After being a strong supporting player for most of the Infinity Saga, Wanda Maximoff has taken center stage in Phase 4 with WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which has certainly been a welcome development, and justifiably earned the always excellent Elizabeth Olsen her first Primetime Emmy nomination last fall.
With Multiverse of Madness, the Scarlet Witch owns the spotlight like never before and makes a number of destructive decisions that are going to prove to be increasingly difficult for even her staunchest fans to defend. However, regardless of the film's outcome, it sounds like she'll always have one loyal protector in her portrayer.
We were in attendance during the global press conference earlier this week, where Olsen spoke on her now seven-year relationship with her character, and how no matter what happens in this film or in the future, she'll always defend her perspective.
"I just think that my biggest goal for everything is to play the lawyer to my character and to defend, defend, defend. So, whether or not their greatest strength is their greatest weakness, whatever, wherever they're coming from, or whatever they're processing, my goal is to just defend their perspective.
I don't necessarily think of things as being weak. I don't think we look at ourselves and we're like, "Oh, this is a strength of mine." But, maybe we do. I do think she's constantly processing, and, I enjoy that she, even in WandaVision, and, really, all of the films I've gotten to do. She's constantly straddling this line and, usually in her biggest emotive losses or griefs is when something's born.
That's what we've tried to do, that's kind of been the trend and I do think we get to further that in this film, which is something that I'm happy about."
After her latest outing as the Scarlet Witch, Olsen is definitely up there with some of the greatest comic book movie actors ever, and fans should be extremely excited to see where the journey goes next, even if it may be a while before we get more information on that front.
Adding to her comments, director Sam Raimi says, "She's the classic character that loved not too wisely, but too well, and I think that's a source of many of her aspirations in the film, and sometimes leads to less happy moments for her. I don't want to spoil anything, but I think that Lizzie did a great job summing up her approach. I think it's so brilliant that you're trying to defend the point-of-view of your character. It's great. That's what we all are trying to do in real life. I'm this person and here's what I believe in. Here's why it's all about trying to understand your beliefs and explain them and sometimes defend them.
And I do see you doing that in the movie very effectively. It makes it very real. It makes the fantastic journey that Michael [Waldron] puts you on, that's how she brings great humanity to it and makes it connective to the audience."
In our review from Tuesday, we had high praise for Elizabeth Olsen's show-stopping performance, saying, "Olsen steps up once again and delivers the most terrifying performance of them all. There’s no point where you feel like Olsen doesn’t 110% believe Wanda’s actions are justified, even when she’s becoming increasingly unhinged and killing with absolutely no mercy. Wanda's now a full-fledged villain, but every choice she makes is made out of a mother’s love even if it means eternal damnation for everyone else. When Wanda inevitably crosses the point of no return, it’s hard not to still empathize with her plight as all she wants is to be happy and to be with her family, but the price she’s willing to pay leads her on a dark journey where there’s little-to-no chance of redemption."
The film is headlined by Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular mystical hero, with an all-star supporting cast consisting of Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Witch, Benedict Wong as Wong, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo, and Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to hit theaters on May 6!
In Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.