Elizabeth Olsen Had 1 Fear About Joining a Franchise Like Marvel That Eventually Came True
Elizabeth Olsen had her concerns about someday joining a franchise as big and successful as Marvel earlier in her career. She wasn’t sure she was ready for the effect doing so would have on her personal life.
Elizabeth Olsen worried about always being known for another character in a franchise like Marvel
Olsen was prepared to be with Marvel for a long time when director Joss Whedon first cast her as the Scarlet Witch. Although she was enthusiastic about being a part of the hit series, earlier in her career franchises made Olsen nervous. They might’ve given the actor a sustainable career, but she feared it might be at the cost of her identity.
“I would love to have a long career. For some reason, franchises frighten me, because I think it’s hard when something becomes so big to see you as other characters, and all the baggage that comes with that,” she once told MTV News. “That’s something that frightens me. But none of the tabloid stuff sounds good to me, that all sounds unhealthy. A lot of things are completely out of your control. I’m bad at this, but you have to forget about things that are out of your control.”
It seems that what Olsen was initially worried about might’ve slightly come true. Nowadays, Olsen’s Scarlet Witch is perhaps the actor’s most popular role. But with her future with Marvel up in the air, she felt it was a good time to do more diverse roles.
“I’m trying to figure out… Because, specifically in the last four years, my output has been Marvel,” Olsen told Times of London. “I don’t want… it’s not that I don’t want to be associated as just this character. But I really feel like I need to be building other parts back up for balance. I so much want to do films right now. And I hope some of them come together in the way I feel like they can. But yeah, that’s something that I need. I just need other characters in my life. There’s no longevity in one character.”
Elizabeth Olsen gave advice to anyone planning to sign with Marvel
Olsen advised any potential future Marvel stars to follow her example when it came to Marvel contracts. Many big names in the MCU like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans had to sign multi-year deals with the film studio. Olsen had a less binding contract with Marvel than her co-stars.
“I mean, I also didn’t sign a big contract with Marvel, so I continue to be surprised every time they use me. I wasn’t a title character, so you don’t do that same contract of multiple movies. You only do a little bit at a time. I actually wasn’t put in that situation, so it’s even more surprising when Kevin asked me to do WandaVision,” Olsen told Empire.
She felt other aspiring Marvel stars would be better off going a similar route.
“Just give them one — that’s what I say,” she said in an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
She added that doing so gave actors more of a choice in playing the character.
“Let’s say you’re like, ‘Oh my God, this was the most fun I’ve ever had, and I love this character so much I want to do it again,’ you now have more creative control for the next one,” she said.
Elizabeth Olsen hopes to do something different with Scarlet Witch if she comes back
Despite the character’s uncertain future, Olsen has remained pretty hopeful that the character will return. She also thinks there could be new exciting directions to take her character in if the MCU ever needs her again.
“It’s weird that I’m expecting to return but no one’s told me I’m doing anything! But in my mind, I’m just making the assumption that they’ll have me again. I don’t know to what capacity, but I hope I’m back. I hope there’s also more fun to be had in something different. Where do we go? I feel like we’ve done so much with her. It’s been really a wild couple years with her,” she told Variety.
