‘Made far more sense’: Fired Marvel writer reveals original shocking ending that would’ve made a $955 million MCU movie even better

With Agatha All Along casting new spells on Disney Plus, the Scarlet Witch-adoring portion of the Marvel fandom is missing Wanda Maximoff all over again. After WandaVision finally gave her the spotlight she deserved, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness became infamous for arguably throwing away all the promise and reducing her to a villainess who’s killed off at the end of the movie.

It’s all the more frustrating, then, to find out that the Benedict Cumberbatch sequel came this close to getting it right and appeasing so many of those fans who were furious that Scarlet Witch underwent both a figurative and literal character assassination. Rumors have swirled to this effect for years, but now this “what if…?” has been confirmed by a former Marvel employee turned whistleblower — fired X-Men ’97 showrunner Beau DeMayo.

Doctor Strange 2’s original ending did Scarlet Witch “justice” — and killed off a beloved character

Continuing his mission to spill as much Marvel tea as possible following his acrimonious split from the studio, DeMayo has taken to X to share a treasure trove of details about the aborted plans for Doctor Strange 2. The former Blade and Moon Knight scribe confirmed that a report going around about the film is “correct”: the villain was originally supposed to be Nightmare and Wanda was actually on board as an ally to Strange.

DeMayo stated that this iteration would’ve done Wanda “justice,” as it would’ve explored her working hard to redeem herself after the events of WandaVision. This film’s big twist would’ve been that Nightmare was a variant of Strange who had been corrupted by the Darkhold. (In the finished film, it was Wanda who had fallen under the grimoire’s influence).

That said, Wanda’s heelturn would’ve happened eventually — albeit confined to the final scenes of the movie, in what could’ve been an epic rug-pull moment that no doubt would’ve set up a Scarlet Witch solo film. Here’s the real kicker, though: Wanda’s shift to the dark side here would’ve seen her “accidentally behead Wong.” Not Wongers! Say it ain’t so!

I don’t know about you, but I was fully on board with this alternate plot line until I got to the part about Wong getting his head chopped off. If this was the plan, though, it might make more sense why Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme was everywhere in Phase Four but hasn’t turned up since 2022 — because Marvel thought he was going to die. This intel also explains why we were once so sure a Scarlet Witch movie was happening, only for things to become fuzzier since MoM‘s release.

DeMayo’s comments likewise cast a recent admission from the Scarlet Witch herself ⏤ Elizabeth Olsen ⏤ in a whole new light. Olsen recently reflected on her latter Marvel appearances, admitting, “I think people didn’t know what to do with me for a second there.” If she signed up for a movie that took her character on one arc, only to then shoot a completely different story, you can see why she feels that way. Marvel, we demand you let us read this version of the script at least. This is us being reasonable. Don’t make us assemble our coven.