Did Wanda die in the Multiverse of Madness? The Scarlet Witch shocked dedicated MCU fans by going from an Avenger to the adventure movie‘s big bad.
Yet, despite being in the throes of corruption throughout Doctor Strange 2 and committing several heinous acts in the process, she ultimately decided to destroy all copies of the Darkhold — a book of dark magic that was the source of her corruption — as well as Darkhold Castle. The only problem is, that she was in Darkhold Castle while she destroyed it. When she didn’t re-emerge at the Doctor Strange 2 ending or during either of the post-credit scenes, worried were left with just one question: ‘Did Wanda die in Doctor Strange 2?’
Practically, given Doctor Strange 2’s enormous success and the praise heaped on Elizabeth Olsen for her portrayal of the X-Men character, we’d be surprised if Wanda’s story ends here — and in a recent interview with Collider, Olsen agreed. “I don’t think of this either as the end,” she told the outlet. So, we’re going to take a deep dive into what exactly happened to Wanda in this MCU movie in order to see whether she really died — and if so, whether she is likely to come back.
WHY DID WANDA BECOME EVIL?
It was the loss of Vision, a powerful synthezoid given life and sentience through the Mind Stone during Avengers: Infinity War that pushed Wanda over the edge by the time we reunited with her in the MCU Phase 4. Driven by her grief, Wanda enslaved the town of Westview with her Chaos Magic in order to live out her sitcom fantasies with Vision, and their two children, Billy and Tommy: all of whom she created through her grief-tinted magic alone.
However, at the climax of WandaVision, Wanda loses Vision once again along with the children she created after her curse enslaving Westview was lifted. But in the process, she also transformed into the Scarlet Witch, and in the TV series‘s post-credit scene, we see her being tempted by the Darkhold for the first time.
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By the time she returns in Doctor Strange 2, Wanda has been completely corrupted by the Darkhold and seeks to kill young multiverse-hopper America Chavez: believing that stealing her power is the only way she’ll be able to live a life with her children.
Did Wanda die in the Multiverse of Madness?
Throughout the fantasy movie, we see Wanda do a lot of terrible things: from massacring the sorcerers at Kamar-Taj to bumping off the Illuminati in a matter of minutes.
More than once, she uses Earth-838 Wanda as a vessel to carry out these villainous acts, but in the process, discovers that she has turned Earth-838 Billy and Tommy against her. This pushes her over the edge and causes her to destroy every Darkhold in every universe as well as Darkhold Castle to ensure that “nobody can be tempted by it again.”
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We then see Darkhold Castle collapsing, and although we don’t see Wanda’s body, we do see the red glimmer of her magic under the rubble: suggesting that she is still inside. Later, Doctor Strange describes her as “gone” — but does that mean the same thing as dead?
What’s next for Wanda?
Given how powerful Wanda is shown to be in this movie, we think it would take more than a collapsing castle to kill her, but in terms of where her character goes next, The ‘House of M’ story arc in the Marvel comics might have the answers.
Although the comic storyline has some major differences, it has some broad similarities with the way Wanda’s character arc has panned out. In both cases, Wanda became corrupted by grief and attempts to restructure reality in order to live in a universe where both her children are alive.
After this plan doesn’t work, Wanda in the comics disappears and is assumed dead: until she is found by Hawkeye living in Wundagore with no memory of her powers. Remember: Wundagore Mountain was finally introduced into the MCU in Doctor Strange 2, so it makes sense for Wanda’s storyline in the MCU to follow the aftermath of the ‘House of M’ arc and have her exile in Wundagore once again after being presumed dead.
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Doctor Strange 2 is available to view in theatres from May 5, 2022. Can’t get enough of Doctor Strange 2 easter eggs? Check out our guide to Doctor Strange 2 cameos.