Avengers: Doomsday: is Wanda Maximoff hiding among the witches?

Is Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff in Avengers: Doomsday or not? I think we've picked up several big hints that she could be in the film in some way. They range from a changed Disney+ thumbnail to the masked Latverian witches who keep turning up in Marvel's marketing.

Marvel has officially stated that Wanda died in Vision Quest, but as a magic expert, I don't believe them. Vision is an AI, and AI makes mistakes and gives misleading information. Vision might only be saying she's buried under a mountain to keep up his WandaVision denial, and to justify building a data center on top of Mount Wundagore.

Disney+ moved Doctor Strange and Wanda into Doctor Doom's world

Marvel Studios recently released new posters for Avengers: Doomsday. One of them, the ScreenX poster, shows Doctor Doom with his Latverian witches in front of green stained glass. We've seen that same setting across much of the marketing, especially in Marvel Entertainment's official Doomsday countdown.

For whatever reason, many Disney+ users noticed that Marvel changed the thumbnail art for 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It still shows Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange and Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff, but now against the same backdrop of Doom's castle. Depending on where you live or what device you use, you may or may not see it. Disney+ may already have updated or changed it once fans started to catch on.

The Marvel titles flagged on Disney+ as Doomsday essentials all have a green glow around their thumbnails, at least when we checked. But compare this image of Strange and Wanda with the ScreenX poster or the current countdown, and it seems like someone wanted us to see these two sorcerers in the same position as Doctor Doom and his crew. That's strange, because neither actor has been officially announced six weeks before release, which suggests their appearances are being kept as surprises.

Could Wanda or Doctor Strange be hiding among the Latverian witches?

I see this as another sign for a theory we've floated. Among these Latverian witches, there could be a variant of Wanda Maximoff, or possibly the Earth-616 Wanda, because she didn't die. The same theory holds that the masked figure with holes in the forehead, who we've been assuming is Boris, could actually be Doctor Strange.

Please don't be fooled by fan made or AI generated posters showing three Latverian witches, with the one in the middle making Wanda's signature hand gesture. That isn't a real poster. You can tell because a red tint has been added to the middle witch. In the other artwork, in the trailers, and when I saw the costume in person at Comic-Con, that witch wore a dark orange that is close to brown. There isn't a trace of red in any of them.

What Jennifer White's Instagram post does and doesn't prove about Elizabeth Olsen

Another clue I think we should look at is the image of the witches used in the ScreenX poster, which fans recently found. It was shared on Instagram by Jennifer White, a choreographer and movement coach on several films. She handled Elizabeth Olsen's stunt and movement work in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Infinity War, Endgame, WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The Scarlet Witch's movements across all of those projects were taught by her.

That suggests White worked on this film too, for some reason. For context, though, Marvel also brought her back to choreograph the witches' movement in Agatha All Along, and to advise on Sue Storm's movement in Fantastic Four. So Jennifer White's involvement doesn't mean Elizabeth Olsen is definitely in the movie. It could simply be that White advised on how these witches move, whoever they are, and whether or not one of them is Wanda.

An Elizabeth Olsen flight sighting and a Sanctum Sanctorum T-shirt

Since we're tracking possible Elizabeth Olsen clues, Alex from The Escape Pod podcast told me something odd. He claimed that Olsen was on his flight from London back to Los Angeles in late August, even though only a few weeks had passed since she gave birth.

There were also T-shirts at the Heroes and Villains booth at New York Comic-Con that listed the Earth-616 Sanctum Sanctorum as one of the places Doom's Sentinels go in Avengers: Doomsday. Even if Wanda isn't at the Sanctum, Doctor Strange would surely be there. And if he's in the movie, my guess is that Wanda's chances of being in it are much higher too.

Spotlighting the Latverian witches would be strange for Avengers: Doomsday marketing if they stay faceless

Either way, I think we should be careful with all this Wanda speculation. Those of us who want to see her in Avengers: Doomsday will probably go overboard combing every shot of the Doomsday marketing and Vision Quest, even searching for Elizabeth Olsen's face in every tortilla. Still, we have to acknowledge how central the witches have been to this whole campaign.

