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Wanda Maximoff (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

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Wanda Maximoff
Marvel Cinematic Universe character
Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch in the miniseries WandaVision (2021).
First appearanceCaptain America:
The Winter Soldier (2014)
Based on
Scarlet Witch
by
Adapted byJoss Whedon
Portrayed by
In-universe information
AliasScarlet Witch
OccupationAvenger
Affiliation
WeaponChaos magic[1][2]
Family
Significant otherVision[a]
Children
OriginSokovia
NationalitySokovian

Wanda Maximoff is a fictional character portrayed by Elizabeth Olsen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Wanda is depicted as a Sokovian refugee who, along with her twin brother Pietro, volunteers to be experimented on by Hydra. The Mind Stone amplifies her natural telekinetic and energy manipulation abilities known as Chaos magic.[3] Wanda initially comes into conflict with the Avengers but later joins them and becomes one of the most powerful members.[4] She develops a romantic relationship with Vision, and after his death and the Blip, Wanda becomes mentally unstable and uses her abilities to manipulate an entire town into a false reality she creates to her liking. This brings her into conflict with S.W.O.R.D. and Agatha Harkness, causing her to eventually free the town and tap into her latent powers when she assumes the ancient title of the Scarlet Witch.[5]

Wanda was introduced in an uncredited cameo during Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and has since become a central MCU character, appearing in five films within the series as of 2021. She has a lead role in the miniseries WandaVision (2021), and appears in the animated series What If...? (2021). She will appear in the upcoming film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).[6]

Background

Scarlet Witch debuted, alongside her twin brother, Quicksilver, as a part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in X-Men #4 (March 1964).[7] They were depicted as reluctant villains, uninterested in Magneto's ideologies. Scarlet Witch was depicted as introverted and disdainful of her teammates. Stan Lee, author of the Avengers comic book, composed the team of Marvel's most prominent heroes. However, he eventually altered the team roster, removing all but Captain America, and added villains from other comics: the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver from the X-Men, and Hawkeye from Iron Man's adventures in Tales of Suspense. The team was known as "Cap's Kooky Quartet".[8] Although common in later years, such a change in the roster of a superhero group was completely unprecedented.[9] Scarlet Witch would now become a lasting member of the team.

Some years later, Avengers writer Roy Thomas started a long-running romantic relationship between the Scarlet Witch and the Vision, considering that it would help with the series' character development. He selected those characters because they were only published in the Avengers comic book, so it would not interfere with other publications.[10]

Adaptation and appearances

In the 1990s, Marvel licensed the filming rights of the X-Men and related concepts, such as mutants, to 20th Century Fox. Fox created a film series based on the franchise. Years later, Marvel started its own film franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, focused on the characters that they had not licensed to other studios, such as the Avengers. The main core of this franchise was the Avengers, both in standalone films and the successful The Avengers film. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were disputed by both studios. Fox would claim the rights over them because they were both mutants and children of Magneto, the villain of most of their films, and Marvel would claim those rights because the editorial history of the characters in comic books is more associated with the Avengers rather than the X-Men. The studios made an agreement so that both of them would use the characters. It was made on the condition that the plots do not make reference to the other studio's properties: the Fox films cannot mention them as members of the Avengers, and the Marvel films cannot mention them as mutants or children of Magneto.[11] Despite this deal, films in the Fox X-Men series did not feature Scarlet Witch.[12][13]

In May 2013, Joss Whedon considered Saoirse Ronan to be his "prototype" actress for the part, but by August of that year, Elizabeth Olsen had been cast for the role.[14] Olsen has since played Wanda Maximoff in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Olsen noted that when Joss Whedon offered her the role, he said "[wh]en you go home and Google her, just know you will never ever have to wear what she wears in the comics",[15] and, in keeping with this, Wanda's comic book costume was ignored in favor of more casual clothing. She first appeared, as well as Quicksilver, in a mid-credits scene of the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier as a prisoner of Baron Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann).[16] Scarlet Witch became a supporting character in the 2015 film Avengers: Age of Ultron, where the siblings initially conspire with Ultron (James Spader), a reflection of their initial villainous roles in the comics, but later defect to the Avengers.[17][18] Quicksilver dies in the ensuing conflict while Wanda goes on to become a member of Captain America's Avengers. She appears in the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War.[19] Both Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson signed multi-picture deals.[20] Olsen reprises the role in the 2018 film Avengers: Infinity War and its 2019 sequel Avengers: Endgame and will appear in the upcoming film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.[21][22] In the films, her powers are telekinetic and telepathic abilities, which she gained by volunteering as a test subject in Hydra experiments to create supersoldiers, by exposing her to the Mind Stone. Therefore, both she and her brother are described in the films as "enhanced humans", as opposed to the naturally-occurring mutants they are in the comics.

