Why Scarlet Witch Doesn't Have An Accent in Avengers: Infinity War

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Why Scarlet Witch Lost Her Accent For Avengers: Infinity War

By Ananda Dillon

Published May 7, 2018

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo offer a plausible, if not entirely satisfactory, reason for Wanda Maximoff's sudden accent change in Infinity War.

After a decade of films, no one can be too surprised by changes to characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For instance, in Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow is blonde and Captain America has a beard. But many fans were puzzled by at least one development in the Marvel Studios sequel: the sudden disappearance of the Scarlet Witch's accent.

Appearing on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, Infinity War directors Joe and Anthony Russo cleared up the mystery, explaining that Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff had barely a trace of her accent due to the events of Captain America: Civil War.

"We have intentionally tried to strip that accent away for a couple of reasons. ... one of the most distinguishing characteristics that [Wanda] has is her accent," Joe Russo said. "So if you’re gonna try to disguise yourself or hide yourself or not be caught, you’re going to try to limit those trigger warnings that would make it easy for someone to identify you, which would be inclusive of her accent... For us, it was very intentional that we would just keep stripping that accent down to show her acclimating and hiding."

Considering Scarlet Witch's abilities, it doesn't necessarily hold up that changing her accent is going to do much to keep attention away from herself, especially when she hasn't altered her appearance. Another reason fans may be skeptical of the Russo brothers' explanation is that, in Infinity War, she's primarily seen in private conversation with Vision (Paul Bettany), where she would be free to speak with her accent or in her primary language.

Still, the Russos tried to sell their reasoning by pointing out the Scarlet Witch isn't the only Avenger to have incorporated some slight changes in an attempt to be more incognito. They said on the podcast that, "Clearly Black Widow as a redhead is an incredibly distinguishing characteristic for her, which is why she has blonde hair," Joe Russo continued. "Cap, we’ve seen Chris Evans walk around in public with a beard and no one recognizes him."

In a world where superheroes and supervillains are a reality, it hardly seems like hair dye, beards and accent-stripping would be all that effective. But for movie-making purposes, there is something to be said for Wanda's change. Given the emotionally wrought tension of most of Wanda's scenes, ditching the accent does make it easier to focus on her dialogue and her relationship with Vision. Not to mention, like most all of the Avengers, Wanda's at her best when she uses her skills, not her words, and accent or no her badassery is on full display in Infinity War.

Now in theaters, Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Tom Hiddleston, and Josh Brolin.