WandaVision ended with the Scarlet Witch lowering the Hex around Westview and freeing its terrified residents, but a post-credits scene made it clear that the Darkhold had started corrupting her. Wanda Maximoff's descent into villainy made sense in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but there are many fans out there who are unhappy with how her story played out.
Talking to Variety, writer Michael Waldron confirmed that there was an earlier version of the sequel with Wanda as part of the ensemble before turning bad nearer the end of the movie.
"There was never a way to service her fall from grace properly as a supporting character in the movie because there had to be a separate antagonist," he explained. "And it also felt like we were leaving the biggest bit of fun on the table for somebody else. And, truth be told, having watched and experienced and studied 'WandaVision,' I felt like she was at the point, in possession of the Darkhold, where she was ready to break bad."
"My interpretation of 'WandaVision' is that she confronts her grief and she lets go of the people she has under her control, but I don’t think she necessarily resolves her grief in that show, and I don’t think she resolves her anger. Maybe she’s able to say goodbye to Vision, but I think she’s really just fallen in love with those kids. I think that all of those hanging threads are the things that the Darkhold preys on when she gets the Darkhold from Agatha."
In the same interview, Waldron was asked about the Scarlet Witch burying herself beneath that rubble on Mount Wundagore and the flash of red light we see before she destroys every copy of the Darkhold across the Multiverse. To pull that off, Wanda must have become more powerful than ever, but did she survive?
"I think that’s up for interpretation. She made some kind of sacrificial act that destroyed the Darkhold in every universe, which is protecting Wanda in every universe from being seduced by the Darkhold. Whether she’s dead or not remains to be seen," the writer ponders. "I know what it’s like to love characters and to not want them to be gone and to hate when they do bad things. But that’s that’s part of the fun of watching stuff and getting swept up in it."
Oh, and in case you're wondering if Marvel Studios ever considered including Mephisto in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Waldron was quick to point out that the character "was never in play for us." Whether we'll ever see that villain in the MCU is up for debate, but with Marvel Studios now embracing its supernatural side, there's every chance he'll make his presence felt down the line.
Were you happy with how the Scarlet Witch's story played out in the Doctor Strange sequel?