By September 2018, Marvel Studios began developing several limited series for Disney's streaming service, Disney+, to be centered on "second tier" characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films who had not and were unlikely to star in their own films, such as Scarlet Witch, with Elizabeth Olsen expected to reprise her role.[23] The title of this show was later revealed to be WandaVision, co-starring Paul Bettany as the Vision.[24] It premiered in January 2021.[25] As the show is premised on Wanda and Vision appearing in a sitcom (apparently constructed by Wanda to escape her grief over Vision's real-world death), her appearance throughout the series reflects the clothing styles of sitcom characters across different decades of the genre. By the finale, having fully embraced her identity as the Scarlet Witch, Wanda gains a new costume reflecting a modernized version of her comic counterpart.

Characterization

Elizabeth Olsen at Comic-Con 2019, promoting Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Wanda is first fully introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron as the twin sister of Pietro Maximoff who can engage in hypnosis and telekinesis.[26][27] Olsen felt Wanda was "overly stimulated" rather than "mentally insane" because "she has such a vast amount of knowledge that she's unable to learn how to control it. No one taught her how to control it properly... she can connect to this world and parallel worlds at the same time, and parallel times".[27] Describing her character's mind control powers, Olsen said that the character is able to do more than manipulating someone's mind, with Scarlet Witch able to "feel and see what they feel and see" by projecting visions that they have never seen. Olsen expanded upon this, saying, "What I love about her is that, in so many superhero films, emotions are kind of negated a bit, but for her everything that someone else could feel—like their weakest moments—she physically goes through that same experience with them, which is pretty cool".[28] Olsen drew on her relationship with her older brother and her sisters to prepare for the role,[27] as well as looking to the comics for inspiration.[29] Olsen revealed that Whedon was inspired by dancers as a way to visually represent how the character moves. As such, Olsen mostly trained with dancer Jennifer White in lieu of traditional stunt training.[30][31]

In Captain America: Civil War, Wanda allies with Steve Rogers against the Sokovia Accords.[32][33] According to Olsen, the character is "coming into her own and starting to understand and have conflict with how she wants to use her abilities".[34] As such, Wanda's costume was "relatively casual" and "more clothes-based than superhero-based" according to Makovsky, since the Russo brothers believed Wanda was not a full-fledged Avenger yet.[35] When asked about the relationship between her character and the Vision compared to the comics, Olsen said, "You learn a little bit more about what connects [Scarlet and Vision] in this film. And I think there's some really sweet moments between Paul and I, and it's more about how they relate to one another and their similarities just based on their superpowers".[36]

In Avengers: Infinity War, Olsen explains that Wanda and Vision have maintained a romance while Wanda remains in hiding and are "trying to within that time find points of meeting in different places in order to try and forward our relationship". Paul Bettany described it as the most emotional arc for the characters.[37] In early drafts of Infinity War and Endgame, the screenwriters had Wanda survive the snap and participate more substantially in the events of Endgame, while still mourning Vision, but this angle was ultimately dropped because "she'd gotten so much mileage and story in the first movie that she didn't really have anything that equaled that in the second".[38]

