The sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange was finally confirmed at this year’s Comic-Con for a 2021 release. Marvel Studios announced that the movie would be called Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and, as many fans suspected, Scarlet Witch will be joining the Sorcerer Supreme in his latest adventure.
Nothing is confirmed about the magical mutant’s role in the film yet, other than the fact that her upcoming Disney+ series WandaVision will tie into it somehow, so for now, it’s anybody’s guess. So, here are 10 Fan Theories About Scarlet Witch’s Role In Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness.
Wanda Maximoff will be Stephen Strange’s apprentice
Wanda’s ongoing character arc in the MCU has seen her struggling to control her powers. There was the incident in Nigeria that got her locked in her room, of course, and she’s generally been struggling to come to terms with what the Hydra scientists did to her in Sokovia.
Since Stephen Strange has got his magical powers under control, perhaps he’ll take on Wanda as an apprentice in his solo sequel. By taking her on as a student, he’ll be able to teach her how to focus her mind and control her sorcery in the same way that the Ancient One did with him in his first film.
She’ll be the first target of Karl Mordo’s literal witch hunt
In the post-credits scene of Doctor Strange, Karl Mordo approached Jonathan Pangborn and told him there were “too many sorcerers” in the world before stripping him of his magical powers.
While it could go the way of all those other forgotten MCU teases, this seemed to set up a villain role in the sequel where Mordo would track down everyone on Earth will magical abilities and rob them of them. Since Wanda Maximoff has magical powers that are dangerously unstable, perhaps she’ll be Mordo’s first target, and this will explain why Stephen Strange decides to take her under his wing in the sequel.
Scarlet Witch will become a Master of the Mystic Arts
Out of the dozens of characters that appeared in the final battle sequence of Avengers: Endgame, the Masters of the Mystic Arts were featured prominently. One can only assume that between the Hulk’s un-snappening and the opening of those portals, Doctor Strange traveled to all the other Masters to tell them where to go, who to bring, and where to bring them.
Perhaps this team will be explored in greater detail in the Doctor Strange sequel, as they face threats from other dimensions that none of them can handle alone, and Wanda Maximoff will become a Master of the Mystic Arts herself.
She’ll do battle with Chthon
Training with Doctor Strange might get Scarlet Witch in touch with her reality-tweaking powers, which could lead to the introduction of the horrifying Chthon character. Chthon is a Lovecraftian being called an Elder God.
In the Marvel Comics universe, he comes from “the primordial void,” which is essentially the dark abyss between realities, which means there’s a good chance he’ll be introduced to the MCU via the multiverse in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. As a terrifying demonic creature, he’d make the perfect villain for what is being referred to as the MCU’s first bona fide horror movie.
She’ll officially be named Scarlet Witch
With the Hydra scientists that created them calling them “the twins” and the Avengers using their given names, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have never been named in the MCU. Quicksilver is long gone, so that name can be saved for when the X-Men version of the character joins the franchise, but Wanda can still be given her superhero name.
In Infinity War, when Peter Parker introduced himself to Stephen Strange with his real name, Strange used his “made-up name,” showing that he cares a lot about superhero monikers. So, maybe he’ll officially give Wanda the name Scarlet Witch for the first time.
Stephen Strange brings back Quicksilver
One fan theory about Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange 2 involves her doing something to save Stephen Strange’s life. He’ll be so grateful to her that he’ll offer to do her any favor she asks in return. Then, she’ll ask him if there’s any way to bring back her dead twin brother Pietro. Some magic later, Quicksilver will be back.
Any reader of comic books knows that dead characters are never really dead. This would be the MCU’s first instance of bringing a character who was definitely, definitively dead back to life more than half a decade after they “died forever.” The only other example is Loki, but he wasn’t resurrected – he stole the Space Stone and disappeared into another timeline.
Her role will be like Black Widow’s in The Winter Soldier
Some fans are suggesting that Scarlet Witch’s role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be similar to that of Black Widow in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It’ll be more than a cameo appearance, and something of a sidekick role, but nothing major enough to steal focus from the hero whose name is in the title.
Scarlet Witch is an amazing character in the comics and it would be great to see her get her own movie one day, but Doctor Strange’s movie is just that. Captain America: Civil War ended up feeling like Avengers 2.5 and Iron Man 4 rolled into one – Doctor Strange 2 can’t fall into that trap.
It’s a stepping stone to her own movie
The fact that Wanda is getting her own series on Disney+ and a co-starring role in Doctor Strange’s standalone sequel in the same year shows that Marvel is eager to explore this character further. Thus far in the MCU, she’s been pretty boring, but that’s only because the filmmakers haven’t really known what to do with her.
The character has some fascinating storylines in the comics that the MCU could easily explore. Maybe her Disney+ series and Doctor Strange 2 appearance are stepping stones to rekindling audience interest in Scarlet Witch before she gets her own solo movie in Phase 5.
She causes the titular multiversal madness
After the multiverse fake-out of Spider-Man: Far From Home, in which Quentin Beck promised to be from another version of reality fighting interdimensional monsters and turned out to be full of it, fans were relieved when the multiverse premise wasn’t dropped entirely and Doctor Strange 2 was confirmed to be diving into it.
In the comics, Scarlet Witch’s powers have links to the fabric of reality and she’s been known to create alternate timelines completely of her own volition. So, maybe the multiversal madness of the sequel’s title refers to Scarlet Witch becoming so powerful that she loses touch with reality.
It’ll set up the “House of M” storyline
Although the MCU will need to wait a few years for the dust to settle on Thanos’ devastating finger-snap – no pun intended – the franchise will eventually need another Infinity War-sized event to lead towards. There’s one theory that the next big storyline tackled by the MCU will be “House of M.”
This is an X-Men storyline in which Scarlet Witch loses her children, has a mental breakdown, and tries to alter the fabric of reality in order to bring them back, which leads to overwhelming problems for the wider universe. Avengers: Endgame co-writer Stephen McFeely has discussed a “House of M” adaptation as a possibility, and it makes sense that it would be the next big event with the X-Men joining the MCU in the coming years.
