"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" pits Stephen Strange against some unexpected
villains – and the biggest one might be someone we all thought we knew.
Warning: spoilers ahead for "Doctor Strange 2."
"The fate of the multiverse depends on us."
Prior to its release, there was a good deal of speculation as to what kind of role the
Scarlet Witch would play in "Doctor Strange 2."
Wanda Maximoff has already gone through quite the journey in the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
entering "Avengers: Age of Ultron" as an antagonist until she joins up with the good guys for
the final fight.
She remains a force for good throughout the rest of her cinematic appearances until she
seemingly breaks bad with "WandaVision."
She enslaves an entire town to do her sitcom-oriented bidding, and by the end of the series, she's
acquired the Darkhold and becomes capable of performing the darkest magic possible.
As such, it was understandable fans were uneasy about where Wanda's allegiances would lie
before "Multiverse of Madness" made its way into theaters.
Would she be on the side of good with Doctor Strange and America Chavez?
Or would she join the bad guys with the various demons featured throughout the trailers?
Now that the film is out in theaters for all to see, we know she falls into the latter
camp.
While her motivation for traveling to a dimension where she can be with her children is understandable,
she sinks to some truly villainous means to make those ends possible.
Her descent into complete madness is a shocking twist, especially when the audience finally
learns what her plan all along throughout the movie entails.
"What is grief if not love persevering?"
It doesn't take Wanda long to reveal her grand plan to Doctor Strange.
She's been chasing after America Chavez for so long because she wishes to harness her
multiverse-hopping abilities for her own use.
You see, Wanda's been having dreams of other universes out there, where different versions
of her get to live sweet, domestic lives with her children.
She wishes to travel into one of these other dimensions so that she can take another Wanda's
place and raise her kids in peace.
Such an action could lead to dire consequences, but Wanda doesn't care.
She just wants her children back.
To accomplish her goal, Wanda tracks America through the multiverse so that she can drain
her of her powers to use them for her own gain.
Such a process will kill America, but Wanda doesn't care.
She's made a major heel turn from the last time we've seen her, and it all appears to
be a result of the Darkhold corrupting her.
After all, it's not like Wanda's always been this way.
One could look at her character arc in "Captain America: Civil War" as evidence of this.
In that film, she accidentally kills some people during her attempt to stop some bad
guys – and she feels terrible about it.
In that instance, she obviously knows the ends don't justify the means, and it kickstarts
the entire conflict of the film.
Suffice to say, that's not how she acts in this movie – but her turn to villainy will
come as no surprise to people who know the comics Scarlet Witch.
"It was fun just looking at it from a different perspective."
Wanda started as a villain in the MCU only to turn into an Avenger.
And now, in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," she's back to being the bad guy,
and she does some truly horrific things.
From slaughtering sorcerers at Kamar-Taj to killing the Illuminati, she doesn't allow
anyone to get in her path to capturing America.
It can naturally make the audience conflicted about how to feel about her, and that's precisely
the case with her status in the Marvel comics.
She's done plenty of good throughout her comic book run, helping the Avengers and the X-Men
numerous times.
However, she's also caused her fair share of problems, particularly when she becomes
overly emotional.
This is precisely what occurred during the infamous "House of M" storyline, where she
created an alternate reality that eliminated 98% of the world's mutants.
There's also the "Avengers: Disassembled" arc where she orchestrated events to disband
the Avengers.
She did so because she learned her children never actually existed – sound familiar?
– and in a state of chaos, she wanted the Avengers to know precisely how she felt.
Wanda's neither fully a hero nor villain.
She pretty much does what she wants, and her allegiances lay with whoever can help her
attain those goals.
"Doctor Strange 2" presents a more vicious Wanda than anything we've seen before in a
live-action setting, and it's bound to unsettle audiences.
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