In WandaVision, Olsen said the character is brought more in line with the comic book version, including depicting her mental illness,[39] while introducing the "Scarlet Witch" moniker that was not previously used in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).[40] Marvel Studios executive producer Kevin Feige said the series explores the extent and origin of Wanda's powers.[39] Olsen felt her "ownership" of Wanda was strengthened during development of the series,[41] which allowed her to explore new parts of the character's personality such as her humor and sassiness. [42] : 30  She was thrilled that WandaVision focuses on Wanda rather than making her a supporting character as in the films, and was sold on joining the series when Feige mentioned specific Scarlet Witch comic storylines that inspired WandaVision.[43] Olsen was influenced by Mary Tyler Moore, Elizabeth Montgomery, and Lucille Ball for her performance.[44] Michaela Russell portrays a young Wanda.[45]

Fictional character biography

Childhood and origin

Further information: Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Previously On

Wanda Maximoff was born in 1989 in Sokovia in Eastern Europe, unaware that she was born a witch and would unknowingly engage in basic hex magic as a child. She grew up with her twin brother Pietro and her parents in an apartment during a war. She enjoyed watching American sitcoms, which her father sold as DVD boxed sets so their family can practice speaking English in hopes of migrating to America. But Wanda’s parents are killed when a missile struck their apartment, with her and Pietro stuck inside the damaged building for two days. While a second Stark Industries missile flew in, it never went off as Wanda had unknowingly cast a probability hex that turned it into a dud. When Wanda and Pietro were young adults, they volunteered for Hydra enhancement program overseen by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. The exposure to the Mind Stone gave Wanda psychic abilities while it amplified and greatly enhanced her magic, with Wanda and Pietro being the only survivors of Strucker's experiments.

Becoming an Avenger

Further information: Avengers: Age of Ultron and Previously On

In 2015, Wanda uses her telepathic abilities to interfere with the Avengers—Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton’s raid of the Hydra facility. Shortly after, Ultron recruits Wanda and Pietro, who hold Stark responsible for their parents' deaths by his company's weapons, to work for him. In Johannesburg, Wanda subdues most of the Avengers with haunting visions, causing Banner to turn into the Hulk and rampage through the city. Ultron travels to Seoul and uses the scepter to enslave Dr. Helen Cho, using her synthetic-tissue technology, vibranium, and the Mind Stone to craft a new body. As Ultron uploads himself into the body, Wanda uses the opportunity to finally read his mind, and discovers his plan for human extinction. She and Pietro turn against Ultron during the subsequent fight with the Avengers to retrieve the new body, and join the Avengers at the Avengers Tower. After Stark, Banner, and Thor cooperate to turn the captured synthetic body into the "Vision", Wanda and Pietro go with the Avengers to Sokovia, where Ultron has used the remaining vibranium to build a machine to lift a large part of the capital city skyward, intending to crash it into the ground to cause global extinction. She becomes overwhelmed by her role in Ultron's scheme until Barton befriends and encourages her to join the Avengers in the fight against Ultron. Wanda joins the fight and later senses Pietro's death, abandoning her post to destroy Ultron's primary body, which allows one of his drones to activate the machine. Vision rescues Wanda from the collapsing center of the city. Afterwards, the Avengers establish a new team roster at the Avengers Compound led by Rogers and Romanoff, featuring Wanda, Vision, James Rhodes, and Sam Wilson.

Sometime later, Vision visits Wanda in her bedroom while she watches a sitcom, and comforts her over Pietro's death, assuring her that the grief she feels over losing her family meant that she still loved them.

Avengers Civil War

Further information: Captain America: Civil War

In 2016, Rogers, Romanoff, Wilson, and Wanda stop Brock Rumlow from stealing a biological weapon from a lab in Lagos. Rumlow blows himself up, attempting to kill Rogers, but Wanda telekinetically contains the explosion and throws it upward, accidentally killing several Wakandan humanitarian workers, to her dismay. As a result, United States Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross informs the Avengers that the United Nations (UN) is preparing to pass the Sokovia Accords, which will establish a UN panel to oversee and control the team. Wanda is confined by Stark to remain at the Avengers Compound, where she is watched over by Vision, who attempts to comfort her and the two begin to develop romantic feelings for each other. Rogers and Wilson go rogue to aid Bucky Barnes and send Barton to retrieve Wanda, who rejects Vision's attempts to stop her and goes with Barton. They pick up Scott Lang and meet Rogers's team at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany, but are intercepted by Stark’s team where they fight, until Romanoff allows Rogers and Barnes to escape. Wanda, Barton, Wilson, and Lang are captured and detained at the Raft by Ross, until Rogers breaks them out.

