The new trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness dropped during the Super Bowl, and with it came gift after gift for fans of Elizabeth Olsen’s take on the Scarlet Witch. Wanda Maximoff has had quite the struggle throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe since her introduction in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and time and time again, she’s made to feel as if she is a liability for her powers—made all the worse by WandaVision and what happened when she lost control.
She’s brought into the fold when Strange needs help figuring out the multiverse, as he asks her what she knows about it. She tells him Vision’s theories about how it was dangerous, and Strange confirms that thought, and she clearly agrees to work with him to help whatever is going on in the aftermath of both Sylvie’s turn in Loki and what happened with Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, even if Strange doesn’t remember.
While I am forever and always a Wanda apologist, it gets to a point where it feels like no matter what Wanda does, she will still be considered a villain for one reason or another, and there is one moment in particular in the trailer that really explores that pain for her.
Wanda is never seen as the hero
When it comes to Wanda, she’s often seen as a liability—by the Avengers, by herself, and certainly after what happened in Westview in the MCU. She can, seemingly, do nothing right. But the best line of the trailer and the best moment for Wanda is when she points that out to Strange—that she can break the rules and it will make her a villain, but if he does it, he will be a hero.
True to how people both in-universe and online react, there were plenty of responses saying that the two were different and that what Wanda has done warrants being labeled a villain, which is funny given that Captain America was a war criminal, and yet, people still praise him. The point is, though, that Wanda has constantly had to apologize for saving people.
When the Hulk destroyed Harlem, he was still considered a hero and an Avenger. What Wanda did was a mistake, and yes, she should be held accountable and she recognizes that it is a bad thing and leaves Westview knowing that she is in the wrong. And yet, she is still forced into being called a villain despite knowing how her accident hurt people.
So Wanda saying this to Strange? It’s a frustration I understand and one that I think many of us who love Wanda get.
Zombie Wanda
What we also got in the trailer was a look at different versions of Wanda (I assume), including the zombie version of Wanda that we saw in Marvel’s What If…? so the question then is “How many Wandas are we going to see?”
Zombie Wanda was interesting because she still had her powers and was that much more of a danger. If the universes are breaking and she’s been let free, the only real match she has is another version of herself, which brings in the idea that the “evil” Wanda that people have been wanting to see might be from a different universe.
Evil Wanda vs. Hero Wanda?
Wanda operates in the gray area between a hero and a villain in the best possible way. It’s why I love her so much, but it does constantly usher in people asking whether or not she’s going to go “full villain.” My hope for Multiverse of Madness is that the Wanda we see turn to her darker moments is actually a different universe’s Wanda.
That’s not because I don’t like the darker sides of Wanda—I love them—but I think that the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Wanda has tried so hard to find that heroic nature inside of herself that turning that version of her fully into a villain would feel counterproductive. Having our hero version of Wanda take on her own darkness? That’s something I’d love to see.
There’s a lot that Multiverse of Madness is setting up, and whatever it holds for Wanda is going to scare me until I’m sitting in the theater and watching my girl.
(image: Marvel Entertainment)
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