Elizabeth Olsen cautions future Marvel stars against signing multi-movie deals: ‘Just give them one’

Elizabeth Olsen has some words of wisdom for any actor thinking about suiting up to play a Marvel superhero – cautioning them against multi-movie deals. 

The 34-year-old WandaVision star – who recently took a chic walk in Los Angeles – has been a mainstay in the Marvel Universe since 2015, playing the Scarlet Witch in six films and two streaming shows. 

Drawing on all that experience, Olsen went on the Happy Sad Confused podcast and told host Josh Horowitz how she would advise any future superhero. 

Olsen said that actors should only commit to just one film in the beginning in order to maintain more control. 

‘I say, just give them one [movie],’ she said. ‘I think that way you have more control.’

The Avengers: Endgame star went on to explain why dipping a toe in with one film is smarter than jumping with both feet. 

She said: ‘If you, let’s say, you’re like, “Oh my God, this is 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.’

Elizabeth has voiced her frustration with being contractually obligated for multiple Marvel films in the past. 

Speaking to the New York Times last year, she alluded to losing out on major roles because they conflicted with her Marvel schedule.

‘It took me away from the physical ability to do certain jobs that I thought were more aligned with the things I enjoyed as an audience member,’ said Olsen. ‘And this is me being the most honest.’

The leading lady admitted that one of these ‘certain jobs’ was a role in The Lobster – Yorgos Lanthimos’ acclaimed Oscar-nominated 2015 surreal comedy. 

Elaborating on her professional ‘frustration,’ Elizabeth told the New York Times that she was sacrificing passion projects for ‘job security.’

‘I started to feel frustrated,’ she said. ‘I had this job security but I was losing these pieces that I felt were more part of my being. And the further I got away from that, the less I became considered for it.’

Ask Elizabeth: Drawing on all her experience, Olsen went on the Happy Sad Confused podcast and told host Josh Horowitz how she would advise any future superhero; seen 2022

Don’t go all in: ‘I say, just give them one [movie],’ she said. ‘I think that way you have more control’; pictured in Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Tread lightly: ‘If you, let’s say, you’re like, “Oh my God, this is 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’; pictured in Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Speaking from experience: The WandaVision star has been a mainstay in the Marvel Universe since 2015, playing the Scarlet Witch in six films and two streaming shows; pictured in Captain America – Civil War (2016)

It was once standard fare for actors to sign massive, multi-movie deals with Marvel, with stars like Samuel L. Jackson agreeing to nine films up front. 

But those days are reportedly done, as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021. 

Free from her multi-film obligations as the Scarlet Witch, Elizabeth has been showcasing her ample talents in a juicy new role outside of the Marvel Universe. 

She has received positive reviews for her portrayal of real-life murderer Candy Montgomery in the Max limited series Love & Death, playing a churchgoing mother who would eventually pickup an ax and murder her friend in 1980.