Many Marvel fans theorized that fan-favorite Wanda Maximoff, also known as Scarlet Witch, was going to be the next Thanos-level villain of the MCU, as she was often in the comics. In fact, Marvel confirmed she was intended to be so. However, SDCC 2022 released the line-up for everything Marvel until 2026, and the upcoming Avengers films that round out the studio's phases, Secret Invasion and The Kang Dynasty, pretty much scrap that dream and instead confirm Kang the Conqueror as the next big bad.
Ever since her debut in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, whether Elizabeth Olsen's character is truly a villain or not has always been a topic of debate for fans. In terms of heroism and villainism, Wanda regularly shows much of both. Such things like sacrificing her magically-created husband and home to right her wrongs in WandaVision and then later brutally slaughtering dozens of innocents in horrifying ways to satisfy her delusions in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness have earned Wanda a complex character and a strong relationship with fans.
The Scarlet Witch was the perfect choice as the next main villain of the MCU, and here are the reasons why passing her up is a mistake.
Scarlet Witch Might Be The Strongest Being In Existence
The Scarlet Witch is certainly the most powerful of the Avengers. In a fight against Thanos himself, she single-handedly beat down the Mad Titian when Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America together couldn't keep him down. But forgetting strength, Scarlet Witch is able to manipulate reality. WandaVision showcased her Chaos Magic, where Wanda isolated a town to create her dream life, forcing all the inhabitants to participate in her sitcom-style life. She takes the town through different time periods and even brings back Vision from the dead to marry him. Wanda created an alternate reality that changed completely with her whims and forced everyone else to go along in her self-titled WandaVision.
Later on, in Multiverse of Madness, Wanda puts her full power on display. Wanda is able to fool Doctor Strange, the Master of the Mystic Arts, with her illusions before turning on him when he doesn't give her the power she wants. Wanda follows him and destroys the sorcerer stronghold of Kamar-Taj in a one-sided fight, massacring hundreds of powerful magic users in an enchanted fortress.
When she follows Strange through the Multiverse, she encounters the Illuminati, a team composed of variant Avengers like Captain Marvel and Black Bolt, and kills five of the Earth's mightiest heroes within minutes. This demonstrates her ability to take out some of the MCU's most powerful characters with ease and highlights the fact that Scarlet Witch has yet to meet her equal.
Wanda's Story Makes Her More Compelling
Wanda has the most tragic story in the MCU, losing everything and everyone. She suffered the effects of her own actions, both good and bad, more than any of her fellow heroes. Wanda has a litany of sorrows: her parents were killed when she was a child, she was turned into a weapon by terrorist experiments, her brother was murdered, she indirectly caused the Avengers to split and fight each other, and she had to blow a hole in the head of her beloved to stop Thanos, only to watch him killed again right before she vanishes.
After being brought back to life when the Avengers beat Thanos, she suffers a mental breakdown and lost control of her powers, creating a make-believe world with her dead husband Vision. However, she learns she's being manipulated and causing innocents to suffer and destroys the illusion, including her husband (again) before she goes on a murder rampage across the Multiverse.
There's a LOT to unpack in this one character because throughout all her time in the MCU, Wanda tries to understand her lot in life, like who to trust, what grief is and how to deal with it, where can she be happy, and how to raise kids. Fans have spent nearly a deep decade with Wanda, experiencing love and loss several times, and understanding that no matter how powerful a person can be, everyone has their breaking point. All this time spent with Wanda has made her human to fans and has easily built Wanda into the hearts of the audience like no other villain in movie history.
An Avenger Fighting The Avengers Would Be An Epic Battle
Many fans argue that Scarlet Witch is the best villain ever in the MCU, and her status could not have been elevated higher than if Wanda was put against the Avengers. She has already gone head-to-head against many of the Avengers in Age of Ultron before she was at full power and still learning, and Wanda successfully got into their minds and almost turned them against each other all by herself before switching sides.
An Avenger who has been through as much as Wanda, who has suffered but lost, against the Avengers is a fitting idea and appropriate for something as big as the next Avengers movies will be. There are currently no other heroes who have gone through similar experiences as Wanda's or who would conceivably turn on the Avengers, so Scarlet Witch is the only option for this. Really, for this alone, not using Wanda is a missed opportunity.
Wanda Maximoff's story may have ended in Multiverse of Madness, only Kevin Feige knows for sure, but Scarlet Witch was originally intended to have a bigger arc. With her fate still up in the air, Marvel still has the chance to bring Wanda back and give her the spotlight she deserves.