Scarlet Witch Actor Elizabeth Olsen Reflects On Being "Marvel's Weird Cousin" With WANDAVISION

Scarlet Witch Actor Elizabeth Olsen Reflects On Being "Marvel's Weird Cousin" With WANDAVISION

The MCU's Scarlet Witch, Elizabeth Olsen, has reflected on her role in Disney+'s WandaVision, admitting that it felt like being "Marvel's weird cousin." You can find her comments in full after the jump!

By JoshWilding - Sep 06, 2024 06:09 AM EST
Filed Under: WandaVision
Source: Harper's Bazaar

After Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we still don't know what's next for the Scarlet Witch in the MCU. The character does appear to have died, but her story surely isn't over and there are plenty of places Wanda Maximoff can still go after her rampage through the Multiverse. 

While Elizabeth Olsen had long been a key part of the Avengers franchise, it was WandaVision that put the spotlight squarely on her MCU hero. 

Talking to Harper's Bazaar, Olsen explained why the Disney+ series was a "career curveball" for her. "No-one forced me to do that! I have made a choice to continue on with Marvel, and they've made a choice to continue on with me."

"I was really scared about doing a Marvel project for TV, because these are otherworldly, larger-than-life characters that are seen in films, and I didn’t know if it would still work on a television at home," Olsen continued. "But I had confidence in the format because the storytelling really honoured the TV medium."

"We really felt we were Marvel's weird cousin. We didn't know it was going to have such a response. It came out during the pandemic and it almost had way more relevance to everyone's lives; [we were all] trying to function in these bubbles that we were put in, and then there was this world outside of a bubble," she added. "No-one even knew what reality was at that point!"

In the same interview, Olsen revealed which project changed her career. 

"Martha Marcy May Marlene, but I wasn't really aware of the opportunity it had opened up for me at the time, because all my focus had been on theatre. When I got that job, it was after understudying in off-Broadway shows for a year, and I came back from a semester at the Moscow Art Theatre School. I was still at college. I understood the culture of the theatre scene more than I did the independent film scene."

"I didn't really understand that [being in that film] created an opportunity for me to make choices around the projects I wanted to do. I just wanted keep having jobs and continuing to act professionally; I didn't really have in my mind what the best version could look like. The best version, to me, back then, was just being a working actor. So the film changed my life, but I didn't know how to use it in the best way possible."

The WandaVision story will continue in Agatha All Along later this month and then in Vision starring Paul Bettany. Rumour has it Olsen will return there, albeit as Virginia, the android wife of the Avenger. 

Stay tuned for updates as we have them. 

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IAmAHoot
IAmAHoot - 9/6/2024, 7:36 AM
She's one character through the MCU that just deserves a good caring hug. That changed in Multiverse of Madness clearly (for the first 2 acts especially), but either way. All I've wanted them to do, and I was hoping for it in WandaVision well before it was released, was for her to get a proper (and emotional) goodbye with Pietro. But they obviously didn't bring Taylor-Johnson back, and seemingly never will since there'd be no real point.
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 9/6/2024, 7:45 AM
@IAmAHoot - Agreed. Someone care for this women, please.

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TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/6/2024, 7:52 AM
@IAmAHoot - her never having a proper goodbye with Pietro lends itself to Wanda’s tragic life sadly

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I can see once she returns perhaps having found peace in her past and trying to move on as she deals with her previous actions

Do you think we could get Pietro back?

I could see it post SW but with a new actor
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 9/6/2024, 8:15 AM
@IAmAHoot - I mostly agree, but I felt they went way too far with her in MOM and now I don't know how you redeem her character after making her a cold blooded murderer.

She's been through a lot of trauma and her arch was very interesting, but her turn in Doctor Strange 2 is illogical and betrays a lot of what the character has been through imo.
From losing her brother and Vision, to getting over her mental blocks and moving on from qccidently killing civilians in Civil War, it just disappointed me to see her regress and become a murderer simply because she couldn't have kids.

The notion the life is so precious that I am willing to harm and kill others out of spite is super ironic and poorly thought out to me. I don't know how the character can be redeemed after what she's done. Just my take
IAmAHoot
IAmAHoot - 9/6/2024, 8:40 AM
@Feralwookiee - You're neglecting that she was being corrupted by the Darkhold, it wasn't just sorrow and rage over losing her kids that made her evil; she was actively being turned evil at least in part against her will. But I also don't see strictly redeeming her back yet into hero, especially by now this far into it (and Olsen doesn't want to play this part forever).
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 9/6/2024, 9:28 AM
@Feralwookiee - MoM specificaly showed how it corrupted everyone who uses the book such that one was killed after using it to defeat an alternate Thanos by the illuminati and yet another Dr Strange went super evil destroying multiple entire universes...

...but also if like the source they retcon in that she was being manipulated from birth to varying degrees by Chthon and also Mephisto behind the scenes involved with the birth of the twins that can add weight to the idea that she was not in full control of her actions even if she believed she was.

ALL of that said, she should end up part of Magneto's brotherhood of mutants next, as in where she started out when first appearing in the comics, not instantly return to full hero/Avenger anyway so only needs suffice redemption to move towards antihero at most from villain not back to being a good guy for the probably the ultimate shades of grey switching sides character in the comics (with way more retcons in the comics than average too over time).
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 9/6/2024, 9:40 AM
@IAmAHoot - True.
I just hated that turn after all she's been through.
Vigor
Vigor - 9/6/2024, 7:54 AM
I appreciate wandavision more as the years go on. It was wildly creative

At the time I was hoping it was more creepy (like some parts of episode 2 and 3). I also was more into marvel lore than anything and was just anxious to see more of white vision and spectrum, and the twin boys. But this is Wanda's story and I get that now. This show allowed Olsen to act her butt off and we got a fun Agatha and some imaginative sets in the process!
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/6/2024, 8:00 AM
Man , it was a crazy and fun time to be on this site during WV.

The theories & speculation week by week for the overarching mystery to the moments we got in the show such as “Pietro’s” return or smaller yet great character beats such as this…

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The finale had its issues (primarily due to Co-Vid restricting them) but I still found it be a solid show overall which succeeded in making me fully invested in the relationship between Vision & Wanda.
Nomis929
Nomis929 - 9/6/2024, 9:10 AM
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Super12
Super12 - 9/6/2024, 9:16 AM
Wandavision is still hands down Marvel's best Disney+ show. Its immensely creative and so smart. Truly enjoyed every twist and revelation. It was a good slow burn with a great payoff.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 9/6/2024, 11:08 AM
@Super12 -

That's a pretty low bar.

Loki season 2, Hawkeye, and even Echo were better.
Super12
Super12 - 9/6/2024, 11:31 AM
@DocSpock - Echo??? ok bro, whatever you say LOL
DocSpock
DocSpock - 9/6/2024, 11:09 AM

If she'll sit in my lap, I'll explain my role as weird Uncle.
MarvelZombie616
MarvelZombie616 - 9/6/2024, 4:36 PM
All this whining about her going evil, i can't hear it anymore.
Read the comics, Wanda has done it multiple times and is still the most powerful Avenger.
She is chaos magic embodied and easy to manipulate and always switched between evil and good.
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Avenger, West Coast Avenger, Chtons vessel, Avenger, Avengers Disassembled, Mutants no more, House of M, Uncanny Avenger, you name it.

It is litterally her character to be unstable and manipulate realities.
She killed Hawkeye and millions of mutants and brought them back with a few words.

She will probably bring everyone back just like that in the MCU.

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