Infinity War and resurrection

Further information: Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame

In 2018, Wanda and Vision have begun a romantic relationship while living off the grid in Edinburgh. They are ambushed by Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive, members of the Children of Thanos sent to retrieve the Mind Stone. Rogers, Romanoff, and Wilson rescue them and take them to the Avengers Compound, meeting with Rhodes and Banner. Vision asks Wanda to destroy the Stone, but she refuses. Rogers suggests they travel to Wakanda, which he believes has the resources to remove the Stone without destroying Vision. As Shuri works to extract the Mind Stone from Vision, Wanda is tasked to stay and watch over Vision until the Stone is out. After the Outriders invade and overwhelm the Avengers on the battlefield, Wanda leaves her post to help her teammates, killing Proxima Midnight in the battle. She witnesses the arrival of Thanos and is forced to destroy the Mind Stone and Vision, but her efforts are undone as Thanos uses the Time Stone to reverse her actions, and rips the repaired Mind Stone from Vision's forehead, killing him. Thanos knocks out a horrified Wanda and activates the completed Infinity Gauntlet, snaps his fingers, and Wanda disintegrates while holding on to Vision's corpse.

Five years later, Wanda is restored to life and is transported via portal to the destroyed Avengers Compound to join the final battle against an alternate Thanos. Wanda confronts him directly, being the first one to successfully overpower him. Wanda also assists Carol Danvers as she tries to transport the Nano Gauntlet to the Quantum tunnel. Wanda then witnesses Stark sacrifice himself to defeat the alien army. A week later, Wanda attends Stark's funeral and reunites with Barton.

Life in Westview

See also: WandaVision

The Hex and the WandaVision program

Further information: Previously On, Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience, Don't Touch That Dial, and Now in Color

The next day, Wanda goes to S.W.O.R.D.’s headquarters in Florida to retrieve Vision’s body. After meeting with S.W.O.R.D acting director Tyler Hayward, she is shown Vision being dismantled, and realizes she can no longer sense him. She leaves and drives to the suburban town of Westview, New Jersey to view a vacant lot that Vision had purchased in 2018 for the two "to grow old in". Overcome with grief, Wanda accidentally unleashes waves of chaos magic that transforms Westview into a sitcom-themed false reality, cut off from the outside world by a hexagonal barrier. She materializes a new version of Vision that lacks any prior memories and starts living in the Hex, where she and Vision are newly-married and try to live their ideal suburban life.

Wanda attempts to befriend her neighbors while occasionally needing to conceal her and Vision's powers. She soon becomes visibly pregnant. As Wanda's pregnancy progresses, she encounters Monica Rambeau, who had been absorbed into the Hex and given the new name "Geraldine". Rambeau helps Wanda give birth to twin boys Tommy and Billy. However, during the subsequent conversation, when Wanda mentions Pietro, Rambeau brings up his death at the hands of Ultron. Noticing Rambeau's S.W.O.R.D pendant, Wanda telekinetically casts her out of Westview. When Vision returns moments later, he appears as a corpse before Wanda resets him.

Hunted by S.W.O.R.D.

Further information: On a Very Special Episode... and All-New Halloween Spooktacular!

As Wanda's children age rapidly, S.W.O.R.D. sends in a drone, armed with a missile, into Westview in an attempt to kill Wanda. Enraged, Wanda exits the Hex, warns Hayward to leave her alone, and emphasizes her point by hypnotizing Hayward's agents into training their guns on him. Rambeau, who empathizes with Wanda, tries to offer help, but is rebuffed. Back in Westview, Wanda gets into a heated argument with Vision when he finds out the truth after reading a S.W.O.R.D communique at work. The argument is interrupted when a man claiming to be Pietro appears. During the town's Halloween festival, Wanda reveals to "Pietro" that she doesn't know what happened to her, except that she felt alone and empty, which seemingly made her create the Hex. When Wanda learns that Vision has breached the hexagonal barrier and is dying, she expands the Hex to save his life, in the process also absorbing the S.W.O.R.D camp and Darcy Lewis.

