It seems as if Sam Raimi, director of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness—which, notably features Wanda Maximoff as a pivotal character—hasn’t seen all of WandaVision. The visionary director who is back in the world of Marvel with his latest film has been making the rounds in the press and talked a bit about Wanda (played by Elizabeth Olsen) as a character.
The difference between his Spider-Man trilogy and something like Multiverse of Madness is that this movie plays into a larger universe of characters and storylines, so when asked about how this film flows with Wanda’s storyline fresh off of her own, well-received standalone TV series, Raimi admitted that he’s seen some key episodes only.
“I just know that halfway, or maybe three-quarters of the way into our writing process, I’d first heard of this show they were doing and that we would have to follow it. Therefore, we had to really study what WandaVision was doing, so we could have a proper through line and character-growth dynamic. I never even saw all of WandaVision; I’ve just seen key moments of some episodes that I was told directly impact our storyline,” he told Rolling Stone.
It’s honestly a real “yeah, I could tell” moment for me—not only because of Wanda’s arc in Multiverse of Madness but because of how she was directed. It’s so different from the Wanda we last saw in WandaVision that even if Michael Waldron’s script had reflected the show perfectly, Raimi’s take on her in his direction is completely different from the Wanda we now all know and love.
It’s less than six hours of television
I don’t want to get mad about this, because that feels childish, but it is annoying that we’re supposed to understand these worlds and how they all flow together and yet the creatives behind them do not have the same homework.
**Spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness lie ahead.**
I have already broken down my problems with the treatment of Wanda Maximoff in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and while, as I said, Michael Waldron (who wrote the screenplay) has seen the show, my problems also extend to how Wanda was directed in the film.
She’s very different from where we left her, and sure, it’s the Darkhold that has its claws in her, but it just feels like a completely different approach to the character. The reason she does work is because of Elizabeth Olsen’s connection to the character and her own shared history with the MCU. Do I think it would have been a better movie had Raimi watched the less-than-six hours of WandaVision out there? Yes, I do. It’s the same problem I have with J.J. Abrams not speaking to Rian Johnson about Star Wars and no one communicating.
You’re telling a story in a shared universe. The least that you can do is watch the thing that DIRECTLY leads into one of the major characters’ arcs. I’m so conflicted on this movie because I do love the Raimi aspects of it, and I love how scary and gory it is, but what I don’t like, I really don’t like, and it’s just hard to unpack.
(featured image: Marvel Entertainment)
