Why Wanda Maximoff Has Her Accent Back In Doctor Strange 2
Wanda Maximoff has used her chaos magic for destruction and creation both. We've seen her fend off an alien army, take a city hostage, fight alongside the Avengers and once, she even conjured Teyonah Parris. But her most famous trick yet has been the magic of her mysterious Disappearing Accent, which has long been the cause of memes and controversial continuity. Fans and MCU creatives alike have spent years floating theories to explain why Wanda's Sokovian lilt flies in and out of existence: is she simply adapting to her time in the States? Or keeping her identity secret by masquerading the accent? Last year, "WandaVision" poked fun at this with a couples jabs from the scene-stealing Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn): "My, that accent really comes and goes, doesn't it?"
But far beyond just making fun, the MCU miniseries turned Wanda's accent into a significant plot point. What began as an inside joke was actually pointing the audience in the direction of piecing together the series' big mystery. So now that we're all paying attention, it's not hard to notice Wanda's accent in "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness" trailers. It's present, but only sometimes. So what can we learn from Wanda's accent this time around?
Accent Gate strikes again
The answer to our pondering comes directly from Sam Raimi himself, the filmmaker helming Doctor Strange's journey through the multiverse. The next time we see Benedict Cumberbatch's former Sorcerer Supreme on the big screen, he'll be dealing with the fallout of his mistakes in "No Way Home," and facing off with a mysterious set of "familiar" adversaries. A bright spot for both the sorcerer and the audience is the return of Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff, her first outing since the events of 'WandaVision," presumably teaming up with Strange to use their magic for good. Or so we thought — some key moments from the trailer hinted that Wanda hasn't totally put her Westview days behind her. But what if that's not the Wanda we know and love? Speaking to Fandango, Raimi said:
"The movie is a journey into the multiverse, so you do see different iterations of Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange, and even Lizzie Olsen's character of Wanda Maximoff. So, the actors have to play that. It's a great challenge for them and great fun to direct them playing these altered versions of themselves."
The promise of alternate versions of Strange has been clear from the very beginning, which only widens the possibility for variants of his friends and foes, like Mordo and apparently Wanda too. Based on the trailer, this particular Wanda variant also has her killer sense of style, since she's sporting the classic Scarlet Witch costume — but that and her immense power may be where the similarities end. Wanda's villain era is likely to continue with this variant, who doesn't seem to share her regret for breaking bad. So if you enjoyed seeing Olsen play close to a villain in her MCU series, "Multiverse of Madness" will be a treat.
And so the never-ending saga of the MCU's Accent Gate continues: Elizabeth Olsen is back to practicing her Sokovian because the film introduces a Wanda variant who never found a reason to masquerade it. This opens a ton of possibilities: did this version of Wanda ever join the Avengers? Has she lost her brother? Is she also searching for a way to her family? This is just the start of questions that "Multiverse of Madness" may have to answer, along with one of the fanbase's most heavily debated questions — who would win in a fight, the Scarlet Witch or Doctor Strange?
Answers are due to arrive on May 4, 2022, when "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" arrives in theaters.