Battle of Westview

Further information: Breaking the Fourth Wall, Previously On, and The Series Finale

After expanding the Hex, Wanda starts losing control of the altered reality, and begins to have a mental breakdown. She is outraged to see Rambeau again in Westview, who attempts to warn her about Hayward, as she had discovered evidence that Hayward intends to revive Vision as a weapon. Before they can talk further, Wanda's neighbor "Agnes" interrupts them and takes Wanda to her house, only to lure her into a basement where she reveals her true identity as the sorceress Agatha Harkness. Harkness puts Wanda under a trance, leading Wanda through her past. She is forced to relive her memories of trauma and what she had lost throughout her life from her parents' death, Pietro's death, Vision, and her new home at the Avengers Compound. Harkness releases her from the trance and Wanda leaves her house, only to find Harkness holding Tommy and Billy captive on the street. Harkness mocks Wanda for not knowing the full extent of her own abilities before revealing that her powers are actually chaos magic, which makes Wanda the infamous, legendary "Scarlet Witch", capable of spontaneously altering reality and weaving together numerous high-level spells that run automatically. Wanda attacks Harkness, who reveals her ability to absorb magical power. After freeing her children, Wanda is tricked and attacked by the reactivated real Vision, who has been sent by Hayward to kill her, but Wanda's Hex "Vision" fends him off.

Wanda goes into Westview's town square and is attacked by Harkness, who informs her about a chapter in the Darkhold devoted to her, and states that she is even more powerful than the Sorcerer Supreme, and that she is destined to destroy the world as the "Harbinger of Chaos". Harkness then frees the Westview residents from Wanda's influence, allowing them to reveal to Wanda that her spell has been causing them to experience her repressed grief and nightmares. Overwhelmed by the residents demanding answers, Wanda accidentally loses control of her powers and chokes them. Horrified at the realization of what she has done, Wanda starts bringing down the Hex, but restores it when Hex “Vision”, Tommy, and Billy start fading away. S.W.O.R.D. agents and Hayward infiltrate Westview, and after Harkness attacks them, Wanda saves them, and pursues Harkness atop a building. There, Wanda tries to trap Harkness in a hallucination of her 1693 Salem trial, but it backfires.

Harkness takes control of the hallucination and tries to convince Wanda to surrender her powers, but Wanda pushes them out of the illusion. Taking the fight into the sky, Wanda allows Harkness to steal all her powers. However, when Harkness attempts to kill Wanda, but finds that her powers no longer work. It is revealed that Wanda imprinted protection runes on the boundaries of the Hex, rendering Harkness' magic powerless. Wanda ultimately claims her true identity as the Scarlet Witch, and imprisons Harkness in Westview as "Agnes" after informing her that she would be back if she needs her. She takes down the Hex and tearfully says goodbye to Tommy, Billy, and Hex “Vision”. Standing in the empty house lot, she walks into the town square under the hateful gaze of Westview residents, and meets with a sympathetic Rambeau. Wanda apologizes for the pain she has caused and vows to better understand her powers. She and Rambeau say goodbye and Wanda flies away from Westview, fleeing to live remotely in a mountainside cabin. There, she studies the Darkhold to learn more about her powers, before hearing her sons cry out for help, causing her to be alarmed.

Alternate versions

See also: What If...? (TV series)

An alternate version of Wanda appears in the animated series What If..? as a non-speaking character.

Zombie outbreak

Further information: What If... Zombies?! and What If... the Watcher Broke His Oath?

In an alternate 2018, Wanda is among the Avengers who become infected by a quantum virus, turning into a zombie. She is then taken by Vision to Camp Lehigh, where he attempts to cure her with the Mind Stone. After she is discovered by Barnes, Wanda breaks free and attacks a group of survivors, killing Kurt and Okoye before engaging in a fight against the Hulk.

Sometime later, Doctor Strange Supreme transports the zombies into the universe the Guardians of the Multiverse were in, intending to use Wanda as a distraction for Ultron. Wanda attacks Ultron but is killed after Ultron uses the Infinity Stones' full power to obliterate the planet.

