Elizabeth Olsen has been a significant part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since her debut as Scarlet Witch. But when the character was handed over to the Russo Brothers, Olsen felt they weren’t sure how to approach the Avengers member.
Elizabeth Olsen felt the Russo Brothers had no idea what to do with her Marvel character
Controversial filmmaker Joss Whedon gave the movie-going audience a proper introduction to Olsen’s Scarlet Witch. She first made a cameo appearance at the end of Captain America Winter Soldier. Afterwards, Olsen was one of the main leads in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and continued the character’s growth throughout the franchise.
Whedon wouldn’t be involved with the character for long, however. After Age of Ultron, the Russo Brothers were in charge of guiding the MCU through the latter stages of its story. But when the directors got their hands on Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, Olsen felt they might have gotten a bit lost with her character.
“They were like, ‘She can do anything. If someone is fighting she can end it quickly. I don’t know what to do!,’” Olsen once told Birth.Movies.Death.
But Olsen believed it was only a matter of time before the Russo brothers were able to adapt to the character.
“Now they, I think, are a little more comfortable in how to write her. It’s like they figured her out during filming,” Olsen said.
Still, the actor felt she had to add her own creative ideas when performing under the Russo Brothers’ guidance. At least when it came to the Scarlet Witch’s movements.
When the Russo brothers, for instance, would tell Olsen, “’She needs to launch Cap,’ we think ‘That’s not fun to look at, is it?’ So we figure out what’s more interesting. That’s ownership I love. Some people might think it’s random, but it’s not – it’s very intentional.”
Elizabeth Olsen felt Joss Whedon was more hands on with the Scarlet Witch
When comparing the filmmakers, Olsen revealed that Whedon had a more personal approach to guiding her Scarlet Witch. The Avengers director would not only suggest the types of movements the Scarlet Witch should do, but perform them himself.
“Joss had actual movements in his brain, and that’s how the movements started. We would try and hit these marks that Joss, literally in front of us did. He also has these funny knees and wrists and hands, and my choreographer Jenny and I were like, ‘Man, he really worked hard on this,’” Olsen said.
Perhaps Whedon had an easier grasp on the character because he was already a huge fan of Scarlet Witch.
“Joss really loved her a lot. So he really had a huge say in how she talked, how she looked, how she moved, what drove her. It was very tangible in Ultron, but now it’s become about her stepping into her role and her powers,” she remembered.
Elizabeth Olsen had no idea Scarlet Witch was going to be a villain in ‘Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’
Olsen played a bit of a different Scarlet Witch than the one fans have been used to in the recent Dr. Strange sequel. The 2022 film saw a Wanda that seemed to embrace her full villainy out of desperation. But it was a character arc that Olsen didn’t know about up until the last minute before filming.
“I was shocked the moment they told me what it was about,” Olsen once told Buzzfeed. “I was shocked at the moment they said, ‘You’re the villain.’ No one told me until right before we shot it, so that was shocking.”
At the same time, Olsen didn’t believe that her character was a full-fledged villain.
“I will never think of her as a baddie,” she said in a fairly recent interview with Good Morning America. “I think she learns a lesson, but I think of her as she’s just processing big emotions.”
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