Remember when Marvel TV shows started happening, way back when, and we were promised they were connected to the movies? That soon turned out to be far from the truth, but the advent of Disney Plus – and Marvel Studios producing its own TV content – has changed the game and now the two mediums of the MCU really are inseparable. Case in point, Scarlet Witch star Elizabeth Olsen has promised WandaVision is required viewing to understand next March’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
While speaking to The Wrap about her Emmy nomination for Best Actress in A Drama Series, Olsen said that the upcoming Benedict Cumberbatch sequel “wouldn’t make sense” to any fans who hadn’t seen the smash-hit streaming series beforehand.
“Without WandaVision, Doctor Strange wouldn’t make sense,” Olsen said. “I do feel like it fully leads into where we find her. It feels totally connected to the series.”
We already saw our first bit of movie/TV interconnectivity in Black Widow, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Contessa Valentina returning for another cameo after The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (though originally they were supposed to release the other way around), setting up the incoming Hawkeye series in the process. What’s more, Wednesday’s Loki finale is fully expected to tie into future projects – maybe even Doctor Strange 2 – in some key ways.
As for WandaVision, its post-credits scene teased Miss Maximoff’s return in DS2, with the Scarlet Witch studying the Darkhold and somehow hearing the voices of her lost sons, Billy and Tommy. This suggests the status of the twins will factor into the Sam Raimi movie. At the very least, the loss of Wanda’s family will be a major driving force for her in the film. Fans are also kind of expecting the sorceress to properly go off the deep end in a House of M-style way, which would have huge consequences for the MCU.
Regardless of its wider significance, WandaVision is an undoubted standalone success, earning 23 Emmy nominations, scoring Marvel its first major presence at the awards. Doctor Strange 2, meanwhile, drops in cinemas on March 25th, 2022.
