It's Officially The End Of An Era For Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch

Published Sep 11, 2026, 8:30 PM EDT

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Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch has not appeared in the MCU for four years, but the end of her era is upon us, nonetheless. Scarlet Witch's MCU return has been one of the biggest sources of theories and discussion in the MCU over the last half-decade. Since her apparent "death" in the final moments of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, audiences have been working non-stop to construct head-canon explanations as to how she could return to the franchise alive and well.

Moving into the last few months of 2026, the biggest theory has concerned Scarlet Witch's revival as one of Avengers: Doomsday's many characters. However, with the release date for that film edging ever closer, there is still no evidence to suggest this is the case. Interestingly, though, despite Scarlet Witch being "dead" in the MCU for the last four years and no concrete proof to confirm her impending return, the coming months will still usher in the end of an era for Elizabeth Olsen's character. This conclusion will come in the form of Vision Quest's MCU story.

Although this show is also not likely to feature Scarlet Witch's so-called revival, it is inherently linked to her as a character. Vision Quest is the final installment in a trilogy Marvel Studios has been working on since 2021, with WandaVision and Agatha All Along serving as the preceding two installments. The former focused on Wanda's grief after Avengers: Endgame, culminating in the construction of an idyllic life using her reality-warping powers, complete with a revived Vision and their two children, Tommy and Billy Maximoff. This ended tragically, though, with Wanda accepting her reality and dissolving her hex, family included.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and, more thoroughly, Agatha All Along, then explored how Billy and Tommy could be real in the MCU after all. Agatha All Along, as the second installment of this trilogy, showed how Billy's soul found the body of the recently deceased Billy Kaplan and ended with the Maximoff wizard searching for his brother, Tommy. Vision Quest will conclude this search, as White Vision, filled with regular Vision's memories, finds Tommy Shephard/Maximoff, bringing the WandaVision trilogy full circle.

Scarlet Witch has been an MCU mainstay since 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, with all of her stories, individual or team-up, culminating here. Yes, she is long "dead" as far as the MCU's main timeline is concerned, but the grief of her losses in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame is still central to the franchise in 2026. When Tommy and Vision unite in Vision Quest and possibly come across Billy, the Maximoff family will be together once more, ending the Scarlet Witch's 10-year MCU era.

Despite The End Of The Trilogy, Scarlet Witch Will Likely Return

Vision Quest will cap off the trilogy that began with WandaVision, but it is still highly likely that the Scarlet Witch will return to the MCU. This return, or, more aptly, the state of the franchise upon it, will explain why she will be part of a new era going forward. After Vision Quest, the MCU's full attention turns to the two massive Avengers movies on the horizon. Both will conclude the Multiverse Saga with Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom at their center, and the rest of the MCU's heroes surrounding him.

Vision Quest's story means that, while Scarlet Witch is likely to be revealed as alive in one of the upcoming Avengers movies, the story that began with her character in 2015 has run its course. Beyond that, Scarlet Witch will be dealing with Doom, Battleworld, or, if her revival takes longer than assumed, the rise of the MCU's mutants. After Avengers: Secret Wars, it is expected that the X-Men will be the franchise's main focus, officially placing Scarlet Witch and any other MCU heroes that survive the 2027 film in a new era entirely.

Scarlet Witch's New Era Could Be The Perfect Reboot

With all of this in mind, Scarlet Witch's transition into a new MCU era could be perfectly timed. As already mentioned, the MCU's X-Men movie is picking up steam and, in the original comics, Scarlet Witch is one of the more powerful mutants ever born as the daughter of Magneto. The MCU changed this, but with Avengers: Secret Wars set to be a soft reboot of the franchise, she could be changed into a mutant and tied more heavily into the upcoming saga of the X-Men.

One story that audiences have wanted to see on-screen for decades is a House of M adaptation, in which Scarlet Witch uses her reality-bending abilities to wipe out all mutants. Elements of this story were used in WandaVision, with the MCU show being heavily inspired by the storyline, but it is yet to be translated into live-action properly. With Scarlet Witch's current era coming to an end, an X-Men-heavy MCU on the horizon, and a soft reboot imminent, Elizabeth Olsen's new era could be perfectly timed.