WandaVision, the long-awaited MCU show meant to kick off Phase 4, hits Disney+’s streaming service on January 15. While Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) seem happily settled in the suburban sitcom town of Westview at the start of the miniseries, viewers of Avengers: Infinity War know that all cannot be as it seems.
Olsen spoke with Screen Rant about the evolution of her character over the 6 years, and the issues that Wanda may be grappling with over the course of the story.
When you first sat down with Kevin to discuss the character of Wanda Maximoff, was this always in the blueprint for the character? Or are you surprised by the character's evolution?
Elizabeth Olsen: No, it wasn't. This was something I found out about right after Infinity War came out. It was not something I could have predicted, but I am so happy that it happened, because it was the greatest job.
I almost forgot I was watching WandaVision, and it just felt like a sitcom from the 1950s. How was the show extended your interest in playing Wanda?
Elizabeth Olsen: It completely broke her whole life and experience open for me. I think I was always focused on the puzzle piece that I would fulfill in Avengers, and how it's serving our storyline. And this kind of opened up a whole new door for me with her.
I feel like I have such ownership, and I feel like I can take her into any situation now. It's really fun to always try and surprise myself with her now. I feel like I have a lot more skills with her. I don't know, there's something that completely opened it all up for me again. It's such a gift as an actor when you're playing the same character.
Wanda has undergone so many wild changes in terms of where she came from in the comics to where she is now, and it's been hinted that the series will tell a bit more of her history and show us her becoming the Scarlet Witch. How has your approach to the character changed since Age of Ultron?
Elizabeth Olsen: I think Ultron really, to me, was an origin story of this birth of a woman and her abilities, and where her like emotional life came from. And now it's this accountability and acceptance that we all eventually have to wrestle with, when she becomes a more of a woman now.
My approach doesn't really change from job to job. They're all pretty similar, but all different. But I think there's just more shades to play with now.
Wanda has gone through more trauma and pain than almost anybody in the MCU. How quickly and powerfully does that manifest itself in the show?
Elizabeth Olsen: I think that is her core as a person. I believe in the comic, she's always represented this idea of mental health. So, I feel like her core is about her processing of her trauma.
Obviously, if she's in the show, then that's in the show. That is so true to who she is.
WandaVision starts streaming on Disney+ on January 15, 2020.