Doctor Strange 2's Trailer Secretly Teased Scarlet Witch's Villain Twist

While Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' first trailer seems to set Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) up as an important ally to Benedict Cumberbatch's Sorcerer, one detail seems to tease her turn to evil. The Doctor Strange 2 trailer was first revealed as a post-credits stinger on Spider-Man: No Way Home, offering a first look at new characters America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), Rintrah the Minotaur, and the evil Doctor Strange, but it was all too easy to miss the key Scarlet Witch detail. And it could change the trajectory of the MCU for good.

Scarlet Witch's status as a hero has always been more of a complex one than other Avengers: she started as an enemy, but was turned against Ultron to forge an alliance with the superheroes. Unfortunately, her accidental mass murder of citizens in Captain America: Civil War's opening positioned her as something of a dangerous liability and while she was seemingly redeemed by her sacrifice for Avengers: Infinity War's ending and the role she played in defeating Thanos, she was broken by the experience. Even now, after WandaVision and with the cries of her children ringing out across the multiverse, it's hard to tell exactly where Wanda's moral compass lies.

The Multiverse of Madness trailer showed one ominous moment of Scarlet Witch in her full magical form, sitting cross-legged at the center of a circle of candles in what appears to be a temple. While it could point to Wanda lending her powers to save the universe from some undefined multiversal threat, the fact that her fingers are stained black should be read as a warning. That discoloration mirrors what happened to Agatha Harkness in WandaVision when she attacked and attempted to drain Wanda of magic. The assumption there - and the nature of the spell Agatha cast - was that it was dark magic, hence the discoloring, and Wanda's hands changing in Doctor Strange 2's trailer also suggests something nefarious. Could this be confirmation that she has turned to evil?

Agatha Harkness floating in the air in WandaVision

Of course, the problem for fans of the MCU's Scarlet Witch may bemoan the fact that Wanda turning to evil to realize her own lost dreams is a repeat of WandaVision's tragic plot, but the retcon actually suits her arc. Ever since Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Scarlet Witch's MCU story has strongly hinted at a catastrophic break from reality and Wanda using her powers in the MCU's equivalent of a House of M event. Obviously, WandaVision's Westview was a significant show of the dangers of Scarlet Witch's powers, but it wasn't quite on that level and feels in hindsight more like a tease of her powers. Add in the potential power increase afforded to her by her final encounter with Agatha and the mysterious magic she was learning in WandaVision's post-credits scene and the capacity for her to break bad is all set in place. And WandaVision has already established that Wanda would do terrible things to manifest her dreams.

Fundamentally, WandaVision may have seemed like a redemption story for Scarlet Witch when she ultimately freed Westview's victims, but her acceptance of Vision's death was not a solution for her trauma. She is, effectively, in the same position as she was at WandaVision's opening and still isolated without the support of other heroes (or professional support as offered to Bucky Barnes), and has the added trauma of knowing her children are "alive" somewhere in the multiverse. Taking any opportunity to break through to them - whether that's by exploiting what Doctor Strange's spell unwittingly did in No Way Home or using newcomer America Chavez's multiversal powers remains to be seen, but it's certainly not out of the question. And unfortunately, a power as formidable and as volatile as Scarlet Witch's makes her fate in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness particularly concerning.

Next: Spider-Man: No Way Home Caused Doctor Strange 2, Confirmed