The Deleted Origin Story of Wanda-838 (Exclusive)

If you’re reading this article, chances are you’ve probably already seen Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. If you have, you might have left the theater with a lot more questions than answers when it comes to the plot. It’s no secret since the film’s premiere that Marvel significantly cut down a number of scenes from the film. One of these storylines was the origin story for the Wanda Maximoff variant in the Illuminati universe.

In the original cut of the movie, this Wanda’s storyline was going probably the darkest thing Marvel Studios had ever done in an MCU film. But the sole purpose of that scene was to place the Illuminati in a far more antagonistic perspective for the audience than how it was ultimately received in the final cut. Originally, when the Dr. Strange Variant of that universe encounters the Darkhold, he also came across the chapter that detailed the Scarlet Witch prophecy. He informed the Illuminati of his findings and they all came to the conclusion of performing a lobotomy on their universe’s Wanda so as to prevent the prophecy from ever happening in that universe. This lobotomy would be performed by none other than their resident telepath, Charles Xavier, who was meant to remove Wanda’s access to her abilities, thus creating “The Domestic Wanda” variant. In order to perform this lobotomy, they needed to consult Wanda’s biological father, which is where the deleted scene with Michael Fassbender as Magneto would have come into play.

Ultimately the scene was cut because it deviated too much from the main storyline and the concept of making heroes like the Illuminati the villains didn’t necessarily test well on screen.