Marvel is making the movie we've all been waiting for

Marvel Studios has a lot of projects in development. That's great news for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, but it has forced the studio to rethink some of its release strategies in recent months due to a few misses at the box office - a first for the franchise - which has resulted in fears of quantity over quality.

There are still a number of projects in the works, but a number of them are reportedly on hold at the moment. That could be down to the fact that they were initially envisioned to be a part of the Multiverse Saga but are now being held until it's over, or it could have to do with the fact Marvel is unsure of how to proceed with these projects for the time being (Blade and Armor Wars have been stuck in development for years now).

Nevertheless, there has been one project that has been rumored for years now that had yet to be officially addressed by Marvel. Reports claimed it would happen at some point, and not even developments in certain MCU projects that seemed to suggest otherwise could explain those reports away. And now, we have what is perhaps the most significant - and promising - update yet.

A Scarlet Witch movie is reportedly in development at Marvel Studios

According to a new report from Production Weekly, a Scarlet Witch solo movie starring Elizabeth Olsen is finally in development at Marvel Studios. Adding to the potential excitement, the report claims that it's set for a 2026 release with WandaVision and Agatha All Along creative team Jac Schaeffer and Megan McDonnell set to write the script.

Although it's important to take any report with a pinch of salt, Production Weekly is normally a reliable source of information but , as with anything related to production, things are subject to change. But one element that does ensure it carries a bit more weight on this occasion is the 2026 release date that is listed. Marvel currently has three projects lined up for release in 2026, one of which is Avengers: Doomsday on May 1. The other two projects, however, are untitled; one of which is listed for a release date of February 13 and the other on November 6. One is expected to be Spider-Man 4, meaning that the other one could very well be that long-awaited Scarlet Witch movie.

In all honesty, it would make sense to have the movie while the Multiverse Saga is still ongoing. Marvel originally set the character of Wanda Maximoff up to be one of the leaders of the Multiverse Saga, with Disney Plus series WandaVision finally seeing her become the Scarlet Witch, positioning her as one of the central characters of the MCU. She then played an incredibly important role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as the corruption she experienced at the hands of the Darkhold ended up turning her into the film's villain.

Fans were disheartened about the way that the film handled Wanda's arc as she quickly devolved into villainy and then seemingly died when she sacrificed herself to save Doctor Strange and America Chavez - and indeed, the world - from the dangers of the Darkhold. It was an abrupt way of writing the character off considering how important Phase Four had set her up to be prior to that point, so the film wasn't all that well-received from that point-of-view.

Even so, the rumors of that Scarlet Witch movie have persisted. And Olsen herself has spoken of how eager she would be to return to the MCU franchise at some point, telling Dublin radio station FM104 that she was blessed by how well Marvel had used the character since her introduction in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron and that she would be happy to return if they had the right storyline for her:

"So if there’s a good way to use her I’m always happy to come back, however they can make that make sense,"

Olsen is expected to reprise her role in Vision Quest, the WandaVision spinoff focused on Paul Bettany's White Vision, which films in 2025, but that will likely be in flashbacks. But it sounds like that could be just the beginning of her comeback to the franchise.

If the rumors of the Scarlet Witch movie turn out to be true, it goes without saying that Marvel fans would be thrilled to see it finally come to fruition. Given how important the character was in the early days of the Multiverse Saga, it's imperative that they bring her back to do her arc justice. Now might be the time to make that happen.

Go on Marvel, you know the fans are ready for it!