Marvel superhero movies earn billions of dollars. Despite how much WandaVision dominated pop culture in the last few months (although after more than a year and a half without any content from the Marvel cinematic universe), and even though it probably boosted at least some Disney + subscriptions, the programs do not go and do not go. That makes movies a priority for Marvel about the shows …but not for Elizabeth Olsen.
In a great interview with Olsen and lead creator / writer Jac Schaeffer in Variety, the actor who plays the Scarlet Witch explained how she prioritized WandaVision about the next Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness movie:
I didn’t know my role in “Doctor Strange” until just before we went back to filming during the pandemic. We had two more months and we had already filmed most of our show. Seriously, I didn’t know anything until that moment when they released [“Doctor Strange 2”] for me verbally.
So I tried, as much as I could, almost less to make it affect “WandaVision” than it would have “WandaVision” affected. I think that’s really where the connection is. It’s almost like we’re trying to make sure that everything is honoring what we’ve done [on the show].
An actor who values a nine-episode TV series where his character is not only in the front and center, but ultimately given the kind of emotional exploration that the MCU films have barely touched, shouldn’t be surprising. What is surprising is how Olsen worked to ensure that his role in the high-profile film was affected by the program’s significantly more discreet events, as opposed to the other way around.
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However, it is difficult to say what this implies because I suspect that Olsen is referring to where Wanda is after her emotional journey of acceptance Vision’s death, instead of ensuring that his vastly enhanced magical powers are recognized in the film, or something similar. Since Schaeffer confirms that work on Doctor Strange sequence was already underway when she launched WandaVision, I would think that Wanda’s role was already defined, even though the details of the story were still being worked out. Olsen revealed:
There are several versions of all [post-credits] tags in the Marvel world. So it’s good to know, because that was the conversation, should we or shouldn’t we listen to the boys [while she was reading the Darkhold]. I believe it has enriched her humanity and has now become more informative about the character she continues to become.
It also seems that Olsen is referring to how it will affect his performance in Multiverse of madness more than the plot, which, while important, is going to be a far more subtle change for the audience than its vastly enhanced magical powers and incredible costumes.
The interview is a great informative read, and it is worth your time. But if you need any other evidence of how much Olsen values WandaVision on Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, here are his comments on Evan Peters arriving on board as the “redesigned” Pietro:
I didn’t know about the multiverse when we were filming this. So I don’t assume that this is what is happening. I thought it was a smart way to have a Pietro. I didn’t understand the bigger picture of the multiverse until I started working on “Multiverse”, or as our film is called, the sequel to “Doctor Strange”!
The film that Elizabeth Olsen did not bother to learn the title, despite starring in it, is currently scheduled to open in March 2022. Honestly, I do not blame her at all.
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