MCU: Rumour Has It We'll Next See The Scarlet Witch On The Witches' Road- But What Is The Witches' Road?

While Wanda Maximoff has been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the closing chapters of Phase Two, the one-time supporting player's transformation into the Scarlet Witch in WandaVision made her one of the biggest breakout characters of Phase Four, as well as a force to be reckoned with in-universe. She proves this further with her memorable villain turn in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

After shaking the Darkhold's influence in the latter film, and her attempted redemption by destroying the book in every universe, Wanda is currently believed dead, having stayed behind as Mount Wundagore collapsed. Most fans believe this is probably not the case, both because we never saw a body, and because a character with the Scarlet Witch's reality-warping abilities is likely one of the best defences against a time-meddler like Kang.

While we are aware that Wanda is most likely not dead, Marvel is keeping mum about when or where she will return, most likely to preserve the surprise when it happens. However, a new rumour suggests that MCU fans will next see the Scarlet Witch in a location known as the Witches' Road. This is likely a known location to comic readers, particularly those that follow Scarlet Witch-centric stories, but fans of mostly onscreen mediums may be feeling a little out-of-the loop.

Here's what you need to know.

What is the Witches' Road?

In the comics, the Witches' Road is a mystical realm only accessible to magic users, ie, Witches and Sorcerors. The Witches' Road can be difficult to detect and enter, so usually, only truly talented magic users make it in without trouble.

The Witches' Road is so vast and steeped in all forms of magic imaginable, making it difficult to detect or track an individual magic user once they have entered. For this reason, it is not recommended to walk The Witches' Road alone.

Wanda's connection to The Witches' Road in the comics

In James Robinson's 2016 Scarlet Witch comic run, featuring Wanda and the ghost of Agatha Harkness on a journey to fix a problem with the world's Witchcraft, the Witches' Road plays a major role in the story. The Road is first featured when Wanda ventures into it in pursuit of the Emerald Warlock, who has been murdering the descendants of a powerful coven to break a blood-bound spell preventing the Warlock from cursing the country of Ireland. The Warlock believes the power boost granted by the Witches' Road will allow him to defeat Wanda by draining her magic, but Wanda outsmarts and defeats him by luring him into the realm of the Mother Goddesses, where magic with a feminine energy is enhanced, while the masculine is reduced.

Towards the end of the story, Wanda learns that to repair the world's broken magic, Wanda must travel further down the Witches' Road than any before her have reached. She is accompanied by the spirits of her biological Mother, Natalya, and Agatha Harkness, with the three of them forming the mystical trio of Mother, Maiden, and Crone.

The three witches discover the Goddess of Witchcraft battling, and struggling, against a Chaos entity, and work together to help drive the entity away. Unfortunately, the Goddess is seriously injured, so Natalya sacrifices her own soul to the Goddess to ensure magic lives on. Agatha is miraculously restored to life, likely as a reward for her role in helping the Goddess. Wanda found the whole adventure surprisingly healing, resolving to officially rejoin the Avengers.

What could all this mean for the MCU?

If Wanda did in fact survive the fall of Wundagore, which seems more likely than not, then the Witches' Road would probably seem an appealing next step, especially if it functions the same way as the comics. The difficulty of detecting someone on the Witches' Road could go towards explaining why Wanda could be easily assumed dead, and also probably serves a purpose. In the comics, after events such as 'House of M', Wanda does not want to be found. This is probably also true for Wanda in the MCU, who has developed a tendency to withdraw when things go wrong.

In the comics, Wanda views her adventure on The Witches' Road as an important step on her own road to redemption. Again, this could also potentially be the case for MCU Wanda, with some fans claiming the Witches' Road storyline as a good fit for the long-rumoured Scarlet Witch solo film. Alternatively, Wanda and the Witches' Road could factor into a third Doctor Strange film (which many fans are expecting to take one of the still-empty release dates between now and Secret Wars), continuing the arc started in Multiverse of Madness.

Wherever we ultimately see her next, fans are eager for the Scarlet Witch's return. It will be an exciting day when official news comes.