Scarlet Witch Returns In TVA #5, Complicating Her MCU Status [Exclusive]

Scarlet Witch’s future in the MCU seems to be in limbo right now. Her death is ambiguous enough to undo, but for now, the movies and TV show tie-ins have been going forward as if she is truly dead.

On one hand, Olsen has said she’d play Wanda again if she thought the story was right. “Agatha All Along” also teed up the reunion of Billy and Tommy Maximoff, aka Wiccan (Joe Locke) and Speed, with their mother. But Olsen/Wanda also wasn’t included in the cast list for the upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday.”

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“TVA” might be the last Wanda appearance fans can get for a while. But is this actually the MCU Wanda? The comic definitely wants you to think it is. Again, her costume is identical to “Multiverse of Madness.” In the preview pages below, Nightmare directly references Wanda’s “death” at Mount Wundagore, then claims the TVA saved and imprisoned her. 

When Gwen confronts Wanda, imploring her to choose goodness, Wanda says Gwen sounds like the last people who tried to make her change. That would be Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), Reed Richards (John Krasinski), and Professor X (Patrick Stewart) from Earth-838, etc.

Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Shortly after the release of “TVA” #3, Pérez claimed in a since-deleted Instagram post that the Wanda glimpsed in the comic was the MCU version. “The other question, if it means that this comic is MCU continuity or any other issues about how this ties in with the movies or other comics, please ask the editor Jordan White, the writer Katharyn Blair, or, I don’t know … Kevin Feige?” he added.

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But he then backtracked in a follow-up post, saying the exact opposite:

“Okay, I think I must clarify this: the Scarlet Witch that appears in our ‘TVA’ book is NOT the MCU Wanda. That’s a very similar variant, please check out the next issues of the book for further information. I’m sorry if I brought any confusion with my previous post (which I have taken down to avoid more confusion). So, that was me putting my foot on my mouth, as I do most of the time. MCU and Marvel Comics are not the same thing.”

Here’s how I read this. Katharyn Blair (who wrote for “Loki” season 2) is writing “TVA” as if it’s canon to the MCU. The comic uses the aesthetic and ensemble from the MCU’s TVA, including black-and-orange uniforms and original characters like Miss Minutes. But the comic isn’t officially sanctioned MCU “canon,” because if the movies do ever bring Wanda back, they won’t bind themselves trying to accommodate this comic. Hence, the “very similar variant” cop-out Pérez used.

The Wanda Maximoff in “TVA” may not have the same future as the “true” MCU one, but it seems like she has the same past! At a certain point, arbitrary labels about “canon” become pedantic. If she looks and acts like the Wanda Maximoff who Elizabeth Olsen played, she might as well be.

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“TVA” #5 is scheduled for print and digital release on Wednesday, April 30, 2025.