Spoilers ahead for Avengers: Infinity War. If you haven't seen it yet, run to a theater near you!
Avengers: Infinity War has been in theaters for over two weeks now, and the conversation around The Russo Brothers' massive and emotional blockbuster show no signs of slowing. The film itself is one that is esepcially enjoyable on the re-watch, with Marvel fans all too happy to hand over their money to truly take in every frame. Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch is one of the many heroes juggled during the film's runtime, with Wanda getting a chance to have a devastating arc, plus the ability to kick major ass with her abilities. When we meet her and Vision in Scotland, her signature Russian accent is missing. It turns out there was a reason for this, as Joe Russo explained,
We have intentionally tried to strip that accent away for a couple of reasons. One is you'll notice at the beginning of Civil War that Black Widow is training her to be a spy, and two is she's been on the run, and one of the most distinguishing characteristics that she has is her accent. 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. Clearly Black Widow as a red head is an incredibly distinguishing characteristic for her, which is why she has blonde hair. Cap, we've seen Chris Evans walk around in public with a beard and no one recognizes him. There are simple things you can do to your appearance that take about 90% of your visibility away, and for us it was very intentional that we would just keep stripping that accent down to show her acclimating and hiding.
Rather than an error that made it into Infinity War's final cut, it appears that Wanda's accent change was a purposeful choice made by the character and the rest of Team Cap. After escaping The Raft, those members of The Avengers spent two years in hiding. Wanda and Vision spent this time in Scotland, allowing their interspecies love to flourish. She picked up a more ambiguous accent to keep them both safe, although that didn't do much once the Black Order came knocking.
When the first glimpses os Infinity War were released, fans were shocked to see the appearances of both Black Widow and Captain America so different. While these visual changes were never explicitly explained as disguises during the movie, it's always great to see how the sausage gets made with the film's directors. And through the directors' appearances like the Happy Sad Podcast (via Collider), more information can be gleaned about the biggest movie in recent memory.
Avengers: Infinity War is in theaters now. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
