MCU Theory: Elizabeth Olsen Could Return To The MCU In 'Vision Quest'.. But Not As The Scarlet Witch

Ever since the debut of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, the character has been a fan favourite, as has her portrayer, Elizabeth Olsen. Despite Wanda's supposed 'death' in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, fans don't think this is the last we've seen of Olsen in the MCU.

Recently, rumours have swirled that Elizabeth Olsen is set to return to the MCU in a project scheduled for filming in 2025. However, a new theory proposes that the actress's return might not come in the form we expect it.

Olsen's possible return projects

The most immediately obvious possibility is that Olsen will return as the Scarlet Witch in an Avengers film. Avengers: Doomsday, the first chapter of a new two-part cinematic Avengers story, featuring Robert Downey Jnr returning to the MCU in a new role as Doctor Victor Von Doom, is currently slated to begin filming in the second quarter of 2025, ready for a May 1, 2026 release date. In the comic story 'Young Avengers: The Children's Crusade', an amnesiac Wanda is briefly romantically entangled with Doom, while more recent stories, such as the 'Darkhold' event, show the two with a more adversarial relationship, as magic users on opposite ends of the morality scale.

While the above may seem the most obvious, it has recently been revealed that the second WandaVision spin off, tentatively titled Vision Quest, is set to film early in 2025, aiming for a 2026 release on Disney Plus.3

This is also a possible project to mark Elizabeth Olsen's MCU return.

What we know about 'Vision Quest'

Soon after the conclusion of WandaVision, rumours began swirling that a Vision-centric spin-off was in the works. While not it's confirmed final title, the series has been referred to as Vision Quest by fans and in press releases. Now believed to begin filming in early 2025, the Series will feature Paul Bettany reprising his role as the revived White Vision, and will serve as the concluding chapter in a trilogy of series including WandaVision and the soon-to-be released Agatha All Along.

While little is currently known about the plot of Vision Quest, it is rumoured to incorporate elements of the 2015 'The Vision' comic series. The comic, now considered a cult classic, sees Vision move to the suburbs and build a new synthezoid family for himself, including a Wife, Virginia, and twin teenage children, Viv and Vin. Unfortunately, Vision's attempts to fit his new family into a regular human life enter the uncanny valley, and things soon go tragically wrong.

If Vision Quest does lift material from this comic, some fans believe it is possible that Elizabeth Olsen will appear in the series not as the Scarlet Witch, but as Vision's synthezoid wife, Virginia Vision.

Why it would make sense for Elizabeth Olsen to play Virginia

Why, some might say, would Elizabeth Olsen play Virginia Vision when she already plays Vision's original love interest, Wanda Maximoff? Well, it makes sense when you consider how Virginia came to be in the comic. In Marvel comics, The use of the brainwaves of Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man, in The Vision's creation are initially believed responsible for his humanity. When he loses these brain patterns he loses many of the human emotions attached to them, leading to his 'White Vision' era and the end of his marriage to Wanda.

Issue #7 of 'The Vision' entails a deep-dive flashback into Wanda and Vision's relationship, and it's aftermath. While Vision does eventually regain his emotions, Wanda had by then moved on with Simon, telling Vision she believes the relationship worked because of Simon's brain patterns.

"He's like you, but he's not you."

Wanting Vision to find similar happiness, Wanda gifts Vision with a copy of her own brain patterns. These brain patterns were used to give life to Virginia Vision, with a mixture of both Vision and Virginia/Wanda's patterns used to create Viv and Vin. This is why in some more recent stories, Wanda harbors some maternal feelings towards Viv Vision, even if Viv does not share this perspective.

Unfortunately, Vision's use of Wanda's brain patterns in creating Virginia, and a subconscious desire to recreate the family he had once lost (Wanda, and their twin sons Tommy and Billy), leads to most of the tragedies that unfold in the twelve issues of 'The Vision'.

Wanda Maximoff is a character who has been through significant mental health struggles throughout her history, and the brain patterns used for Virginia were taken from a time before Wanda had put in years of work to heal herself. Virginia is Wanda without the human experiences and emotions that are sometimes able to temper her in her most troubled moments.

The main point we are making here is that Virginia Vision is a copy of Wanda Maximoff. A dangerously imperfect copy, but a copy nonetheless. As such, Elizabeth Olsen could be the perfect person to play both characters, if that is the route the MCU chooses to go.

Hopefully, we'll get more news on Vision Quest soon, or even a teaser in Agatha All Along when it drops on Disney Plus on September 18.