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Credit: Marvel StudiosThe will turn thirteen years old this May and it has been a wonderful ride so far. Over the course of 23 films and multiple television series, the cast of characters that have met is quickly becoming countless. And it shows no signs of slowing down any time soon with a packed Phase 4 already in the works.
It is a true reflection of the vast diversity of the Comics in which the films are based. But who can possibly keep track of everyone from Luis (Michael Peña) from Ant-Man (2015) to Melinda May (Ming Na-Wen) from Agents of SHIELD?
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In this article, we will take a deep dive into one of the rising stars of the , Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet as played by Elizabeth Olsen. And answer the question “ ?”
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Introduction of Scarlet in the MCU
first introduced the Scarlet alongside her twin brother Pietro Maximoff aka (Aaron Taylor Johnson) in Avengers: Age of (2015). The follow-up to the first Avengers (2012) was directed by Joss Whedon that one of the main reasons we love superheroes and their films today.
Wanda and Pietro began their arcs in the as villains. They joined forces with (James Spader) to stop the Avengers. The Maximoff twins blamed Tony Stark/ (Robert Downing Jr.) for the death of their parents.
Related: Why Did Marvel Ignore Tony Stark and Wanda Maximoff Relationship Plot?
However, after revealed that his plan was to eradicate all life on Earth by crashing a city into the world like an asteroid, Scarlet and switched sides and helped / Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and the rest of the team to save the world. They put their Hydra past behind them and did the right thing when it counted most.
In the resulting conflict, known as the battle of Sokovia, gave his life to save Hawkeye / Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and a group of civilians. Now alone, Scarlet decided to become an , making her the first in the (although it was later revealed that was running around the cosmos at some point).
In MCU canon, Scarlet was originally said to have gained her powers from experimentation at the hands of Hydra using the . It was later retconned in 2018 by a visual dictionary which said that the in “unlocked something latent inside Wanda.”
This retcon was expanded in WandaVision, which showed two key flashbacks. The first was the moment her parents were killed. Previously, Wanda believed it was luck that stopped the Stark Industries bomb from killing her and her brother. But Agatha revealed that she cast a probability hex to stop the explosion.
This means that Wanda always had magical powers even before the Scarlet was exposed to the power of the in the second reveal of WandaVision. The moment she touches the stone, a version of Scarlet from the future appears before Wanda to unlock the full potential of her chaos magic.
At the end of WandaVision, Wanda leaves Westview and while her path forward is unclear, she is confirmed to appear in the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She may either fight against or alongside Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in his sequel.
If Marvel is setting them up for a showdown then the Sorcerer Supreme has his work cut out for him as Wanda’s powers have grown exponentially since he last saw her back when she was already capable of taking down Thanos single-handedly.
Related: ‘Spider-Man 3’ Reportedly Part of Marvel’s First Multiverse Trilogy
Powers and Abilities of Scarlet
Scarlet ‘s abilities are perhaps the least explained in the . Since Wanda’s first appearance in , her powers were seen as mainly a form of , the ability to move objects with her mind. She was also telepathic. Andin WandaVision her magical powers have finally taken center stage.
Telepathy
Though her telepathy was never used to its full potential beyond her initial appearance, where she trapped the Avengers in nightmares during Age of Ultron. It was Tony Stark’s vision of Thanos that inspired him to create Ultron in that film. Later in Ultron, she peers into the villain’s mind to discover his plot to destroy the world and decided to join forces with the Avengers.
However, after that, she never used her telepathy in the MCU again until WandaVision. Her telepathy is never mentioned or shown in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, or Avengers: Endgame. In the comics, she uses this ability to reach into people’s minds to communicate with them or control them.
In WandaVision, she may be using her telepathy to control the citizens of Westview or it could be the result of the spell she cast to rewrite reality. But she does use the same nightmare trick she used on the Avengers on Agatha Harkness during their climactic battle.
Related: Kevin Feige: ‘WandaVision’ Cut Doctor Strange to Avoid ‘White Guy’ Cliché
Telekinesis
Wanda’s was strong enough to rip apart the in Avengers: (2018). In the final battle against in Avengers: Endgame (2019) she was strong enough to take on the Mad Titan directly. This established her as possibly the strongest . He had to call in an airstrike to stop her.
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Wanda’s telekinesis is never fully explained in the MCU. It’s typically the ability to move objects with her mind but hers works differently than that. In the comics, it is related to her Hex magic where she can affect probability, it amounts to if there is a chance a car might go hurtling she can may that probability certain.
In the MCU, it is explained as she can “use energy to affect and control molecules and particles.” She mainly uses her telekineses to throw psionic blasts or objects at her opponents. She does also occasionally use her telekinesis to fly and create shields. Her failed protective barrier in Civil War is what led to the Sokovia Accords. She mainly uses her force fields to deflect rather than contain attacks since that incident.
Chaos Magic or Hex Powers
By the start of WandaVision, reached a whole new level. She was able to create a hexagon-shaped reality bubble. Inside the “Hex” Wanda can do a lot more than just mind-control people to play a part in her classic delusion. Until WandaVision the MCU seemed to avoid calling her powers “magic” but they have now retconned her story to say she used a Hex spell to save her and her brother from Tony Stark’s bomb.
Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) along with FBI Agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) and Thor alumna Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) are able to prove that Wanda is rewriting reality not just mind controlling people to see an illusion. This new level of her abilities made her stronger than even the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange.
The end of WandaVision saw Wanda run off with the magical book, The Darkhold, and it looks like the Marvel Cinematic Universe will finally have the Scarlet Witch embrace her magical glory. When she returns in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness expect her to have mastered a whole slew of spells like she uses in Marvel Comics.
Related: Is Wanda the Villain or the Victim in ‘WandaVision’?
She was able to use the power of the Mind Stone that lived within her to recreate Vision (Paul Bettany). Since the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016), when Scarlet Witch lost control of her powers, the two characters have shared a deep bond. In a flashback, Vision comforts Wanda after the loss of her twin brother with the now-iconic line “what is grief but love persevering.”
Before his death in Avengers: Endgame, Vision bot of land for them to grow old in, but they never got the chance. Wanda uses her reality-warping power to manifest her dream life with him where they can live out idealized suburban lives. She is even able to create two sons: Billy (Julian Hilliard) and Tommy (Jett Klyne) seemingly from nothing with just the power of her will.
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Throughout the series, Billy and Tommy gain the abilities of their comic book counterparts, Wiccan and Speed. Tommy/ Speed has super-speed like his uncle Quicksilver, while Billy/ Wiccan has magical reality-warping powers that are sometimes as strong as Wanda’s.
After Wanda accepts the loss of Vision and moves forward in her grief, her sons seem to disappear from the Marvel Universe. But in the final post-credit scene their voices called out to her from somewhere in the multiverse, hinting at their return for a future Young Avengers property.
One more layer of the Scarlet Witch’s ability to rewrite reality is that the barrier of her “Hex” could rewrite the DNA of someone passing through it. This becomes the origin of Monica Rambeau’s powers, adding her to the roster of female superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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Differences in Scarlet Witch between the MCU and the comics
Comic book fans are used to the way Marvel Studios adjusts characters for the big screen. For example, Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel has a much different origin story than that of her Marvel movie character. Some older versions of these characters can be problematic and Disney would not tarnish the current popularity of superheroes by including these aspects.
Perhaps the biggest chaade to Scarlet Witch is the erasure of her status as a mutant. When Elizabeth Olsen’s character debuted, 20th Century Fox still had the movie rights to the X-Men and the rest of the mutants. So Wanda was adapted for the MCU without her x-gene.
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In the comic book storyline, House of Mestablished the groundwork WandaVision was built on, Wanda’s reality-warping powers allowed her to erase the majority of mutants from the Marvel Comic’s Universe with a single sentence. Many Marvel fans hoped that WandaVision would have her do the opposite since Disney now has the rights to mutants since they bought Fox.
Throughout her appearance in the films, Marvel Studio’s also shied away from Wanda’s Romani heritage, which angered some fans. There was a nod to her gypsy origins with the Sokovian fortune-teller costumer she wore at one point in the series.
This was most likely an attempt to separate her MCU abilities from her magical ones in the comics. Magic was not introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe until Doctor Strange (2016). Up until that point in the MCU timeline, Kevin Feige wanted to ground the films in a more scientific manner.
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Scar Witch in WandaVision
Before WandaVision, Wanda Maximoff was never called the “Scarlet Witch”. Since Wanda’s powers in the films caom a more scientific origin of exposure to the Mind StoneMan (Tom Holland).
With a nine-de TV show, Wanda was allowed to breathe and grow as a character. The extra time allowed Dis expand her originush her down a new path, much like how Star to do the same thing with Boba Fett in The Mandalorian.
Finally, Wanda was able ach down to her magical roots and fully become the Scarlet Witch. Now that she could do a lot more than throw cars at her foes, it unlocks a whole new level of potential. If she was able to magically create superpowered children it is possible that she has no limits.
Her ability to create life sets her as the exact opposite of Thanos (Josh Brolin) who used the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out half of all life. Marvel is now in the process of moving beyond the Infinity Saga in phase 4 but has suffered many delays.
The coronavirus has affected every Disney enterprise from television and films to theme parks. WandaVision director Matt Shakman told Kevin Smith on his Fatman Beyond podcast that while most of the filming was done before the shut-down there was a lot left on the cutting room floor.
The scenes left out would have expanded Monica Rambeau’s role as well as a reveal for Agatha’s pet rabbit Senor Scratchy. Some of what did not make it into the final cut of these series could have tied up a lot of the loose ends that left many fans disappointed with the finale.
One thing that sets WandaVision apart from other entries into the MCU is how theorists clamored to unravel the mystery at the set of its plot. Now those theorists have turned their sights on Wanda’s future. But we will have to wait and see how her future unfolds. Luckily we can be certain that we have not seen the last of the Scarlet Witch yet.
Let us know in the comments below what you hope to see in the future for Scarlet Witch.