Compared to recent years, 2026 has been a relatively quiet year for Marvel fans with only three live-action projects having dropped through the first nine months of the year: Daredevil season 2, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and The Punisher: One Last Kill special. While there haven’t been quite as many new releases on the schedule this year, the titles Marvel has rolled out have been among some of the strongest and most well-received Marvel Studios projects. This is a trend we expect will continue as the year comes to a close as Marvel gears up to close 2026 by releasing two of the year’s most highly anticipated projects on the television and movie front.
Of course, on the cinematic end, we have what is shaping up to be one of the biggest movies of the year and one of the biggest ever Marvel movies with the release of Avengers: Doomsday. Meanwhile, on the television front, October will bring about the final chapter in the WandaVision trilogy with the release of VisionQuest.
Both projects are set to bring back some iconic characters within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and fans are eager about the prospect of who might pop up in the two projects. And there’s one name in particular that keeps coming up in connection to both projects: Elizabeth Olsen.
Olsen has been a fixture in the MCU since her proper debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but she’s been MIA in the MCU for four years now following the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Fans never anticipated the film to be Olsen’s final appearance in the MCU and have been anxiously awaiting her return ever since the credits finished rolling on Multiverse of Madness.
Looking ahead to the upcoming releases of VisionQuest and Avengers: Doomsday, it would make sense for Wanda to play a role in one or both of the projects; however, the creative teams behind both continue to cast doubts over whether that will actually happen. There are rumors that Wanda will play a pivotal role in Doomsday, and you would think she would play a key role in VisionQuest given the show is the final chapter in the WandaVision trilogy; however, it seems that fans who are hoping to see Wanda appear in VisionQuest are setting themselves up for disappointment.
VisionQuest showrunner hints Elizabeth Olsen will not appear in the show
While you would think that Wanda would be involved in some capacity within VisionQuest, the show’s showrunner seems to be casting doubts that Olsen will make an appearance in the series.
Speaking with SFX, showrunner Terry Matalas revealed that there is a major moment in the final stretch of the season that features a pivotal scene between Vision and a key character. This character’s involvement was one that Matalas teased they were amazed to be able to pull off, but he was quick to make it clear that he was not teasing the return of Wanda in this moment.
"There’s a moment late in the season that we were running towards, but we didn’t know exactly how we would get there," Matalas told SFX. "Paul had an amazing idea for the kind of scene it should be. Who he is within that particular scene is kind of amazing, and that we were able to pull that off. I want to make sure that people don’t think I’m teasing Wanda, because I’m not teasing Wanda."
Of course, if this is true, and Wanda is not involved in the series, that would be a major disappointment for fans, as there is nothing fans want more (and deserve) than to see Wanda and Vision back together on-screen. It would also be quite strange to envision the final chapter in the WandaVision trilogy coming and going without an appearance from Wanda, as this whole trilogy has been about the pair’s love story and family unit.
If Matalas has not tacked on that final statement about not teasing Wanda, there is no doubt that the conversation would have exclusively focused on Wanda for good reason. Getting Wanda for VisionQuest is something we imagine would have been a big swing to pull off given how things ended for Wanda in Multiverse of Madness. And if this scene is pivotal to the show’s closing act, it again would make sense for Wanda to be involved.
There are many other characters from the WandaVision franchise and the broader MCU that would be fun to see pop up in VisionQuest, but no one’s name tops Olsen's, who is the character fans most want to see in the series. If Wanda is truly not in the series, that’s going to be quite disappointing, but we will ultimately look back on Matalas’ comment and appreciate his candor in being forthcoming. However, we’re also used to being lied to by those within the Marvel bubble, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Matalas is working double duty to try to avoid spoiling Olsen’s return to the MCU.
Hopefully, Matalas is trying to throw fans off his scent and keep Olsen’s return a surprise. With VisionQuest set to premiere on October 14, we’ll know soon enough who this mystery character ends up being and whether Olsen makes a cameo in the show.
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