A sibling to two of the most famous and successful twins in the business world — Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen — Elizabeth Olsen can also be counted among the box office’s most bankable actors, thanks in large part to her role as Scarlet Witch within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As fans await her next superpowered excursion, the actress stepped outside her comfort zone for the new romantic comedy Eternity. To that end, she addressed the difficulties of moving her career forward without ever knowing when the MCU will come calling.
Olsen talked to The Sunday Times about not only her latest role, but also her undying love for living in London when possible, addressing her appreciation for the way Londoners “work to live” instead of “live to work.” Given the Avengers films have filmed in and around Pinewood Studios, located west of England’s capital, one would assume that this is considered a job perk whenever Marvel comes calling for Olsen to reprise her role as Wanda Maximoff.
It’s still not entirely clear whether Elizabeth Olsen’s heroine will show up for the Russo brothers’ Avengers: Doomsday, and her continued denials about appearing admittedly haven’t swayed fans from theorizing. (Marvel posting Scarlet Witch compilations in the midst of such speculation only fueled that fire.) Her latest comments not only gave those fans a shout, but also pointed to the hurdles that come with her MCU attachment. As she put it:
The fans are so loyal and it’s nice to play the same character for ten years, but with Marvel you never know the next time you will be used in a film. So you have to live your life and make decisions to be in things that are important to you in the meantime. I’ve always tried hard to figure out how to do things in between the Marvel films.
Having showcased Scarlet Witch for the MCU’s first TV series, WandaVision, Elizabeth Olsen was able to show off her full gamut of acting talents, and she’s spoken about how that project would be hard to top for anything involving that character. But at the same time, she’s always seemed to be open about returning if/when asked, assuming it’s not just a throwaway appearance.
To that end, though, Olsen still hasn’t been confirmed for any kind of appearance in the upcoming MCU TV series Vision Quest, which is set to feature the first full-on appearance of Tommy Maximoff. Considering Wanda wasn’t around to meet Billy in Agatha All Along, it’d seem imperative for her to show up in the next series, but given it’s following the memory-free White Vision and not the construct she spent time with in WandaVision, it makes sense why she wouldn’t want to spend time bonding with it.
So even though she could pop up in Vision Quest and/or Avengers: Doomsday (or even Secret Wars), Olsen’s career seems to be more populated with non-MCU projects than it has in years past. In the past ten years or so, she’s taken on roles in films like Wind River and The Assessment, as well as heading up the TV shows Sorry for Your Loss and Love & Death. She has around that same number projects currently making progress in some form across both film and TV. As such, it does seem like filling out her non-Marvel career with interesting new projects has gotten easier over time.
Personally, as much as I do love her within dramatic roles, I’d love to see Elizabeth Olsen’s sense of humor on display more often. Though I can’t exactly argue with her take on why comedy isn’t such a hot commodity anymore in Hollywood. As she put it:
Comedy is hard now because culture moves so quickly. It used to be something that larger companies could control and direct and now they are competing with other forms of entertainment. Even in the 2000s the money behind comedies or romantic comedies was as big as it was for action movies. Now it’s of less value because it’s not making money back.
Everything is cyclical, though, so it probably won’t be too much longer before Olsen gets asked to join a Deadpool Vs. The MCU parody where she can both play Scarlet Witch and continue showing off how funny she can be.
Speaking of, Olsen can currently be seen making rom-com magic in Eternity, which is in theaters around the country. Meanwhile, her work as Wanda Maximoff can be viewed in full, as the various Avengers movies and WandaVision are available to stream via Disney+ subscription.