Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has become a source of controversy over the weekend. Beyond the criticism and praise it received for its dark tone, script, and ending, there is a hot spot in the middle of the debate. Is Marvel again making the mistake of taking one of their characters and turning them into a lazy stereotype? Wanda Maximoff, a powerful figure that Sam Raimi took to the category of the unstoppable and cruel creature, is one of the controversial elements in the film. Especially since the character of The Scarlet Witch was completely removed from her most recent story. Does Marvel betray the character?

In Raimi’s film, Wanda Maximoff goes through an intellectual and emotional involution. Or so it has been the insistent criticism of critics and a considerable number of fans. Since the film’s release, it was noted that Marvel was reverting to the “wounded woman unable to handle her emotions” trope. Is it a simple resource to show the extent of the power of an increasingly relevant character? In reality, the Wanda Maximoff in Raimi’s hands is not a monster, but a tragic creature. And she has been since the comic book version of her walked a rocky road to redemption.

This is not a simple reflection. After all, for the last decade, Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff had a complicated and well-constructed arc. The character faced Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) by Joss Whedon. Later, she stopped Thanos ‘ Black Order in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) from the Russo brothers and also destroyed the Mind Stone. Finally, she faced Thanos himself face to face in Avengers: Endgame (2019), also by the Russo brothers.

For phase four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the studio gave the character special participation. He starred in Wanda Vision, an origin series and the first of the studio’s shows on the Disney+ platform. And now, featured prominently in the first film to explore the multiverse, a traditional concept at the publisher.

In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda Maximoff is shown in her full potential. But instead of delving into what was narrated in the television program, the story takes Wanda to another space of power. And one related to the darkness and the loss of control of her feelings. The exception contradicts what is stated in the series and in its final chapter. In it, Wanda frees the town of Westview from the Hex that was holding her captive and admits she learned her mistakes from her.

Wanda, the darkness and the admission of guilt

One of the arguments against the version of Wanda turned into a character of alarming cruelty, is what is raised in Wanda Vision. Actually, the series and the post-credits scene of its last chapter made a point clear. Wanda had learned about her powers, redeemed herself, and freed Westview. But she was also looking for something more. In one revealing image, Scarlet Witch could be seen in her astral form learning from the Darkhold. She also that the book of the damned tempted him with the possibility of the existence of her children. The hint itself made it clear that any attempt to use magic would most likely be in that direction.

And that is just what happened in Raimi’s film. The Darkhold, capable of corrupting not one, but two versions of Doctor Strange, gave Wanda power. Also an obsession. The script repeats the obvious over and over again: Wanda’s children are the result of magic and do not exist in the physical reality of the universe they inhabit.

But the book also showed Wanda that in one of the infinite realities of the multiverse, her children are real. And in fact, the argument also handles the idea properly. The variant of Wanda who is a mother has nothing to do with a heroic purpose. She also doesn’t show the children’s father, which suggests that it may not be Vision. What is clear is that among so many versions of reality, in one of them the character lives the unrealized reality that Wanda turned Scarlet Witch and dreamed for herself.

The Stephen Strange of the dimension inhabited by the Illuminati believed that only through dark magic could he defeat Thanos. And indeed, the Sorcerer faced the Darkhold a second time in another dimension and lost. So the possibility that he could confuse, use, and ultimately make a fearsome creature out of Wanda is among the possibilities. Much more, using the possibility of being a mother. In fact, the narrative thread links the on-screen character with the comics’ version of him in more ways than one.

Wanda Maximoff in all her power

In the comics, The Scarlet Witch has very different powers -and much greater- than those that had been shown in the movies and series of the franchise. In the films, she was thus far capable of causing hallucinations and concentrating her power effectively to destroy. But in the comics, her abilities are more related to her ability to manipulate time and reality.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has not been very explicit in explaining its origin. Until now, there were only a handful of sentences in which he narrated his tragedy in Sokovia. That’s after showing her alongside Quicksilver in the post-credits scene of the movie Captain America and the Winter Soldier. In Wanda Vision, the narration is expanded and, in fact, we can see the tragic loss of her parents. But in reality, the original Wanda is much more than a victim.

Daughter of the mutant villain Magneto, Wanda Maximoff was born into the world of comics in 1964 when she first appeared in X-Men # 4, under the authorship of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. She was then a supervillain and a founding member of The Brotherhood of Mutants, a semi-clandestine organization of notorious Gen X supremacists. In her debut, her powers were not yet fully defined. It was only clear that Wanda could alter the rules of physics and that those abilities had an immediate relationship with her genetics. But in the 1970s, screenwriter Steve Englehart changed Wanda’s story. The writer decided that the character’s powers would relate to magic. An element that began to have special relevance in the Marvel Universe. Under the tutelage of the powerful and ancient witch Agatha Harkness, Wanda Maximoff that her magic could give him the opportunity to be much more powerful. But with the power, also came the character’s mental breakdown.

The true and controversial power of The Scarlet Witch

In the world of comics, Wanda Maximoff goes through a series of mental crises. The caveat makes it clear that she, in addition to being one of the most powerful Avengers, is also one of the most unstable. Wanda’s first great tragedy in the comic, brought to streaming in partial form in the WandaVision series, was the loss of her children. It happened when, after enjoying a short time as a happy wife and mother, Vision was kidnapped, dismembered, and ultimately lost all memories of her, which completely destroyed her relationship with Wanda.

As if such a tragedy wasn’t enough, The Scarlet Witch also found out that her twin sons weren’t real. In the paper story, they had been created thanks to fragments of the soul of the demon Mephisto. In Wanda’s mind, the combination of both was too much. She joined her father Magneto in his supremacist struggle and for some time was a fearsome villain who plagued the world of Marvel. Shortly thereafter, she gained redemption — one of several she’s had on her hero journey — after Agatha Harkness erased her memory of him as her mother.

In the 1990s, comics chronicled how Wanda Maximoff learned about Chaos magic and how to control time. Later, in Avengers: Disassembled (2000) by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch, Wanda discovered that she had lost the memories of her life as her mother. In the midst of a crisis of rage, she altered reality just by wanting it. The character then reached the zenith of her power, and though she was ultimately defeated — and redemption was again — the idea was clear. Wanda’s mental instability signaled the use of her powers. The same thing that has ended up happening in Sam Raimi’s film.

What will happen to Wanda Maximoff in the future? In the comic, after all the events and tragedies she has been involved in, Wanda appears without memory and without the use of her abilities. Most likely, the character can return, again in redemption that opens the doors to a new story. And also, to a broader understanding of the character.