Powers and abilities

Wanda is a naturally-born sorceress with the ability to harness chaos magic, typically presenting itself in telekinesis, telepathy, and energy manipulation/projection. Her magic is also capable of altering reality. Wanda’s psionic abilities were later enhanced by experimental exposure to the Mind Stone.[46][47]

In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda's powers are mostly telekinetic and semi-telepathic, occasionally engaging in hypnosis by inducing nightmarish-like images into the heads of four Avengers. She also displays moments of energy projection, including throwing energy bolts, creating forcefields to protect herself and Sokovian citizens and taking out an army of Ultron's drones with a wave of energy. At the new Avengers Compound afterwards, she is seen briefly levitating.

In Captain America: Civil War, Wanda's powers have advanced and her telekinesis is strong enough to let her hold up the debris of a falling building as well as fly for brief periods of time. Her powers allow her to, in a fight with the Vision, forcibly manipulate his density by controlling the Mind Stone.

In Avengers: Infinity War, Wanda has significantly better control over her ability to fly. Vision explains that due to Wanda's powers being linked to the Mind Stone, she is able to use her powers to destroy it. She is shown to be able to telepathically communicate with the Stone when she tries to figure out why Vision is in pain. She later single-handedly holds Thanos at bay, who was already wielding five Infinity Stones, while simultaneously destroying the Mind Stone.

In her brief appearance in Avengers: Endgame, Wanda’s powers are strong enough to telekinetically incapacitate Thanos until he disrupts her efforts by ordering a bombardment of the battlefield.

WandaVision explores Wanda's ability to warp reality like her comic counterpart.[48] After being overwhelmed with grief after Vision’s death, Wanda releases waves of chaos magic which accidentally creates a reinforced CMBR force-field (known as "The Hex") over the town of Westview, New Jersey, rewriting everything and everyone inside to be part of her own fictional reality that presents itself as a television sitcom. The rewrite occurs on a molecular level, meaning her powers allow her to manipulate molecules. This comes as a surprise to Darcy Lewis, Jimmy Woo and Monica Rambeau, since Wanda's previous power set was thought to be limited to illusions. Darcy informs Rambeau that her DNA has been molecularly rewritten after she passed through the CMBR field multiple times, eventually granting Rambeau light-related superhuman abilities.

Wanda’s history is later explored, revealing that Wanda was born a witch and would unknowingly engage in basic hex magic as a child, including unknowingly using a probability hex to turn a Stark Industries missile into a dud and save her and Pietro after an initial one killed her parents.[49] The two were unaware this was because of Wanda's magic. After Hydra experimented on her with the Mind Stone, her powers were greatly enhanced. Agatha tells Wanda that she is the only person who is able to engage in chaos magic, making her the infamous and mythical Scarlet Witch.

As Wanda begins to battle Agatha, she begins to explore the extent of her true abilities, manifesting for the first time magical abilities such as teleportation, rune-casting and power absorption, with her energy blasts also becoming more concentrated. After reclaiming her powers, she has significantly better control over her magic, being able to consciously manipulate reality with ease, such as instantly altering her clothes into her uniform and reverting Agatha back into 'Agnes', this time truly under her will. Wanda is later shown leading a secluded life in a remote location, simultaneously using astral projection to study the Darkhold, now in her possession.

Differences from the comics

In the comics

As of 2019, Magneto and other characters from the X-Men franchise have not been introduced into the MCU because Marvel Studios didn't own the rights for the X-Men until early 2019, and therefore no mention has been made of Wanda's traditional depiction as the daughter of Magneto.[50]

In addition, the Maximoff twins have been depicted as Romani characters in Marvel Comics since 1979. They were ethnically ambiguous for the first 15 years of their publication history, after which they were shown to have been adopted and raised by a Romani couple. It was later revealed that their biological father was Magneto and their mother was Magda Eisenhardt, a Romani woman he met in a concentration camp during World War II. A later retcon it is shown that Magneto was not their father after all, and they are not mutants. Their mother was actually Natalya Maximoff, the biological sister of the twins' adoptive father. She passed on the title "The Scarlet Witch" to her daughter, and the biological father is assumed to also be from the Romani community. This makes the twins fully Romani by blood.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Wanda in the MCU initially "possesses a drastically different powerset to her comic book counterpart", having been described less as a wielder of actual magic and more as "a Jean Grey analogue, gifted with both telepathic and telekinetic powers", with her abilities in the MCU being derived at least in part from experiments in which she was exposed to the Mind Stone.[51]

