Credit: Marvel StudiosMarvel fans have long had their suspicions about Wanda Maximoff…
The Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maxmimoff has been an interesting character in media. Not one of the main X-Men, she has helped them out and united with their team in the comics, and not a founding Avenger, she found herself amongst their ranks in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Partly due to her amazing powers, and moreover due to the outstanding performance by Elizabeth Olsen, the character soon gained popularity and was even featured in her own show, Wandavision, on Disney+.
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Since the character joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there has been a big question in the minds of Marvel fans who are in the know. The Marvel Cinematic Universe can often play hard and fast with the rules and origins of characters from Marvel Comics to make them fit better within the narrative or to make them seem more realistic. Ultron (James Spader) was one such example: instead of being the creation of Hank Pym, he was instead the offspring of Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).
Fans initially thought that this may have applied to Wanda Maximoff (Oslen) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well, having her origin changed from being a mutant and offspring of Magneto to simply enhanced by the Mind Stone. That was thrown into doubt after Wandavision, in which it was revealed that she had power inherent before being experimented on by Hydra. Because of these developments, the origin of the character as part of the new X-Men ’97 was also suspect.
Fans wondered, would the new series be following in the footsteps of the classic X: Men – The Animated Series when it came to Wanda? or would it be more in line with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the series is being produced by Marvel Studios. Executive producer and head writer for the series Beau DeMayo chimed in on his Twitter and answered that doubt, which was subsequently reported by The Direct. DeMayo also teased the appearance of the character as part of the new series:
“Wanda [was] established as [a mutant] in ‘Family Ties’ of X-Men: TAS so don’t worry there…”
Confirming Wanda’s heritage will follow established canon from Comic/Animated Series canon confirms that the character will at least be mentioned in the new X-Men ’97 and, more likely than not, make an appearance. While the new series is not canon within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, could this mean that fans could see Magneto as Wanda’s (Olsen) father in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? With recent news concerning Sir Ian McKellen, it could be possible!
If that happens or not, fans can see the return of Stan Lee’s X-Men in X-Men ’97 on Disney+, which is slated to start streaming Fall of this year. The series promises to pick up where the original Animated Series left off and features many of the original voice actors, including Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast, Catherine Disher as Jean Grey, Chris Potter as Remy LeBeau/Gambit, Alison Sealy-Smith as Ororo Munroe/Storm, and Adrian Hough as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler.
What do you think about this Scarlet Witch update? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below!