Beware the Queen of the Dead: This article contains spoilers for “Marvel Zombies” season 1, episode 4.
“WandaVision” sent Wanda “Scarlet Witch” Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) down a dark path, and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” finished her transition into a tragic but fearsomely powerful villain. Now, after the events of that movie sent her chilling under the Wundagore Mountain, Wanda has returned for “Marvel Zombies.” Specifically, the series features a sparkling new alternate-universe version of the character in the form of the zombie-controlling Queen of the Dead, an antagonist who’s both strong enough to take on an Infinity Stone-powered Hulk and petty enough to jump scare anyone whenever the opportunity arises (which is surprisingly often).
If we count Wanda’s stint on “WandaVision” as a villain turn (which we absolutely should, since she’s the force who has locked the town of Westview into a hellish sitcom existence and puppeteers everyone), this marks her third go-round as the overarching antagonist in an MCU project. This is a franchise first, since Tom Hiddleston’s Loki (“Thor” and “The Avengers”), Josh Brolin’s Thanos (“Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame”), Jonathan Majors’ Kang variants (“Loki” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”), and James Spader’s Ultron (“Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “What If…”) can only boast two projects apiece. What’s more, she’s been a markedly different villain every time: A sympathetic, secret one on “WandaVision,” a possessed determinator and an occasional stalking horror menace in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” and a duplicitous lich queen who controls an army of the dead and eyes the Infinity Stones on “Marvel Zombies.”
However, all of that is just icing on Wanda’s biggest achievement: In “Marvel Zombies,” she gets to win. A complete, unadulterated victory is virtually unheard-of for an MCU villain, which is yet another reason to crown Wanda as the best antagonist the mega-franchise has seen to date.
Wanda has yet to suffer a conclusive defeat in the MCU
Yes, there are other MCU villains who have racked up major victories. Well, two of them, anyway: Black ops colonel and eventual dance floor fiend Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) of “Captain America: Civil War” fame succeeds in his plan to split up the Avengers, while Thanos closes “Avengers: Infinity War” with the snap that erases half of the universe’s life. However, both wins are temporary. Despite the split, the Avengers are stronger than ever when Thanos rolls along — and, of course, the MCU devotes the entire plot of “Avengers: Endgame” to defeating Thanos and undoing the snap.
Meanwhile, the only thing that has been able to defeat Wanda Maximoff to date is Wanda Maximoff. On “WandaVision,” she voluntarily drops the Westview spell after coming to terms with the situation. In “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” she understands that the Darkhold is influencing her, destroys all of the book’s copies across the Multiverse, and allows Mount Wundagore to bury her. And finally, on “Marvel Zombies,” she simply … wins. The last scene of the season suggests that Wanda has managed to siphon the Infinity Stones’ powers and used them to trap Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) in a fake reality that hides the existence of zombies. If that leaves anything uncertain, the last thing we see is Wanda’s zombified visage sneering at the camera.
After “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” we here at /Film wondered whether Marvel pulled its biggest punch with Wanda or if there are bigger plans for her. In the “Marvel Zombies” universe, at least, the latter seems to be right, and Wanda continues to build her legacy as the most untouchable MCU antagonist.
“Marvel Zombies” is currently streaming on Disney+.
