The ‘WandaVision’ star opens up about her love for theaters, the magic of moviegoing, and why she’s sticking to indie projects that celebrate the big-screen experience.
Elizabeth Olsen is standing her ground when it comes to how audiences experience her work.
The WandaVision star revealed in a new InStyle magazine cover story that she’s done signing on to big Hollywood studio movies that skip theaters and head straight to streaming.
“I don’t want to make something where [streaming is] the end-all,” Olsen said, explaining that while she’s fine with independent movies that later sell to a streaming service, she believes movies deserve a life on the big screen. “It’s important for people to gather as a community, to see other humans, be together in a space. That’s why I like sports. I think it’s really powerful for people to come together for something they’re excited about.”
Olsen, who first broke out with her indie drama Martha Marcy May Marlene in 2011, has long balanced Hollywood blockbusters with smaller, artistic projects. Since her last Marvel appearance in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, she’s focused almost entirely on independent films, including His Three Daughters (2023), The Assessment (2024), and her upcoming A24 romantic fantasy Eternity.
Only His Three Daughters was backed by a streamer, but even that one got a limited theatrical run before hitting Netflix.
It’s clear Olsen misses the communal excitement that comes with theaters — something she knows firsthand from her time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where she’s played Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, for over a decade.
“Making the films are fun. Goofy. It’s ridiculous,” she said with a laugh. “We’re grown people like children on a playground. We’re flying, we’re shooting things out of our hands. And it’s a character that I’ve gotten to return to so many times over 10 years. It’s good to put her down — then I miss her and want her back. I’d jump at the opportunity to be in her shoes again.”
Olsen also spoke lovingly about the teamwork behind Marvel’s massive productions. “It’s hundreds and hundreds of people on set, all working toward one goal. The people doing the visual effects are artists. The soul, the spirit, the heart is fulfilled doing it,” she said.
While Olsen’s future in the MCU remains uncertain — her last live-action appearance was in Doctor Strange 2, though she recently lent her voice to Disney+’s Marvel Zombies — she’s keeping her focus on passion projects that bring audiences together.
Her next film, Eternity, hits theaters this Thanksgiving and stars Miles Teller and Callum Turner. The story takes place in an afterlife where people have one week to decide who they’ll spend eternity with — a poetic theme for an actress who’s thinking deeply about what really lasts in storytelling.
