WandaVision’s original ending had the cameo fans were waiting for
Marvel kicked off 2021 with WandaVision, its first-ever live-action series for Disney+. The twisty show had Marvel furiously predicting what would happen next, which led to some disappointment when the finale arrived and the theories didn’t pan out. But it turns out viewers weren’t wrong about everything they thought would go down over the course of Wanda and Vision’s nine-episode story.
Leading into the end of the season, rumors surfaced that the final episodes would feature a cameo from a major MCU character. While some were hopeful that more X-Men stars would follow Evan Peters’ lead and officially merge the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the 20th Century Fox films, others assumed that Doctor Strange would show up. (Wanda had been confirmed to play an important role in the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.)
Of course, Evan Peters’ appearance as Quicksilver wound up being the only major superhero cameo of the season, but apparently, it wasn’t always going to pan out that way.
Speaking with Rolling Stone, WandaVision lead writer Jac Schaeffer confirmed that the original plan was to give Doctor Strange a “short cameo” in the series. So what happened? According to Schaeffer, tacking that onto the end simply didn’t feel right.
"So early outlines had varying versions of the two of them [Wanda and Dr. Strange] kind of riding off into the sunset together. And it didn’t feel quite right. We wanted to fulfill Wanda’s agency and autonomy within this particular story. So it did feel a little tacked on."
Jac Schaeffer didn’t want Doctor Strange to detract from Wanda’s story
At its heart, WandaVision is a character study about the grief Wanda feels after losing Vision in Avengers: Infinity War. With the focus intentionally placed on her character, Schaeffer worried that bringing in Doctor Strange might detract from Wanda’s development, something that would be especially discouraging given that WandaVision is Marvel’s second project completely centered on a woman:
"Some people might say, “It would’ve been so cool to see Dr. Strange,” but it would have taken away from Wanda, which is what we didn’t want to do. We didn’t want the end of the show to be commoditized to go to the next movie, or, “Here’s the white guy, let me show you how power works.” That wasn’t what we wanted to say."
Fortunately, Marvel fans will still get to see the Scarlet Witch and the Sorcerer Supreme team up when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness arrives in theaters next year.
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