Even though Elizabeth Olsen has played Wanda Maximoff in the MCU before, it's WandaVision that helped her to really flesh out her character, leading to one of the most memorable performances in the superhero genre.
Marvel aside, her tryst with blockbuster cinema continued with 2014's Godzilla. However, gaining fame with the independent thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene, she has experimented with several offbeat and critically-acclaimed projects like Wind River, Ingrid Goes West, Kill Your Darlings, and Kodachrome. Olsen has also been associated with a few remakes including the likes of the horror The Silent House (an adaptation of the Uruguayan film of the same name) and Spike Lee's remake of Oldboy.
Godzilla (2014)- 6.4
The Godzilla reboot from the 2010s is what eventually set up the MonsterVerse that would culminate into this year's hype-train Godzilla vs Kong. Olsen plays Elle Brody, a hospital nurse, and the protagonist Ford Brody's wife.
Interestingly, her husband is played by Aaron-Taylor Johnson who went on to star as her brother in Age of Ultron. Even though Olsen gets reduced screentime amidst the military and monster action, the film was significant enough to bring her mainstream popularity in her pre-Avengers career.
Ingrid Goes West (2017)- 6.6
Aubrey Plaza stars in the A24 dark comedy Ingrid Goes West that finds her 'stanning' and stalking her favorite social media influencer, sassily played by Elizabeth Olsen. However, when Plaza's protagonist gets to actually befriend her role model, the glitz and the glamor of the latter's life takes a toll on her.
It's an engaging comedy-drama that brims with a sense of modernity, touching upon the thin line between the real and the fake in this turbulent social media-driven world.
Liberal Arts (2012)- 6.7
In Josh Radnor's second feature as a director, he stars alongside Olsen as a disgruntled professor who returns to his old college for a reunion. This results in a chance encounter with a student far younger than him. However, a few conversations on love, life, and literature spark a common attraction and a rom-com-like energy is shared between the two.
And yet, both characters have their own struggles to overcome that adds a sense of realism to Liberal Arts' story while balancing the heartwarming romantic tones.
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)- 6.9
Arguably Elizabeth Olsen's claim to fame as a dramatic actor, her portrayal of Martha earned her a Critics' Choice nomination for Best Actress. Going through several identities, Olsen plays a troubled woman who suffers from paranoia after she leaves an abusive cult and returns to her family.
The film's ensemble also includes Sarah Paulson, John Hawkes, and Christopher Abbott, with Martha Marcy May Marlene proving to be a successful venture for its lead's future stardom.
Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015)- 7.3
The first movie to fully feature Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff is a mixed bag. While Age of Ultron was well-received by critics and audiences, it still couldn't match the legacy of its predecessor and was easily overpowered by the MCU ensemble film that followed its release.
Yet, the film is significant for introducing the Maximoff siblings, featuring a memorable performance by Aaron Taylor Johnson who plays Wanda's brother Pietro aka Quicksilver. Initially, both fight for Ultron eventually changing sides and joining the Avengers.
Sorry For Your Loss (2018)- 7.5
When it comes to web series and TV shows, Olsen has had bit roles in Drunk History as well as HarmonQuest. It's her lead performance in the drama series Sorry For Your Loss that earned her a second Critics Choice nomination, this time for Best Actress in a Drama Series.
Sorry For Your Loss, is in fact, somewhat similar to Olsen's WandaVision as it deals with the aftermath of her character's husband's death. Even though the show ran for two seasons, it still received acclaim and served as a training ground for her to fully display her emotional prowess in WandaVision.
Wind River (2017)- 7.7
Wind River reunited Elizabeth Olsen with her MCU co-star Jeremy Renner in a gritty film that forms the third installment of screenwriter/director Taylor Sheridan's unofficial Frontier trilogy. True to his neo-Western roots, Sheridan weaves a chilling thriller set around a Wyoming reservation.
After a series of attacks on indigenous populations including the brutal murder of a young girl, an FBI agent (Olsen) arrives on location to unearth a larger conspiracy at hand. A local hunter (Renner) serves as her guide as they go down a dark rabbit hole in the desolate, snowy wilderness.
Captain America: Civil War (2016) - 7.8
As Captain America: Civil War divided the pantheon of Marvel's heroes against each other, Wanda Maximoff chose to side with Captain America. This decision eventually drove her to loggerheads with her romantic interest Vision who tries reasoning with her to join Iron Man's cause.
The film's opening scene, in fact, offers a glimpse into the unstable and turbulent nature of Wanda's powers as she accidentally causes loss of civilian lives and collateral damage while battling Crossbones in Lagos. Such instances in Civil War open up a realistic debate on whether superhuman beings need preventive checks or not.
WandaVision (2021)- 8.2
The show that truly completed Wanda Maximoff's transition to Scarlet Witch, WandaVision is a landmark miniseries retaining familiar elements from the Marvel Universe while simultaneously breaking genre conventions. The show starts off with an alternate reality, one in which Wanda and her late husband Vision (Paul Bettany) get to share a Utopian sitcom-influenced life until Wanda's grief is explored.
As the story intensifies and more characters are introduced, Olsen gets more and more moments to shine as Scarlet Witch, unleashing both her comedic and subsequently dramatic potential.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)- 8.4
A watershed moment in the history of comic-book cinema, Avengers: Endgame offered closure for several fan-favorite characters while shaped the future of others, including Wanda who gets more space to showcase her magical powers. Hellbent on seeking revenge for Vision's death, Wanda charges at Thanos, successfully countering his moves for a while.
Despite a limited role, the film is significant for adding more depth to Olsen's character, giving viewers a glimpse of the overwhelming grief she faces that of course, further developed with WandaVision.