Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange sequel – Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness – premiered in theaters in the United States on Friday.
The superhero film, which is part of Phase Four of the MCU, promises plenty of high-octane action and supernatural theatrics, as Dr. Stephen Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, joins other familiar cast members Benedict Wong (Wong), Rachel McAdams (Christine Palmer) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Karl Mordo), who all reprise their roles.
This go-around, Elizabeth Olsen is among the newcomers (who reprises her role as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch from other MCU productions), some seven years after making her MCU debut in 2015’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron.
Looking for guidance on how to navigate the superhero genre during her initial debut, Olsen admits she studied franchise veteran Scarlett Johansson, who played Black Widow across several films.
‘I remember being on Ultron and seeing how she was with the crew,’ Olsen told Variety.
‘I was just amazed by her ease and her comfort and how she includes the crew in everything, and how she makes everyone part of the team and feel excited to come to work.’
Seeing the results of Johansson’s interaction on the set first-hand, Olsen confessed,’ I’ve really taken that into my life since then.’
Being that she now has seven years in the MCU, the roles have reversed for Olsen, who is now the veteran on the se
It’s especially the case for the other newcomers on the scene like Michael Stuhlbarg (Dr. Nicodemus West) and Xochitl Gomez (America Chavez), who was only just 16-years-old.
Olsen admitted that it’s a little ‘shocking’ to now be in the position of a pseudo-mentor, but admitted ‘it’s amazing that we’ve gone through [iterations of the MCU] and it’s been this long, that now we have these different ages of women.’
While Multiverse Of Madness is a direct sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange film, it also follows many of the plot lines in the acclaimed Disney+ series Wandavision, which starred Olsen and Paul Bettany as Wanda and the android Vision, respectively.
‘Getting to do Wandavision and then coming into this film, my priority was, how do we continue the thread, but how do we also make it different?’ Olsen recalled, adding, ‘How is there an evolution, how can we keep it exciting for the fans? And how can we ground her and show them something they haven’t seen yet?’
With that in mind, the actress admitted she is really looking forward to hearing the fans’ response to this new film, adding, ‘I think everyone’s in for a ride.’
It appears many people are onboard for that ride, as the film has experienced the biggest domestic opening of 2022, with a projected earning of over $200 million at the box office in its first weekend of release.
Written by Michael Waldron and directed by Sam Raimi, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness is the 28th movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
While there’s a lot to admire about Scarlet Witch, Olsen is also touching on why she doesn’t want kids to look to her as a role model.
‘I think the thing that I worry about is when people start saying, ‘Is she a role model to children?,’ she began, in an interview with Comicbook.com.
‘And I don’t like answering that question at all because she is a woman who’s made big mistakes, and I don’t want to think of her as a role model, encouraging kids to make similar violent mistakes.’
She continued, ‘Yeah. The only thing that worries me is she became this thing that even little kids loved and then we’re really pushing it with this one. So that’s the one thing where I’m like, ‘I don’t want to answer role model questions.”
SOURCE: dailymail.co.uk