Scarlet Witch could be the best Marvel Cinematic Universe villain of Phase 4. Wanda Maximoff's MCU story took a big turn after Avengers: Endgame and brought her to Disney+ as the star of WandaVision. The series' events showed her dealing with the loss of Vision and manipulating reality, which will lead to her role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The upcoming sequel is heavily rumored to make Scarlet Witch a villain for her role in the multiverse unraveling, even if this is done with the help of another evil entity like Shuma-Gorath or Chthon.

The notion of Scarlet Witch becoming a villain in Phase 4 would add another complex foe to the MCU's upcoming slate. Fans have already been treated to great villains like Agatha Harkness in WandaVision and Wenwu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Marvel Studios has several other promising and powerful antagonists ahead too. Spider-Man: No Way Home is bringing back past Spider-Man villains like Doc Ock and Green Goblin, Thor: Love and Thunder is introducing Gorr the God Butcher, and Kang the Conqueror is coming to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania after Jonathan Majors' debut in Loki. All of these villains have great potential to be among the best of Phase 4, but Scarlet Witch could be the best of them all.

Related: Shang-Chi's Villain Is A Dark Mirror Of Scarlet Witch (& What That Means)

On the heels of Thanos' arrival in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, there has been a lot of debate about a villain who can similarly challenge the MCU's heroes. Scarlet Witch making a villainous turn in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness gives Phase 4 a villain who is arguably as powerful as they come. She nearly defeated Thanos by herself in Endgame and was strong enough to destroy an Infinity Stone in Infinity War. Now that she has access to the Darkhold's spells and is trying to understand her Chaos Magic, Wanda's power levels should be off the charts in Doctor Strange 2. If she is anywhere close to House of M levels of power and instability when she returns, then Scarlet Witch possesses the strength to challenge Doctor Strange and other magic users, while also potentially being powerful enough to rewrite the entirety of the MCU.

In addition to her incredible power, Scarlet Witch also has a huge advantage over other MCU Phase 4 villains in terms of reliability. Viewers watched Wanda's evolution as a character over four movies and WandaVision already. She is best known as a hero, and the tragedy that runs throughout her life is already established. Even if she starts making bad decisions in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of  Madness, there will inherently be some conflict within viewers - and Doctor Strange - about what should happen to her. As great as Phase 4's other villains might ultimately be, no one else will have that shared history with audiences and MCU characters. After all, the best villains are the ones audiences can understand. Scarlet Witch's mission to rescue her children and bring back that happiness she felt with them by any means necessary is a motive could compete with but not with the same level of understanding.

Scarlet Witch's potential to be Phase 4's best villain also lies with the possibility of Elizabeth Olsen's great performance. After being a supporting character for so long, WandaVision gave Olsen the time and opportunity to show what she's really capable of. Her performance earned her an Emmy nomination. While Doctor Strange 2 won't have as much time to focus on Wanda's story, Olsen should still be able to bring a similarly great performance to the film. If she can do that and the movie gives Scarlet Witch an important role, Wanda has the chance to be the MCU's best Phase 4 villain.

More: Doctor Strange's Spider-Man Mistake Makes Scarlet Witch Look Even More Powerful

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