeth Olsen Defends Scarlet Witch's Worst Decision In The MCU

Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch has had a tumultuous journey in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Wanda Maximoff goes straight from villain to Avenger in her formal debut in "Avengers: Age of Ultron," only to turn heel again in "WandaVision" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." By the time of the 2022 "Doctor Strange" sequel, Wanda is mercilessly cutting swathes through the multiverse as she tries to recapture an imagined world where she can finally be happy, no matter the cost.

This wavering between hero and villain is one of the things that attracted Olsen to the role. The actress opened up about the appeal of exploring Wanda's shifting priorities in "Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: The Art of the Movie," an art book offering behind-the-scenes details and interviews surrounding the film.

"It's not the most fun, in my mind, to always play the hero of a story where they do no wrong," Olsen says (via The Direct). "I don't find that interesting. And I think the reason why I really enjoyed Wanda from the beginning is she's very clear in her beliefs. They just don't align with others', and that's okay."

Olsen makes it clear that, in her mind, Wanda is aware of her shortcomings. Scarlet Witch has "her own realizations and admit[s] when she makes mistakes," she says. "And that affects her in different ways ... 'WandaVision' was this journey of her, for the first time, taking her life into her own hands, making decisions for herself, and recognizing that maybe she has a lot to process."

Despite spending an entire season of "WandaVision" holding a town hostage so that Wanda can live out her sitcom-inspired fantasies, Olsen says she understands the conflict her character must have been going through after losing Vision in "Avengers: Infinity War." At the end of "WandaVision," Scarlet Witch is left "feeling a sense of accountability for what she had done to this town and to these people, but then also experiencing this huge loss of this other life that she had created for herself — that now can exist In The Multiverse."

While Olsen seemingly sympathizes with the desire, it's this longing for a fabricated life that nearly leads to all of reality unraveling in the MCU. Wanda Maximoff has always been one of the franchise's more tortured characters, and these quotes prove Olsen was well aware of the torment going on in her character's head. While Scarlet Witch seemingly dies at the end of "Multiverse of Madness," death is often only temporary in the MCU. So we may get to see Olsen dive deeper into Wanda's troubled psyche in the future.