The Darkhold could trap Scarlet Witch, transforming her into a pawn of the Elder God Chthon in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. When Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) was first introduced into the MCU, she was described as a "miracle" - one of only two beings who had survived exposure to the Mind Stone, and who had been granted phenomenal power by the experience.
WandaVision revealed Scarlet Witch as a sorceress, with Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) revealing she is in fact the Scarlet Witch. According to Agatha, there is an entire chapter on the Scarlet Witch in the Darkhold, an ancient book of dark magic. "The Scarlet Witch is not born, she is forged," Agatha recited from the book. "She has no coven, no need for incantation." Disturbingly, Agatha foretold that the Scarlet Witch's power exceeds that of the Sorcerer Supreme and that she is destined to destroy the world. The series ended with Agatha defeated, and Wanda herself taking possession of the Darkhold. A final post-credits scene showed Wanda reading from the Darkhold, her magical powers having clearly expanded dramatically through her studies.
But the Darkhold is lifted straight from the comics and, if it has any similarity in power, it's frankly the last book any sorcerer is safe to read. In the comics, even Doctor Strange is wary of turning the pages of the Darkhold - and if the same is true in the MCU, then Wanda Maximoff's lessons could threaten the entire world.
In the comics, the Darkhold is an ancient book of dark magic that was created from scrolls predating humanity itself. It contains the magic of the Elder God Chthon, one of the demonic beings who ruled the Earth in prehistoric times but was banished to another plane of existence; he foresaw his fate, and he left these spells behind in order to give himself a permanent foothold on the Earth. Every time a Chthonic spell is used, the fabric of reality itself is weakened, and the Elder God comes closer to returning in order to rule this dimension. Making matters worse, the Darkhold has a baleful, corrupting influence on everyone who reads it, and even Doctor Strange is reluctant to use any of its incantations because of the impact they would have on his very soul. If the MCU's version of the Darkhold is anything like the comics, then Wanda is being foolish in learning from the Darkhold, unaware her very soul is being tainted and corrupted as she turns its pages.
But there is another aspect to the Darkhold's power. The Elder God Chthon understood that to name a thing is to gain a degree of power and influence over it and, to that end he placed forbidden knowledge of future mystical threats within the Darkhold. As seen in the Darkhold series back in the '90s, these give Chthon a measure of control over demonic races like the N'Garai, Hell-hounds, twisted genies, and even a new version of the Demogorge, a cosmic entity that is driven to consume magic. At this stage, we don't know whether the same will be true in the MCU, but it's certainly possible, in which case, the fact Wanda is becoming the Scarlet Witch, the being foretold by the Darkhold, means she may well be coming under Chthon's direct control even as her powers expand. She is literally using Chthon's words to define her refashioned identity.
In the comics, Scarlet Witch is Marvel's most dangerous "Chosen One." She was born on the slopes of Mount Wundagore, a place where the fabric of reality is unusually thin, and Chthon's power was able to imbue her with latent mystical energy. The first manifestation of a witch's power is always spectacular, and when Wanda's Chaos Magic was first unleashed Chthon was briefly able to break through the barriers between worlds. Wanda's powers then subsided, but the more she trained and the more powerful she became, the more she unwittingly caused further damage to the fabric of reality.
The MCU's version of Scarlet Witch is different, in that Chthon doesn't seem to have had a direct hand in shaping Wanda's life. But he could nonetheless have been the grand schemer who has been manipulating events across the universe for years because it's interesting to note how events involving the Infinity Stones shaped Wanda's life. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor pointed to the fact the Infinity Stones were all being brought into play at the same time. "That's not a coincidence," he insisted. "Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us." Viewers initially assumed that was Thanos, but in truth, he seems to have simply been the beneficiary. Rather, it could have been Chthon - with everything focused on the forging of the Scarlet Witch.
In The Avengers, Loki brought the Mind Stone to Earth, and its power was bound with Wanda's when she was exposed to it; that same Mind Stone was then placed within Vision's forehead, and the mystical connection between Wanda and Vision encouraged them to get close to one another. At the same time, the emergence of the other Infinity Stones led Thanos to launch his insane crusade, one that inevitably led to Vision's death. All these cosmic events could well have been focused on Wanda, with Chthon working to ensure the erstwhile Avenger took the shape he desired. And now, at last, Wanda has become the Scarlet Witch the Elder God longed her to be - and she is allowing the Darkhold to define her.
If this is indeed the case, then Doctor Strange 2 is Chthon's endgame. Wanda has finally become the Scarlet Witch, and the more she learns from the Darkhold, the more her humanity is weakened and she falls under Chthon's control. According to Agatha Harkness, Wanda is destined to destroy the world - presumably meaning her magic has the potential to fulfill Chthon's ultimate objective, to tear down the boundaries between the dimensions and allow him to return to the world he once ruled. Fortunately, although Wanda may be powerful, she will be opposed - and power isn't everything.
As Chthon learned in the comics, it doesn't matter how powerful your servant is. Human nature will ultimately rise up against the demonic, with courage and love winning through. The MCU's Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) will need to remind Wanda of her humanity, reversing the influence of the Darkhold by encouraging her to embrace the intrinsic goodness that still lies within her rather than focusing on her power and foretold dark destiny. Thus even the greatness of an Elder God could well be defeated in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
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