Elizabeth Olsen Has One Condition To Return As Marvel's Scarlet Witch

This article contains spoilers for "Agatha All Along."

Whatever happened to the Scarlet Witch? The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) has a devoted fanbase who've stayed stanning as she went from henchvillain to Avenger to a multiverse-unraveling big bad. 

Wanda was last seen in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," with all of Mount Wundagore coming down on her. Death in superhero stories follows two rules, though: if there's no shot where the light leaves someone's eye, and no corpse is seen afterward, they aren't really dead. Wanda got neither, so her return seems inevitable, even if "WandaVision" spin-off "Agatha All Along" played coy about her survival.

Olsen, who has admitted in the past that "I never know what [Marvel Studios is] doing next," seems open to putting on the scarlet tiara again, though. During a recent interview on Dublin's FM104 radio with her "His Three Daughters" co-star Carrie Coon, Olsen said: "If there's a good way to use [Wanda] I'm always happy to come back, however they can make that make sense."

What does "a good way to use her" mean to Olsen? Based on these comments, she thought Wanda was well served in her first major film ("Avengers: Age of Ultron"), but then the films struggled to do right by her. (She found Wanda's corseted look in "Civil War" and "Infinity War"/"Endgame" too revealing a costume, for one thing.) "WandaVision" got things back on track for Wanda, Olsen thought, but then Scarlet Witch's villainous turn in "Multiverse of Madness" was too repetitive from "WandaVision" (since screenwriter Michael Waldron hadn't finished the show).

Then again, Olsen has also said her favorite Scarlet Witch comics are the ones where Wanda loses her mind (there are a lot of those). One of those is the Scarlet Witch story MCU fans have been clamoring for since 2015.

I almost never believe actors who claim to be childhood fans of nerd franchises now living their dream. Elizabeth Olsen, though, has at least done her 101 homework on Scarlet Witch's Marvel history. (Apparently, her brother James "Trent" Olsen — a comic collector and writer — helped her learn about her character.) That's why, when questioned by fanboy journalists, Olsen always says that, yes, she too wants a "House of M" movie.

"House of M" (by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Olivier Coipel) is a 2005 Marvel event comic. In it, the insane Scarlet Witch rewrites reality so the X-Men and Avengers each get their greatest desires fulfilled. Her father Magneto's desire is that mutants are the dominant species, so in this world, that's the reality. (House of M is short for House of Magnus.) But Wolverine retains his memories of the true world, so he reassembles a team to put Wanda down. At the series' end, she rewrites reality again with three words: "No more mutants."

The original Marvel reality is restored, but the mutant population dropped from a million to 181. (You gotta have some X-Men left over to sell their books.) "House of M" is one of the most narratively consequential Marvel comics of the 2000s, reverberating across every story about Wanda and mutants since. But is it truly a "classic" that the movie demand suggests?

A lot of Marvel movie fans don't read comics, they read Wiki articles or watch YouTube videos about comics. So if a story is important, they assume it must also be good. "House of M" has a boosted reputation because of this, especially with how famous Wanda's three little words have become. In truth, it's a conventional alternate timeline story that breaks no new ground that "Age of Apocalypse" didn't back in 1996.

"House of M" is carried by Coipiel's art and has lopsided pacing. Bendis is mostly a dialogue writer so his comics are "decompressed" (i.e. scenes will linger across pages, with some panels barely changing). He can be fantastic for lower-stakes, smaller-cast superhero comics like "Daredevil" and "Ultimate Spider-Man," but he struggles with big-event stories. (See also "Secret Invasion.")

This is also a story that would make little sense for MCU Wanda, who has no ties to Magneto. Comic Wanda first appeared in "X-Men" #4 as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants; her saying "No more mutants" resonated because it drew on her history. There are no mutants introduced in the MCU yet, so what impact would wiping them out have? The "X-Men" comics that came after "No More Mutants" were a dark age! There were some bright spots (Mike Carey's "X-Men: Legacy"), but overall the franchise needed a bold reset, hence the introduction of mutant homeland Krakoa in "House of X/Powers of X."

What does track for MCU Wanda is a story about reuniting with her children. "Agatha All Along" introduced Wiccan (Joe Locke), the reincarnated soul of Wanda's son Billy Maximoff. Wiccan is a member of the Young Avengers, along with his brother Tommy/Speed. The MCU seems to be gearing up for that team, so perhaps Wanda will appear alongside them.

Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung's "The Children's Crusade" (a follow-up to both the original "Young Avengers" run and "House of M") also revealed Wanda had been manipulated by Doctor Doom. Ol' Doom will be making his MCU debut soon (played by Robert Downey Jr.). Will the MCU tie him and Wanda together in unholy matrimony like the comics?

It'll depend on if Elizabeth Olsen considers that a good use of the Scarlet Witch.