All the theories about what happened to Wanda in Doctor Strange 2 (2024)

Madness returns, as Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness finds a new home on Disney+.

The horror-superhero hybrid saw Benedict Cumberbatch's wily wizard share the screen with Elizabeth Olsen, and after the cataclysmic events of WandaVision, the widowed Wanda Maximoff was destined to accept her legacy as the Scarlet Witch.

Although Wanda breaking bad/sad was a twist many had foreshadowed, it was less clear how things were going to pan out. Multiverse of Madness galloped to an action-packed showdown at Mt Wundagore, with a Raimi-esque finale of zombies and capes made of souls.

Wanda's last-minute change of heart brought the Scarlet Witch's temple down on herself, as it looked like the long-standing Avenger would soon be chalked on the wall of fallen heroes alongside Iron Man and Black Widow.

It's hard to imagine the Marvel Cinematic Universe killing Wanda off just when she's getting more interesting, so is this really end of the road for Ms Maximoff? Let's look at the theories.

Wanda is alive

Not wanting to ruin the surprise, the sequel's writer refuses to confirm or deny whether Wanda has kicked the bucket. Michael Waldron said her fate is "up for interpretation" which is enough for us to speculate she'll be back in her cape and crown in no time.

While not many people needed convincing, there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it red flash when the temple falls. Similar to how the Phoenix Force protected Famke Janssen's Jean Grey at the end of X2, Wanda's Scarlet Witch side could have easily created a cocoon of energy to protect her from the debris.

If Wanda is trapped beneath the rubble, it leads us to question how/when she'll return. If you look at The Children's Crusade comic series, there's a similar storyline where Doctor Doom rescued an amnesiac Wanda from Wundagore, replaced her with a Doombot and took her to his homeland of Latveria to be his wife.

This works in a number of ways for the likes of the Fantastic Four and Young Avengers alongside Wanda's children being major players. We're likely a long way off from this because the Fantastic Four was only teased in Multiverse of Madness, but assuming the MCU wants to avoid Scarlet saturation, it might be wise to let the character rest for a while.

WandaVision established that Wanda is a Nexus Being who can alter reality, meaning other theories suggest she's tucked tail and is currently hiding out in the Nexus Of All Realities. Similar to the gap junction that housed the Book of Vishanti, the Nexus Of All Realities is an in-between space.

It just so happens the Nexus Of All Realities is watched over by Man-Thing, who is a fan-favourite character teased in Thor: Ragnarok. As a final coup de grâce, the Nexus Of All Realities featured on Erik Selvig's Easter egg-packed chalkboard in Thor: The Dark World.

A new Wanda is on the way

Much like how we got around the deaths of Loki and Gamora in Avengers: Infinity War, there's an infinite number of Wandas out there – with not all of them being psychotic sorceresses.

We've met Earth-838 Wanda, who was happily living with her boys before our Wanda used her as a murderous puppet to off the Illuminati in THAT big scene. Earth-838 Wanda is alive after the events of the movie, and if she returned, it gives us another in to bring Billy and Tommy into the Young Avengers.

The Illuminati are dead in this reality, but remember that Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) escaped the massacre. Reed Richard's wife and children are presumably out for revenge, and even though Earth-838 Wanda was innocent, it was her hands that did the killing.

If this Wanda wants to seek some form of absolution, she could travel the Witch's Road, which is another mythical plane of existence that can only be used by powerful sorcerers.

In James Robinson's Scarlet Witch solo series from 2015, Wanda was aided by the ghost of Agatha Harkness (who she'd previously killed). While travelling the Witch's Road, Wanda met Natalya Maximoff – who was revealed as her mother – and the previous holder of the Scarlet Witch name.

Importantly, Scarlet Witch retconned a lot of her backstory to reveal she was no longer a mutant, but had inherited her mother's powers before being experimented on to amplify them.

As well as ties to the imminent arrival of the X-Men and a certain Master of Magnetism, the return of Earth-838 Wanda can bring mutants into the MCU through the means of alternate realities. We already know they exist in this universe thanks to the return of Patrick Stewart as an X-Men: The Animated Series-inspired Charles Xavier.

Wanda really is dead

The third and final (improbable) option is that Wanda really is brown bread. Multiverse of Madness was as much her movie as it was Strange's, and you could argue that her story has come to a natural conclusion.

In main MCU continuity, Wanda's faux family has been erased from existence, she's destroyed the Darkhold in all realities, and there's no sign of White Vision to rekindle their relationship.

Bringing Wanda back would rob the character of her heroic end and although there's room to expand the likes of her House of M comic arc, a lot of its beats have already been told.

It also feeds into that tired trope that apart from Bruce and Martha Wayne or Uncle Ben, no one is really dead in comics or comic book movies. Olsen has been expectedly coy and said that although she expects she'll return, no one has actually told her.

Either way, there's no official word from up high that she's coming back.

The future of Wanda Maximoff

Ultimately, we're lost in a sea of rumours. The MCU seems more concerned with setting up the Young Avengers, Thunderbolts and New Avengers right now, so don't expect Wanda to pop up in Thor: Love and Thunder.

However, the upcoming Agatha: House of Harkness series has potential. Wanda left her nasty neighbour under a spell in Westview, so unless the series is a prequel, we need someone to free Agatha from her chirpy nightmare.

There are continued rumours of a Scarlet Witch solo movie, while others claim Olsen has signed a seven-year deal to keep playing Wanda into Phase 5 of the world's highest-grossing franchise.

Stranger things than the idea that Olsen is done with the MCU have happened, but if the woman herself isn't buying that Wanda has cast her last spell, sorry Kevin Feige, neither are we.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is available to watch now on Disney+.