One of the most powerful Avengers and Marvel heroes of all time has to be The Scarlet Witch. Otherwise known as Wanda Maximoff, Scarlet Witch is a powerful magic based hero who has had a tumultuous career as both a hero and a villain in the world of Marvel Comics.
A longtime Avenger, she has married a classic Avenger, discovered her lineage to a classic X-Men villain, and gone through the painful loss of loved ones that has led to some of the more disastrous moments in Marvel Comics. Here are ten things Marvel fans should know about The Scarlet Witch.
10 Altered At Birth
Part of what makes Wanda such an interesting character is how early her chaotic life started. From the moment of her birth, Wanda was surrounded by villains. Her mother Magda escaped from having her children used as pawns in Magneto’s war on humanity. She found sanctuary in the home of the High Evolutionary, and gave birth to twins.
When she was born, her abilities were altered by the elder god Chthon in order for her to grow up to be a vessel for him in the future. This is what led to her powers becoming as great as they truly are.
9 Saved By Magneto
After their mother fled with the children for fear that Magnus would discover them, she passed away due to exposure to the elements. The High Evolutionary then arranged for the twins to be taken in by Django and Marya Maximoff, but sadly Marya passed away years later, and Pietro whisked his sister away to safety.
This led to the twins traveling through Europe for a long time. After Wanda saved a child using her powers, people became afraid and went after the twins, but Magneto appeared, unaware of his connection to the twins but saving them nonetheless. He then brought them into the Brotherhood of Mutants.
8 Joined Avengers
After fighting the X-Men as part of the Brotherhood of Mutants out of some feeling of owning Magneto for saving them, Magneto is captured by the cosmic entity Stranger, and the twins agree their debt to him is paid. This allows them to leave the evil group behind and find a better life to life.
This leads to them both joining the Avengers, alongside Hawkeye. However soon after Wanda was shot and injured during a mission against Magneto, and Pietro took her with Magneto, leaving the Avengers. Eventually they left Magneto again, but didn’t return to the Avengers right away.
7 Fell In Love With Vision
Soon after they returned to the Avengers roster, Scarlet Witch found herself falling in love with one of her teammates, The Vision. The android created by Ultron who fought his maker was reminiscent of Wanda’s own journey, and the two bonded. However their relationship was not without its opposition.
Her own brother Pietro opposed the relationship, arguing that his sister should not be in love or in a relationship with a robot. Meanwhile Hawkeye also opposed the relationship, but only because he had feelings for Wanda himself. However the couple preserved and soon were married, eventually having children of their own.
6 Trained By Agatha Harkness
One of the things that has become more and more evident over the years is that Scarlet Witch’s power is definitely connected more to the power of magic than her mutant abilities. With the power over hex magic and with reality-altering magic at her disposal, Wanda sought a way to control the power within her for good.
This is what led to Scarlet Witch seeking the aid of Agatha Harkness. The true born witch who was one of the original witches of the Salem Witch Trials who somehow survived the ordeal trained Wanda to use and control her powers.
5 Driven Mad By Grief
One of Scarlet Witch’s worst trials and battles came with the loss of her children. After manipulating Master Pandemonium to collect the five shards of his soul, Mephisto watched as it was revealed two of the shards were made into Wanda’s children, and when they were absorbed into Master Pandemonium, she lost her sanity.
After a failed attempt to get Doctor Doom’s help, her powers grew unstable after attacking the Avengers. Quicksilver sensed the Avengers coming to end her life, and so he convinced her to create the House of M world. Eventually that failed, and in her grief she caused the mutant population to be severely crippled.
4 Defeats The Phoenix Force
After years in solitude after the House of M event, Wanda was sought out and rejoined the Avengers during the Avengers vs X-Men event. When the Phoenix Force was absorbed by Cyclops, Emma Frost and three others, Hope Summers became their target, as she was destined to wield the power of the Phoenix Force.
However Wanda’s power was so great that she managed to hurt Cyclops when he tried taking Hope. After helping defeat Cyclops, Hope absorbed the Phoenix Force. Working with Hope, Wanda used her magic to expel the Phoenix Force and destroy it, whispering “No More Phoenix”, which undid the aftermath of M-Day.
3 Learns Magneto Is Not Her Father
During the time in which Red Skull had absorbed and was using Professor Xavier’s mind to attack the world, Wanda worked with Doctor Strange to release an inversion spell to draw out Xavier’s good nature, but when Doctor Doom had to step in the spell backfired, with the heroes becoming villains and the villains becoming heroes.
Wanda went to attack Pietro and Magneto with a blood curse, but only Pietro reacted, making it obvious Magneto was not her true father. After this event was resolved, Wanda and Pietro discovered that they were in fact the true children of Django and Marya Maximoff, and were not mutants but experiments of the High Evolutionary.
2 Fights Brother Pietro
During a time when she was working alongside Agatha Harkness’s ghost and was trying to connect more with her magical side, the infamous Civil War II storyline began. With Tony Stark and Captain Marvel battling it out, Pietro went to Wanda seeking her help, trying to convince her to side with Tony.
However they disagreed on which side was right, with Wanda believing knowing the future could have prevented the disasters of her past. When she rejects Pietro and his controlling nature, the two fight, and she bests him. She then tells him she never wants to see him again, straining their relationship entirely.
1 Forced Into Hydra’s Avengers
Much like her ex-husband Vision, Wanda was forced into becoming part of Hydra Steve Rodger’s Hydra Avengers team. During the event Secret Empire, when Captain America was made into a Hydra loyalist and managed to take over the United States, he created his own Avengers. While later it was revealed this was another version of Steve created by the Cosmic Cube, the betrayal was still fresh for the heroes.
During this time, Wanda was possessed and controlled by the elder god Chthon, and was slowly leaving her mental state and control over her powers unhinged. Thor soon knocked her out, and allowed her to fight off Chthon’s control.