When Elizabeth Olsen first signed on to play Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the hero’s history from the comics with the X-Men was not something that the actor had to be concerned with. While Marvel Studios was able to use the character in movies because of her affiliation with The Avengers, 20th Century Fox owned the rights related to anything involving mutants, and so the MCU had to keep hands off that material (and, in turn, find a new origin for her powers).
Seven years after Avengers: Age Of Ultron, however, that is no longer the case, as the Disney-Fox merger means that soon the X-Men will become a big part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon. We don’t know exactly when that will happen – but Elizabeth Olsen is certainly excited for it, given that she doesn’t quite know what the future has in store for Scarlet Witch in the aftermath of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness.
I interviewed Elizabeth Olsen this morning about her work in the latest movie from Marvel Studios, and toward the end of our conversation I asked about her future in the franchise. Acknowledging that Doctor Strange is a film that explores the magic side of the character, I asked if she was excited for the arrival of the X-Men to take Wanda in whole new directions, and she definitely took to the idea. Said Olsen,
No, you just got me excited! I don't really know what I do next after this movie. I don't really know. I wanna know what fans want and what the ideas are. But I guess you just said it, if we're bringing X-Men back, I'll wanna be there! I have no actual plans yet. I am very excited to talk with Kevin [Feige] about that at some point.
It was just last week that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced at CinemaCon that the franchise is presently planning the next 10 years of Marvel projects, and it’s impossible to imagine that the introduction of the X-Men isn’t a key part of the plan. At this point we have no idea what strategy is going to employed to introduce beloved heroes and villains like Professor X, Magneto, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Rogue, but Elizabeth Olsen is clearly excited to be a part of whatever is going down.
Arguably the most exciting part of Scarlet Witch being a part of the X-Men introduction is the fact that the Marvel Cinematic Universe may take advantage of the opportunity to adapt key details of Wanda’s family history – namely the fact that in the comics Magneto is her father. Fox’s X-Men movies lightly explored this lineage on the big screen with the iterations of the Master of Magnetism and Peter Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver respectively played by Michael Fassbender and Evan Peters, but the MCU can now execute a more substantial version of that complicated relationship from the comics on the big screen.
Hopefully we’ll find out about what’s next for Scarlet Witch soon (let’s not forget that San Diego Comic-Con is now just a couple months away), but for now fans can enjoy all of Wanda Maximoff’s awesomeness in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, which hits theaters this weekend. To keep track of everything that Marvel Studios has in the works in the years ahead, including developments with the X-Men, be sure to check out our Upcoming Marvel Movies and Upcoming Marvel TV guides.
