Deadpool & Wolverinefeatured the Scarlet Witch among its manyMarvelcameos (kind of), but I’m glad to learn that the reference was not the insult I thought it was. Scarlet Witch did notcameo inDeadpool & Wolverinein person, but the movie did feature her effigy from the Darkhold Castle inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. I was initially put off byDeadpool & Wolverine’s Scarlet Witch referenceas it seemed to serve as a reminder of a particularly hard pill for me to swallow: that Wanda Maximoff really is, most sincerely dead.
Still, this notion was thrown into question just a few months later with the release ofAgatha All Alongon Disney+. Clues like Agatha’s response of “Yes, no, maybe,” to the question of whether Wanda is really dead has helped restore my hopes that she will return down the line in the MCU.Assembled: The Making of Deadpool & Wolverinehas now further assuaged my concerns following its release on Disney+, as the reasons for includingScarlet Witch’s giant Darkhold Castlesculpture were fully explained.
Why The Scarlet Witch Sculpt Was Included In Deadpool & Wolverine
Assembled: The Making Of Deadpool & Wolverine Fully Explains Why Wanda’s Darkhold Castle Effigy Was Included
Assembled: The Making of Deadpool & Wolverinefeatures interviews with several prominent contributors to the movie. One of these was production designer, Raymond Chan, who has worked on several MCU projects, includingThe Falcon and the Winter SoldierandAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. When talking about the hideout of theresistance members inDeadpool & Wolverine, Chan explained his reasoning for including Mount Wundagore’s Scarlet Witch effigy, stating:
“So the brief from Shawn [Levy, director] and Wendy [Jacobson, executive producer] was"We’d like to put in some Easter eggs for our fans.“One particular set caught my eye, a 24-foot high sculpt of Wanda, which was used in Doctor Strange 2. And it was used in a temple, and the temple was about 32 feet high, and I thought, “Well, I will take that sculpt and lay it into the ceiling.” So it became the ceiling of the hideout.”
Wanda’s sculpt is certainly a striking centerpiece, and one of the more consequential set pieces in the MCU given its association with the prophecy that Scarlet Witch could either destroy or rule the cosmos. OtherDeadpool & WolverineEaster eggsfeatured in the same scene include Hulk’s bed fromThor: Ragnarok, which is fashioned out of the skull of some hulking alien creature, and Captain Marvel’s table from her ship. It stands to reason that the void would be the place to feature such a hodgepodge of items - but they also help to placate my previous concerns.
Deadpool & Wolverine’s Scarlet Witch Reference Actually Honor Wanda
Scarlet Witch’s Effigy Appears Alongside Props Associated With Other Beloved Marvel Heroes
Raymond Chan’s instructions to include nondescript Easter eggs in the hideout suggest thatthere was never really a deeper meaning to the appearance of Wanda’s statue. In fact, to have this effigy feature alongside - and even tower above - several other objects associated with suchbeloved Marvel charactersas Hulk and Captain Marvel is a touching tribute to Wanda. This is in addition to the myriad characters of yesteryear that make appearances, including the resistance members themselves.
Is Scarlet Witch Really Dead? & 8 Other Burning Questions From Agatha All Along
Following in the footsteps of its predecessor WandaVision, the new Marvel series Agatha All Along poses a number of important questions and mysteries.
I’d even go one step further and suggest that making Wanda’s statue the centerpiece of a distinctly heroic setting, which contains the items belonging to superheroes and the heroes that inhabit the hideout,helps detach Wanda from her villainous turn in her last cinematic outing. It even helps to keep Wanda at the forefront of the audience’s minds, perhaps suggesting her story is not over yet. Combined withAgatha All Alongpersistently questioning the fate of Wanda Maximoff, I’m now feeling more confident than ever about her MCU return.
I Still Hope Scarlet Witch Returns To The MCU After Deadpool & Wolverine
Recent Comments From Kevin Feige Seem To Confirm That Scarlet Witch Is Going To Return To The MCU
Deadpool & Wolverine’s Scarlet Witch reference was followed by several inAgatha All Alongthat cast significant doubt on the permanence of her death. Her body was featured in the first episode, where Rio Vidal - who was laterrevealed to be Death personified- assured Agatha that Wanda was “Gone.” The fact that Death did not use “Dead” to describe her fate is conspicuous.Kevin Feige himself, meanwhile, gave credence to the notion that Wanda would returnwith recent comments made toOmelete, stating:
We had Agatha All Along on Disney+ just now, and that series was great for us. Since then, many questions have remained in fans' minds about Wanda… So, all I can say is we are excited to find out when and how Scarlet Witch can return.
I think this comment speaks for itself - namely, thatit’s not a matter of “if” Scarlet Witch will return, but “when.“The “how,” on the other hand, suggests that Wanda’s MCU return hasn’t always been in the pipeline - though Feige could be being intentionally vague. Regardless of whether it was always planned or not, however, the fact thatDeadpool & Wolverinedid not solidify Wanda’s death with its inclusion of the Darkhold Castle statue is a win in my eyes, and I’m now looking forward to learning when she will reappear to fully redeem herself.
Deadpool & Wolverine
Cast
A follow-up to the highly successful Deadpool and Deadpool 2 films starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The third film will be the first in the franchise to be developed under the Marvel Studios banner following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox.
