Marvel’s long awaited Doctor Strange sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, is finally on Disney+! With the sequel comes the return of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), a.k.a. The Scarlet Witch, one of the most powerful magic wielders in the entire MCU. Multiverse of Madness is the first time fans have seen Wanda since the end of last year’s WandaVision. In Wandavision, her grief over losing Vision (Paul Bettany) in Avengers: Endgame caused her to unconsciously transform an entire town into an idyllic sitcom world. At the end, she sacrifices Vision and her two sons for the greater good.
Wanda is still grieving as Multiverse of Madness opens, but one thing, in particular, seemed to bug fans who have seen the movie: she is determined to shatter the multiverse to reunite with her family, but she is only searching for her sons, Billy and Tommy (Julian Hilliard and Jett Klyne), not her husband, or any version of her brother, Pietro. She has a long laundry list of people she cares about, and yet her plan to use America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) to traverse unknown universes only focuses on her children.
In an interview with Collider, Olsen gave her perspective on why Wanda set her sights solely on her children, even after such a profound moment of losing them at the end of WandaVision. As Olsen puts it, the multiverse is filled with possibilities, and perhaps in some universes — including the alternate one we see in the film — she isn’t with Vision for whatever reason. But she is still with her children:
“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.”
Olsen explained that, rather than her mind being corrupted by the villainous Darkhold or something else altering her focus, Vision isn’t exactly central to the myth of the Scarlet Witch in the comics, and that Billy and Tommy are the “most important thing” in the world to Wanda, as many children are to their mothers, making their loss that much more profound to her:
“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.”
Wanda’s determination to find her children certainly isn’t pretty and she leaves a bloody trail behind her — many have described Multiverse of Madness as Marvel’s scariest film to date — but perhaps it’s a determination that many parents can relate to, even if they can’t rip apart the fabric of the universe to follow Wanda’s lead.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, also starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Rachel McAdams, is now streaming on Disney+.
Read more about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness:
Did (Spoiler) Really Die in 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'?
'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness': All the Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed
What Happens in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’? 11 Questions Answered