Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has cemented itself as a box office success, but its reception from fans has been mixed. One factor in this being the case is the movie’s villain Scarlet Witch.
Speaking in an interview with io9, writer Michael Waldron explained the character’s villainous turn, calling it “an accelerated descent into madness” following the events of WandaVision.
“Yeah. I mean, it’s an accelerated descent into madness for her, but one that felt earned by the fact that she walked away froam WandaVision with the Darkhold and the knowledge that she was the Scarlet Witch. The last scene of that show, their tag, is her reading the Darkhold and hearing the voices of her children. I think [in] this movie the Darkhold has got its hooks into her and really what it’s preying on and is maybe even less than her grief but her anger. Residual anger from all the trauma that she’s faced in her life.”
Waldron explained further that he feels that Wanda makes some valid points during the film. These included the hypocrisy of heroes like Strange who are able to break the rules and get away with it, while she gets pinned as the villain for doing so. This point was featured heavily in the marketing material for the film.
“I also think Wanda makes good points in this movie,” Waldron said. “That all these heroes are hypocrites. Stephen and these guys break the rules and they’re their heroes. She does it and she’s a villain. That doesn’t seem fair. And they push her to her breaking point and you see what happens.”
The writer stands by the character’s evolution in the movie, which concludes with a ton of questions to be answered in potential MCU appearances.
If you haven’t yet seen Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness it’s now showing in theaters.
