With director Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness now playing in theaters around the world, I recently got to speak with Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch) about making the Marvel sequel. During the brief but fun interview, Olsen talked about why Wanda isn’t searching for Vision in the multiverse, her Marvel contract and future in the MCU, how she wasn’t on set for the reshoots, and how she never met some of the cast that are in the movie.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness also stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong as Wong, Rachel McAdams as Dr. Christine Palmer, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Karl Mordo, and Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez.
Watch what Elizabeth Olsen had to say in the player above, or you can read our conversation below.
COLLIDER: I can always tell how important someone is by how many people are watching in the Zoom. It's a lot.
ELIZABETH OLSEN: They're just making sure we're all keeping to the scripts.
Exactly. I'm so curious, when you were going into making this movie, did you know this might be the last time? Because I heard rumblings that maybe you signed a contract extension. I'm just wondering.
OLSEN: I sign extensions every time they want me to do a movie. I just signed a very short one at the beginning, so everything's constantly just, it's always adjusting for me. No. I don't think of this either as the end.
You're one of the most popular characters in the Marvel universe. I don't see you going away. You know what I mean?
OLSEN: I don’t know in what capacity I'll be back. I don't know how to do it without, I don't want spoilers.
I loved your performance in this movie. Did anyone ever explain to you why you're not actually also searching for Vision in one of the other multiverses?
OLSEN: No. There's a whole list of things, like my brother, my parents. I think the main reason when we would talk about if there is this multiverse, and in the version of the universe this woman wasn't with Vision. We liked having that be a mystery. For some reason he's not in her world. I always thought of her as more of a domestic Wanda. They got divorced. They're separated. She's not wearing a wedding band for a reason. Like those kinds of things. We liked the idea of her being on her own. The idea really is that the most important thing once you become a mother in the world are your children, and that's why.
Someone said to me maybe it was the Darkhold corrupting her, making her just laser focused on finding the kids.
OLSEN: The kids are part of her myth as well. I think that's also part of it. I do think that once you're a mother the loss of your child is more painful than any other loss you could ever experience. That's really why.
I spoke to Sam Raimi, and he mentioned to me that he had a longer original cut. Then you guys did bunch of reshoots, and then the movie's two hours and five minutes. Using my own math, I can tell there was a lot of stuff that you guys shot that isn't in the finished film. I'm curious if there is one sequence or scene that you were sad that you shot that isn't in the final film.
OLSEN: I haven't seen it. I wasn't at the reshoots. I was filming something else, so I ADRed all my reshoots.
It's so funny, because I don't think people realize there's stuff in the movie that has a number of people in a scene, and none of them were acting together. It's all people doing it on different days.
OLSEN: Yeah. I never met lots of people in the movie.
Do you think that would be the thing that really surprises Marvel fans the most to learn about the making of these films? The fact that so much is done without people in the same room.
OLSEN: I think so. Also, we were acting with ourselves as well. There's a lot of acting with an imagination that we get to do, which is a challenge and a joy. There's part of it that feels really imaginative and childlike that we get to do. Also, this script was always a moving object. It was never something that was set in stone. I wasn't surprised when they were doing the reshoots. I knew that the reshoots didn't affect my arc so much. When it did affect me, I just did voiceover work for it.
Years ago at the Age of Ultron junket there's a great viral clip going around, I'm sure you've seen it, where you are talking about the House of M. Someone's asking you what you'd like to see with Wanda in the future. You're like, "House of M, but Marvel will never do it." I'm curious since you can see the future, what are you hoping that happens to Wanda in the future? Clearly you know what's going to happen.
OLSEN: I don't.
No. I know. I'm teasing.
OLSEN: Someone just said, "Because you're bringing in X-Men, Wanda's a part of the X-Men franchise. Why can't Wanda be there too?" In my mind I'm like, "Yeah. Why can't Wanda be with the X-Men too?"
I have no idea. I don't know what I want. I know I want it to matter. There's no reason to continue to tell these stories unless they're really strong, good stories, and that they're adding something to the entirety of the MCU. I will be there if there's a great idea.
Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. Wish you nothing but the best.
OLSEN: Thank you.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theaters.