Doctor Strange 2 Villain Tease Makes MCU's Scarlet Witch Hypocrisy Worse

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is teasing Scarlet Witch to play a villainous role, but this only makes the hypocrisy surrounding her character worse. In terms of Wanda's narrative, the film will lead off from the events of WandaVision which saw her deal with her immense grief in the aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War, in which she lost Vision. The show saw Wanda essentially blackout in a spell of mourning, and unintentionally take over a town and mind-control its citizens to play out a happy sitcom life where she and Vision had a family. Once she came to, she clearly felt immense remorse and regret for what she did. She let go of Vision and her kids and disappeared to isolate herself. This isn't the end of her arc, however, as Multiverse of Madness teases her to play the villain to Doctor Strange.

In the trailer for Multiverse of Madness, Wanda's darkness is shown in full force. She's shown in her Scarlet Witch costume, sometimes covered in blood, with it even being gruesomely splattered across her face. There are even some theories that she could be the one to kill the Illuminati. The film is setting her up as a fearful enemy, hinging on the darkest aspects of her in order to paint her as an unhinged and irredeemable character. The MCU does have a history of hypocrisy concerning Wanda, and Multiverse of Madness seems to be making it worse.

The hypocrisy lies in the fact that Wanda is repeatedly held to a different standard from everyone else. This tracks back to Scarlet Witch's crimes in Captain America: Civil War, where Tony had her on lockdown because they didn't know what else to do with her or how to contain her power. The fact was, the adults put an extremely powerful teenager in a high-stress situation and then shut her out when she made the wrong move. This same theme continues in Multiverse of Madness, where her actions in Westview pin her as the villain, even though Doctor Strange disrupted the multiverse and disobeyed Wong's orders.

Captain America Civil War Vision Won't Let Wanda Leave

Multiple MCU heroes have made shady decisions or have morally dark pasts, but the only consequences they face is their own guilt, nobody holds it against them and they're never characterized as villains. Clint went on a killing spree after losing his family, and he and Natasha planted a bomb that nearly killed an innocent child, even making a gag from the Budapest mission. The face of the Avengers, Tony Stark, famously made his start in selling weapons. It was in fact a Stark missile that killed Wanda's family, creating the domino effect of setting her on the dark path to Hydra where she got her amplified powers from in the first place. Whilst these characters do change and grow for the better, none of them are made out to be villains because of their past in the same way that Wanda is. Wanda is isolated and left out, which perfectly displays the discrepancies in how she's treated and the hypocrisy she's always faced as an Avenger. Wanda's only crime was grief, nothing she did in Westview was intentional, and she used her chaos magic for good when she defeated Agatha.

Thankfully, the MCU, and Wanda, are becoming self-aware of this trend now. Wanda sternly tells Strange that ''You break the rules and become the hero, I do it and become the enemy." Her pain and loss have only made her more mature and assertive, making her well aware of the power she wields and the disadvantage that can put her at. She seems to refuse to shrink herself down to make others feel comfortable and is fully stepping into her own, regardless if it makes people think her a villain. This could perhaps explain her apparent characterization in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Next: Why Doctor Strange Goes To Scarlet Witch In Multiverse Of Madness