In WandaVision, however, Wanda is revealed to be a powerful sorceress, the only being currently capable of wielding chaos magic. The series explores her ability to manipulate reality like her comic counterpart. While it is maintained that her abilities emerged from the Mind Stone, in the MCU she is retconned into having possessed the latent ability to wield Chaos Magic since birth, and the Mind Stone simply unlocked these dormant abilities, and her subsequent persistent use of basic telekinesis, telepathy and hypnosis were seemingly an unwitting result of the same unique magical source.

Reception

Following the release of Avengers: Endgame, Rachel Leishman of the feminist "geek site" The Mary Sue wrote that Wanda "isn't the most fleshed out of characters because she is often tied down to a male character and very rarely does anything but kill people accidentally", but that Avengers: Infinity War provided "the Wanda who understands her placement among the Avengers and her abilities", and by Avengers: Endgame, Wanda is "taking on her position as one of the new leaders of the Avengers".[52] A Vulture review of the subsequent television miniseries, WandaVision states that "Olsen and Bettany's characters were often treated like benchwarmers on an all-star team in the Avengers movies. Here, they really shine".[53] NPR state of the character that "a confused and grief-stricken product of experimentation, saddled with powers she doesn't understand and struggles to control, becomes the Scarlet Witch - one of the most powerful figures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe".[54]

Accolades

Year Work Award Category Result Ref(s)
2015 Avengers: Age of Ultron Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie: Breakout Star Nominated [55]
2016 Captain America: Civil War Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie: Chemistry (with cast) Nominated [56]
2018 Avengers: Infinity War MTV Movie & TV Awards Best Fight (with cast) Nominated [57]
Teen Choice Awards Choice Action Movie Actress Nominated [58]
2021 WandaVision MTV Movie & TV Awards Best Performance in a Show Won [59]
Best Fight[c] Won
Gold Derby TV Awards Performer of the Year Nominated [60]
Best Limited/Movie Actress Nominated
Hollywood Critics Association Awards Best Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Television Movie Nominated [61]
Dorian Awards Best TV Performance Nominated [62]
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Nominated [63]
TCA Awards Individual Achievement in Drama Nominated [64]

Notes

  1. ^ Wanda is married to a magically constructed Vision in WandaVision.
  2. ^ Both are magically constructed by Wanda in WandaVision.
  3. ^ Shared with Kathryn Hahn.

See also

References

  1. ^ "WHAT IS THE SCARLET WITCH? WANDAVISION'S "CHAOS MAGIC" REVEAL, EXPLAINED". Inverse. February 26, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  2. ^ Di Placido, Dani (February 27, 2021). "'WandaVision's' Mysterious Chaos Magic, Explained". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  3. ^ Marnell, Blair (February 28, 2021). "'WandaVision': The Scarlet Witch's Powers and Chaos Magic, Explained". collider.com. Collider. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  4. ^ "Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) On Screen Full Report". marvel.com. Marvel.
  5. ^ Acuna, Kirsten (February 26, 2021). "'WandaVision' finally gives Wanda her Marvel superhero name and fans are overjoyed". insider.com. Insider Inc. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  6. ^ Donnelly, Matt (July 21, 2019). "'Doctor Strange' Sequel Billed as First MCU Horror Film at Comic-Con". Variety. Archived from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  7. ^ DeFalco, Tom; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1960s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 99. ISBN 978-0756641238. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby decided to try their hands at a pair of reluctant super villains when they created Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in The X-Men #4. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 108: "[Stan Lee] replaced Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, and Wasp with Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch".
  9. ^ Mark Ginocchio (March 31, 2015). "All-Different Avengers: 10 Most Questionable Roster Moves". Comic Book. Archived from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  10. ^ Walker, Karen (December 2010). "Shattered Dreams: Vision and the Scarlet Witch". Back Issue! (45). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 59–65.
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External links

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