Are There Wanda Maximoff Variants in ‘Doctor Strange 2?’

Before Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness came out, fans had so many questions. Who’s in the Illuminati? Would there be zombies? Where were Billy and Tommy? Would Loki show up? WHAT ABOUT ALLIGATOR LOKI? One of the biggest questions, though, was about Wanda Maximoff, A.K.A. the Scarlet Witch. Are there Wanda Maximoff variants in Doctor Strange 2?

Before we get into it, though, let’s take a look at what a variant in the MCU even is.

What is a Variant?

The idea of variants originated in the Disney Plus series, Loki. In Loki, the God of Mischief is arrested by the Time Variance Authority after he escapes from the Avengers in Endgame and accidentally creates an alternate timeline in the process. Throughout the story, Loki meets alternate versions of himself from other timelines that have been pruned out of existence, and these other Lokis are called variants. A variant can be almost a carbon copy of the original, like the Loki in Loki and the Loki in all the Marvel movies after Avengers. They can get pretty wildly different, though—like Alligator Loki, who’s literally an alligator wearing Loki horns.

Since Loki came out, Marvel has been exploring all the weird and fun places they can go with variants. In What If…?, some of the most beloved Marvel characters took on new roles, like Peggy Carter as a super soldier, T’Challa as Star-Lord, Loki as the crown prince of Jotunheim, and Doctor Strange as evil Doctor Strange.

We saw variants popping up again last December in Spider-Man: No Way Home, when Doctor Strange’s botched spell opened up rifts in the multiverse and started pulling in everyone who knew Spider-Man’s identity. Along with the villains who made up the Sinister Six Five, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parkers were also pulled in, and their presence in the MCU was explained by declaring them variants of Tom Holland’s Peter (instead of, you know, actors from previous Spider-Man franchises).

One important thing to remember about variants is that, as we’ve seen, they may not share the same history or even genetic makeup as “our” version of a character. One of the Lokis was Black. Another, a
woman. The three Peters all looked completely different. Even though they’re playing the same role in their respective universes, variants are often very different people.

Hints in the Trailers

The trailers for Doctor Strange 2 revealed a lot, but they were also pretty deceptive.

The two main versions of Wanda we see throughout the trailers are Scarlet Witch Wanda, where she’s wearing her regalia and wielding chaos magic, and Westview Wanda, where her hair is brown and she’s inside the false home she created in Westview. (There’s also the Wanda in civilian clothes we see in her orchard, but … that’s just an outfit she’s wearing. We don’t want to get too carried away here. Superheroes are allowed to change their clothes.) In one scene in the first trailer, we see the two Wandas together, with Scarlet Witch on her knees crying, and Westview Wanda comforting her. In the newest TV spot, we see Westview Wanda reaching for her kids, and then abruptly turning into Scarlet Witch Wanda.

Are these two variants? In the trailers, it was hard to tell. Remember the post-credit scene in the series finale of WandaVision, where Wanda’s simultaneously drinking coffee and studying the Darkhold? Wanda seems to be able to astrally project herself and be in two places at once. The new TV spot also talks a lot about dreams and nightmares, which made it seem like those were scenes from dreams that Wanda was having.

There’s another shot of Wanda that fans thought could be Zombie Wanda from What If…?. This shot is very quick: we see a deranged-looking Wanda, her eyes glowing red, coming through a doorway. There’s certainly some zombification going on in the trailers, so it was certainly possible that this Wanda was a zombie variant.

The Final Verdict: Wanda Variants in Doctor Strange 2

When Doctor Strange 2 finally did come out, it held a lot of surprises: not least of which that Wanda herself isn’t Strange’s ally or even an antihero, but a straight-up villain from the start.

When Stephen goes to ask Wanda if she can help protect America, he learns that she’s the “demon” who’s been after America’s powers. Wanda wants to use those powers to go to a universe where she can be with her children (and presumably Vision, too? Although the movie’s weirdly silent about that possibility). Wanda doesn’t just want to use America’s powers, though: she wants to keep them for herself, so that she can travel the multiverse at will, forever.

Compounding that problem is that, thanks to the Darkhold, Wanda has the power to “dreamwalk,” or possess the body of one of her variants in another universe. So, does the trailer depict Wanda dreaming, or does it depict a Wanda variant? Turns out it’s both!

When Stephen and America end up on Earth-838, Wanda follows them there by dreamwalking. 838 Wanda is living the life that 616 Wanda wants, mothering her children in a suburban American home. So, 616 Wanda dreamwalks into her alternate self’s body and uses it to attack Stephen and the Illuminati. So the villainous Wanda we see barefoot and covered in blood? That’s the 838 variant, being controlled by 616 Wanda. The “zombie” Wanda? Still 838, just in less flattering lighting.

In the end, it’s Wanda’s own variant who’s able to finally redeem her. America decides to show Wanda what a monster she’s become by opening a portal to Earth-838. There, Billy and Tommy see Wanda as the Scarlet Witch, and their terrified reactions finally make her understand how much the Darkhold has corrupted her. When 616 Wanda breaks down, 838 Wanda gently touches her face (that’s the shot we see in the trailer) and tells her that Billy and Tommy will be loved in their home universe.

So, how many Wanda variants are there in Doctor Strange 2? Only two—but they bring more than enough madness to go around.

(featured image: Marvel)