Marvel actor and standup comedian Asif Ali seems to have accidentally confirmed that Elizabeth Olsen will return as Wanda Maximoff, AKA the Scarlet Witch, in the upcoming Disney+ series Agatha: Darkhold Diaries.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Elizabeth Olsen has been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), when she debuted as the Scarlet Witch alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff, AKA Quicksilver. While Taylor-Johnson’s character died in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Olsen only became more and more central to the future of Marvel Studios as time went on.
By Avengers: Endgame, the Scarlet Witch (who had yet to officially take on her Marvel Comics name) had been established as one of the most powerful characters in the franchise, based on the sliding scale Kevin Feige uses when the studio tries out making someone central to a story.
Credit: Marvel Studios
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After the climax of the Infinity Saga, Elizabeth Olsen was considered important enough that she was given the leading role in the very first Disney+ series, Wandavision. Alongside Paul Bettany as the Vision, Olsen was the point person for Marvel’s next step in expanding the franchise; while Wandavision was critically acclaimed, things went downhill for both the Scarlet Witch and the actress’s enthusiasm after that.
Elizabeth Olsen reprised the role of the Scarlet Witch, once again an antagonist figure, in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), where she faced off against Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) while trying to reunite with her magically created children, Billy (Julian Hilliard) and Tommy (Jett Klyne).
Credit: Marvel Studios
At the end of Multiverse of Madness, the Scarlet Witch is buried under an entire mountain, though Marvel Studios has remained characteristically vague on whether she had actually been killed or if Elizabeth Olsen would return. Notably, her character has been downplayed in the official Marvel timeline since then, which seems like the studio is hedging its bets.
Even more notably, Elizabeth Olsen has distanced herself from Marvel Studios and the Scarlet Witch without definitively clarifying she was done with the franchise, saying, “I just need other characters in my life. There’s no longevity in one character.”
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While Wandavision will not be receiving another season, Marvel Studios has a follow-up series featuring fan-favorite character Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), Agatha: Darkhold Diaries. The Disney+ show will serve as a direct sequel to Wandavision, beginning with the witch Agatha still trapped in the New Jersey town of Westview.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios has not officially confirmed that Elizabeth Olsen will reappear as of yet. However, Asif Ali, who starred in five episodes of Wandavision as a Westview resident and will reprise the character in the new show, responded to an Instagram comment asking him, “Will Wanda be in Agatha’s show, bro? Please..,”
Ali’s answer was a succinct and enthusiastic, “Yes!”
Credit: Marvel
The actor’s comment was swiftly deleted. At this point, there are several possibilities: Asif Ali accidentally leaked information he was not supposed to reveal, he misspoke or was incorrect about Olsen returning, or this is a piece of misinformation from Marvel Studios. It is also possible that the Scarlet Witch will return via archival footage of Wandavision or an earlier movie, rather than Olsen returning in person.
But, for now, we’ll just have to note down that at least one cast member of the show says Elizabeth Olsen will be back and see what happens.
