Sam Raimi admits he hasn't seen all of WandaVision, despite the Scarlet Witch's role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will follow Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) as he attempts to fix a changing world and seeks help from the Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong) and the Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) to face a looming threat to the multiverse. The film will also star Patrick Stewart, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Xochitl Gomez who appears as America Chavez in her MCU introduction.

WandaVision ushered in Phase 4 of the MCU and is the franchise's first television series, but that wasn't always the plan. When Phase 4 was first announced, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was set to premiere before the miniseries. Due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and other miscellaneous delays, the Doctor Strange sequel's release date was pushed back. With the change in production order, it would make sense if Multiverse of Madness altered its storyline to fit with WandaVision, but Raimi revealed that that was not the case.

Related: Moon Knight Episode 4 Continues One Very Specific MCU Show Trend

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Sam Raimi admitted that although they studied WandaVision in preparation for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, he has not watched the whole show. Instead, he explained they looked at key moments from the miniseries because they were told they would directly affect the Doctor Strange sequel. The director said they focused on "a proper through line and character-growth dynamic" from the show. Read Raimi's full quote below:

"I'm not really sure what the WandaVision schedule was or how it changed. I just know that halfway, or maybe three-quarters of the way into our writing process, I'd first heard of this show they were doing and that we would have to follow it. Therefore, we had to really study what WandaVision was doing, so we could have a proper through line and character-growth dynamic. I never even saw all of WandaVision; I've just seen key moments of some episodes that I was told directly impact our storyline."

Wanda crying in WandaVision

Raimi's admission is surprising, because WandaVision saw Wanda undergo a tremendous personal transformation. By the end of the series, not only had Wanda experienced motherhood and the pain of losing her family but she was also forced to reckon with the consequences of her own actions, the guilt of holding the town of Westview, New Jersey hostage to her grieving mind. Wanda emerged from the series as a mature character fully stepping into her power as the Scarlet Witch. She was a far cry from the young Wanda protected by Steve Rogers in Captain America: Civil War or grieving Vision's death in Avengers: Infinity War, so her impact on Multiverse of Madness should be very different.

Since Raimi admits to studying Wanda's character arc, it seems certain that the Scarlet Witch will play a big role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but the director gives no hint what that may be. It is rumored that the Scarlet Witch will be a villain in the upcoming film, but with the multiverse involved there could be multiple Wanda variants who fill different roles. The Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness story could go in a plethora of directions, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Next: MCU May've Already Spoiled Who Wins Doctor Strange & Scarlet Witch's Fight

Source: Rolling Stone

Key Release Dates