The status of Elizabeth Olsen’sScarlet Witchin theMarvel Cinematic Universehas been addressed by a key player in the character’s journey. After having a smaller role in the Infinity Saga, Wanda Maximoff grew in importance in the MCU’s Multiverse Saga. She led one of theMCU’s best TV shows, withWandaVisionmaking the character’s popularity skyrocket.
However,Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnesswould prove itself a divisive MCU release due to how it treated Wanda. After her emotional arc inWandaVision, the MCU movie saw theScarlet Witch revert to being a villainand leaving a trail of blood all over the multiverse in the search for her sons. Then, Wanda died destroying the Darkholds.
Speaking withScreenRant’s own Ash Crossan forThe Fantastic Four: First Steps, Matt Shakman, who also directed all episodes ofWandaVision, commented on whether the Scarlet Witch is really gone. While the director did not share any details about what Marvel might have planned for Wanda Maximoff infuture MCU moviesor shows,Shakman teased her return, saying, “Wanda’s never gone.”
Check out the full exchange below:
ScreenRant: I was so excited for the style of this movie, given how much I loved WandaVision. I always love the weirder, quirkier things in the MCU. How did those experiences compare?
Matt Shakman: They’re both so joyful. I think of these two as the highlights of my directing career. Working on WandaVision was amazing. That world, the cast is incredible. Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Kathryn Hahn, [everybody]. We had so much fun, and it was very specific, and we had a lot of rehearsal before we started, because I wanted everybody to understand the sitcom realities and tone and style that we were in.
It was similar here. We had three weeks of rehearsal before we started shooting, because we were building a very specific world. We had to build a family that felt lived in, that felt real, and we had to build this ’60s world that had a coherence to it in terms of aesthetics, but also style, tone, and how you approach the movie. So, both of them were stylistic and tonal experiments, which I love doing as a filmmaker. [They’re] very different, but [there were] some lessons learned between the two.
ScreenRant: Like what?
Matt Shakman: Like rehearsal and being really specific and world-building from the smallest thing up. When we were doing sitcoms, we went and studied every sitcom there was. We talked to the guy who was the world’s expert on laugh tracks. We watched old prints of Bewitched [to see] what [it looked] like when it was filmed, as opposed to the transfers we all watch in syndication years later.
And it was the same thing here. We went to the World’s Fair in New York, we went to JPL, we looked at old films. We had a film society at Pinewood where we would watch these movies from the ’60s every week and try to pull from it. We looked at palette reference and color reference and old lenses and, you name it, we did everything we could to get as close to being authentic as we could.
ScreenRant: That’s awesome. Do you, in your heart of hearts, believe that Wanda’s really gone?
What Matt Shakman’s Scarlet Witch Comments Mean
The Scarlet Witch MCU Return Teases Do Not Stop Coming
At the moment, the Scarlet Witch is dead in the MCU. Mount Wundagore collapsed on top of Wanda when she used all her power to destroy the Darkholds across the multiverse. Whileno body was shown, which typically means a character is not dead, the Scarlet Witch’s status was addressed in another MCU project, theWandaVisionspinoffAgatha All Along.
In the series, none other thanAubrey Plaza’s Rio Vidal, later revealed to be the MCU’s Death, claimed that the Scarlet Witch was gone. Interestingly, Matt Shakman does not believe that to be true when it comes to the character, as theWandaVisionand Fantastic Four movie director claims Wanda is never gone. Shakman adds to Wanda’s return teases.
DespiteAgatha All Alongclaiming the Scarlet Witch was gone, the show also teased Wanda’s potential return multiple times. At one point,Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness directly addressed itwhile looking at the camera and winking. WithOlsen confirming that she wants to return to the MCU, the teases related to the Scarlet Witch’s return make it seem ever more likely.
Our Take On Matt Shakman’s Scarlet Witch Comments
The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Director Shares The Fans' Opinion
I’m with Shakman when it comes to the Scarlet Witch’s MCU status. Whileit made sense for Wanda to die inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessas a sacrificeafter what she had done, theScarlet Witchhas to come back. Wanda deserves a redemption arc that has her family reunited, and her return teases point to that happening.
The Fantastic Four: First Stepswill be released in theaters on July 25.