When Robert Downey Jr. was first announced as Doctor Doom at San Diego Comic-Con in 2024, he shared the stage with many masked, robed servants of Doom. Looking back, those may have been early versions of the Latverian witches, before their real costumes were made. Unmasking to reveal yourself the way Downey did is an old Comic-Con tradition, I know. But I think Marvel and the Russo brothers realized in that moment, and I was in the room for it, how effective it is to unsettle fans with sorcerers dressed like Doom and then surprise them with a familiar face behind the mask.

That's why I think the witches moved to the center of the marketing two years later at San Diego Comic-Con 2026. Marvel's official display booth placed them in every part of its daily countdown, and far more posters than the ScreenX one put them front and center. If they end up as faceless, silent servants of Doctor Doom, and we never learn who's behind the masks, like the Salem Seven in Agatha All Along, then giving them this much attention is a strange choice for the marketing of an Avengers movie.

Doctor Doom needs to beat the MCU's big sorcerers on screen

Yes, an Avengers movie. Its whole appeal is seeing many familiar faces return together. This film is being sold on Chris Evans' comeback, and on Paul Rudd's comic confusion over whether he is Cap, Anthony Mackie is Cap, or both of them are. Thor rolls his eyes and fusses over who gets Mjolnir, then gets beaten by Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom. That's the kind of marketing Marvel is counting on to help the film earn billions.

So where do masked, robed witches fit in? Sure, they're there to highlight a particular side of Doom's power, especially in trailer shots where he defeats Thor and others. Above all, Doom has to be a master sorcerer. But to sell that threat to audiences, particularly people returning without having seen other Marvel films, this movie needs to show Doom defeating the characters those audiences know as the MCU's big sorcerers. To me, that's the biggest hint that Doctor Strange and Wanda Maximoff being in the film is essential. Marvel may be using the Latverian witches to hint at their presence, so that after release we look back at those Comic-Con posters and think, "Oh, they were there from the start."

Marvel fans want the Russo brothers to do the thing

Then again, this may all be in my head, and in ours. The real question is how much Kevin Feige and the Russo brothers see Avengers: Doomsday as a mission to deliver what audiences expect. Will they make up for the unmet expectations of other Multiverse Saga films and finally do the thing?

I've been through the same thing you have. We've been let down again and again by other Marvel titles, especially when Kevin Feige was too busy and left a project with another executive, and a director or showrunner was hired cheaply after others said no. Then, when a season or movie ends and audiences are disappointed, the people behind it go to Variety or The Wrap and say something like, "We know you expected that, but we didn't want to tell that story." Or that they didn't want to do something obvious. But their audience mostly wants them to do the obvious thing, as long as it's done very well or with a bit of surprise.

Marvel fans don't want to be surprised; they want to be proven right. The Russo brothers approached Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame with a big vision. They weren't afraid of the obvious move, and they delivered it brilliantly and with surprises. In Civil War, they brought the iconic comic cover of Iron Man versus Captain America to the screen and ended the film with those characters still at odds. They made a successful Civil War movie without Thor or Hulk and kept fans happy by bringing in Spider-Man and Black Panther.

Infinity War did the thing as well. Thanos really snapped his fingers, and Peter Parker really turned to dust. Endgame did it too, with a five year time jump, time travel and a huge final battle that ended with Wong asking if they wanted more. I realize "do the thing" is probably the least elegant way to describe the storytelling strategy of the biggest film franchise in the world. I also can't say whether these directors and executives consider Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff to be as essential a piece of fan service as the other returning characters.

The Russo brothers gave Wanda more screen time than many Avengers

But the Russo brothers love Wanda. In Civil War, Infinity War and Endgame, she got surprisingly more weight than many Marvel heroes you'd expect to do more. In Avengers: Infinity War, Wanda Maximoff had the eighth most screen time of all the main characters. That's more than Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, Steve Rogers, Rocket, Natasha, Drax, Mantis, Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, Black Panther, Nebula and Loki. Remember, the Russos made two films about Steve Rogers before Infinity War.

And although Wanda spent most of Avengers: Endgame as dust, she still got more screen time than Bucky, T'Challa or Doctor Strange. The Russo brothers understand Wanda Maximoff. They like our girl. These are also the people who introduced Peter Parker to the MCU in Captain America: Civil War, and I think it says a lot that they treat Wanda as being as important as Spider-Man.

So for that reason and many others, with Avengers: Doomsday just six weeks away, I still hope Elizabeth Olsen's face is behind one of those masks.