Long before the release of Wanda Vision on Disney Plus, avid and casual Marvel fans alike noticed something curious about Wanda Maximoff. When Elizabeth Olsen's character first appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she and her twin brother Pietro (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in "Avengers: Age of Ultron") had very distinct Sokovian accents. By the time "Wander Vision" was released, however, that accent had disappeared.
Not surprisingly, fans assumed that Wanda's accent had faded over time, despite her European heritage. This makes sense, given that she spent the past several years in the U.S. with the rest of the Avengers.
Editor's note: There are spoilers for Wanda Vision ahead.
However, in a recent interview with Collider, Elizabeth Olsen confirmed that Wanda's accent is not gone forever.
"It's not going anywhere. There is a reason for everything. It has lightened since I started living in the U.S., and it hasn't gone away because I play a role in an American sitcom in 'Wanda Vision. It's definitely still there."
Olsen also talked about how his Sokovian accent came about before the filming of Age of Ultron." The Sokovian accent was created by me, Aaron, and the dialect coach. The Black Widow speaks Russian, so we wanted to make sure it didn't sound Russian," she said.
In other words, according to the actress who plays Scarlet Witch herself, there is an explanation behind Wanda's personality change. We have already begun to see hints of Wanda's accent returning in Wanda Vision, the most recent example being when she temporarily left Westview to threaten S.W.O.R.D. agents.
For those who have forgotten the history of Wanda's accent changes, here is a brief film-by-film summary. Spoiler alert (obviously).
Wanda Maximoff, also known as Scarlet Witch in the comics, first appeared in the MCU in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, along with her twin brother Pietro (Quicksilver). The two first appeared as enemies, then sided with the Avengers to defeat Ultron, the villain of the film's title.
Because of her Sokovian heritage, Wanda's heavy European accent is consistent throughout the film. It can be heard below:
Wanda's accent is consistent throughout "Captain America: Civil War," indicating that Wanda's Sokovian accent has already begun to wane. The film's directors, the Russo brothers, admitted on their podcast Happy Sad Confused that the change in Wanda's pronunciation was a direct result of Black Widow's training her to go undercover as a spy.
This makes sense considering that when we first see Wanda in this film, she is working undercover in Lagos, Nigeria. However, despite being more American, a very subtle hint of her original accent remained.
After the events of "Civil War," Wanda spent two years on the run with Team Cap. At this point, her accent was nonexistent. In fact, unlike what we saw in Wanda Vision, Wanda's "Americanized" accent persisted even in the most stressful situations (having to kill her beloved Vision and having to watch him die again at the hands of Thanos comes to mind).
When "Wanda Vision" was released, Wanda's accent became a hot topic again. Each episode was modeled after a different period of American sitcom history, and Wanda's accent reflected this. Olsen's co-star, Emma Caulfield, also said that she worked with a vocal coach to get the Mid-Atlantic accent right for the sitcom
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However, Wanda's accent first began to break down in episode 3, when she mentioned her brother Pietro for the first time since "Age of Ultron."
In episode 5, we witness Wanda leaving her false reality to threaten the S.W.O.R.D. agents trying to free Westview. So far, her character has only been broken in moments of great emotional stress or anger. So, it looks like there is more to come.
If you need a refresher on what has happened so far at Wanda Vision before this week's episode, be sure to check out Episode 5.
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