Scarlet Witch
The Scarlet Witch is a female comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Wanda Maximoff and her twin brother, Pietro Maximoff, were born to a nomadic Romani witch named Natalya Maximoff near Novi Pazar, in Serbia. (Scarlet Witch v2 #11) Their birth mother Natalya Maximoff was a spellcasting superhero also known as the Scarlet Witch with few in the world knowing her existence. (Scarlet Witch v2 #4) Afraid of harming her children due to her perilous lifestyle, Natalya Maximoff placed the babies under the care of her brother, the ventriloquist Django, and his wife, the gentle Marya. When the High Evolutionary and his Knights of Wundagore ravaged the region where the Maximoffs lived in search of babies for his experiments, the twins were kidnapped by a catholic priest and brought to the Evolutionary's citadel on the Wundagore Mountain, in Transia. (Scarlet Witch v2 #11) The High Evolutionary made alterations to the twins' genomes, disguising them as regular mutants. (Uncanny Avengers v2 #4)
An American couple named Bob and Madelyne Frank had also arrived while pregnant. Formerly the Invaders known as Whizzer and Miss America, the Franks had been exposed to radiation which made their first child hazardous at birth. They sought out the Evolutionary for aid with their second pregnancy, but Madelyne and her child still died in childbirth. The Evolutionary’s midwife Bova attempted to pass Wanda and Pietro off on the grieving Bob Frank, but he was crushed by his wife’s death and abandoned his alleged children on Wundagore. (Giant-Size Avengers v1 #1)
Wanda and Pietro lived a happy childhood, constantly travelling alongside their foster parents' tribe in Central and Eastern Europe. (Avengers v1 #182) At a young age, Wanda's vast potential for wielding magic was detected by those skilled in the art, and she was approached by the most powerful coven in her Eastern European homeland: Margali Szardos, Maria Russoff and Lilia Calderu. Lilia sent out a summons through the Romany for Marya Maximoff to bring Wanda to her caravan, and then the witch brought the young girl to Castle Russoff to meet her fellow sorceresses. Her initiation would not go uncontested, however - a servant of Chthon known as Taboo learned of the coven's attempt to indoctrinate Wanda and, more importantly, that Lilia was in possession of the Serpent Crown of Set. His master Chthon had gone to great lengths to prepare the girl Wanda for his own future uses, and he would lose the child to his brother Elder Demon, Set, if the witches brought her into the coven under the influence of the Crown. Therefore, Taboo and his associate Damballah interrupted the coven's ceremony with Wanda. The conflict only ended when Wanda manifested her hex power for the first time, inadvertently giving Chthon himself a chance to reach out to the material plane. He nonchalantly disposed of the Serpent Crown and decreed that Wanda would join no coven, under penalty of his wrath. The witches assented, and returned Wanda to her family to grow without tutelage in magic. (Mystic Arcana Scarlet Witch v1 #1)
Some time ago, she and her brother lived in a village in the heart of Europe. The superstitious villagers came to believe the Scarlet Witch's Mutant powers were a sign that she was a witch where they formed a mob that targeted the siblings. It was then that Magneto arrived where he saved the twins and declared them to be Homo Superior. He invited the pair to join the ranks of his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with Quicksilver joining to protect his sister. (X-Men v1 #4)
Brotherhood
In their initial battle with the X-Men in Santo Marco, the Scarlet Witch knocked out Angel, who had incapacitated her brother, in retaliation and brought the captured X-Man to Magneto. But the X-Men forced them to abandon their prisoner and even the entire country. (X-Men v1 #4) At their next scheme, Scarlet Witch disagreed with Magneto's plan to kill the X-Men. During his attempt to kill every X-Man except the captive Angel, Scarlet Witch used one of her hexes to short-circuit Magneto's control panel. She injured one of Magneto's hands in the process. Before Magneto could 'teach her a lesson', Wanda hid behind her protective brother Quicksilver. Subsequently, Wanda was nearly injured by debris created by one of Cyclops' blasts. (X-Men v1 #5) At their next conflict with the X-Men, Quicksilver was easily captured by Marvel Girl. Wanda was worried about her brother's safety, and asked Magneto to save him. She instead learned that Magneto was about to fire a deadly weapon against the entire group of X-Men, willing to sacrifice Quicksilver's life to gain victory. Wanda tried to stop him, but Magneto threatened to kill her for defying his decisions. Namor intervened on Wanda's behalf and destroyed the equipment before it could be used. When Magneto, Mastermind, and Toad fled from X-Men's attacks, Wanda chose to stay behind. All by herself, she demanded that the X-Men release her brother immediately, but she was in no position to impose demands. Namor, however, came to her aid and started to fight the X-Men. He easily defeated the Beast and the Angel but was immobilized by Cyclops' blasts. Before their fight could escalate further, Professor X intervened, revealing to Wanda that he had placed Quicksilver under mind-control. He was willing to release him to Wanda's custody, as he didn't consider the twins anything more than Magneto's pawns. To have her brother returned to her, Wanda convinced an angry Namor to back down. Upon leaving the scene, Namor remarked upon his attraction to the Scarlet Witch. But her beauty reminded him of Susan Storm, and he feared that this potential relationship would be similarly doomed, and he would end up being rejected, so he departed. (X-Men v1 #6)
Avengers
Following a mystical attack on Avengers Mansion, a powerful storm struck the area but this was dispersed by Agatha Harkness. She then revealed that she intended to take the Scarlet Witch as a pupil and train her in the ways of witchcraft. (Avengers v1 #128)
She was among the heroes that joined the reformed Avengers when they responded to Asgardian related threats that were appearing on Earth following the devastation to Asgard. (Avengers v3 #1) Ultimately, this proved to be a trap by Morgan le Fay as she had acquired the Norn Stones and the Twilight Sword where she used them in conjunction with the captured Scarlet Witch to alter all reality. Thus, the world was changed into le Fay's wishes where it resembled a modern day Camelot that was under her control with the Avengers becoming her loyal warriors known as the Queen's Vengeance. (Avengers v3 #2) Wanda was among those that remained trapped and aware of the true nature of the world where she called for help with this act inadvertently summoning Wonder Man back from the dead. (Avengers v3 #3)
Disassembled
Redeemer
She visited the grave of Professor Xavier to find Rogue there where she came to blame Wanda for her past actions in nearly bringing about the extinction of a fight. Their fight was interrupted by the arrival of the S-Men who managed to successfully capture the two. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #1) They were brought to their secret headquarters and their leader the Red Skull who had plans to use Wanda to help bring about the genocide of all Mutants on Earth. He managed to secure her aid through his new telepathic powers that he acquired by splicing the brain matter of Professor X with his own. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #2)
Wanda later looked to start anew where looked to aid people from mystical threats. It was during this time that she began to experience a disruption in the flow of magic and believed that witchcraft was dying. (Scarlet Witch v2 #1)
With the establishment of a mutant exclusive island nation on the island of Krakoa, the Scarlet Witch became a diabolical figure in Krakoan society, being referred to as the 'pretender'. (X-Men v5 #7) Remorseful due to her past transactions against mutants, she decided to reverse the genocides that mutants had suffered by Cassandra Nova in Genosha. Doctor Strange advised against her efforts, but the Scarlet Witch explored ways to resurrect the mutant victims, unaware of the Krakoan Resurrection Protocols. The spell she cast did not work, raising the corpses of the mutants killed on Genosha as the undead. (Empyre: X-Men v1 #1) The Scarlet Witch sought help from Doctor Strange, who countered the spell. As it would take thirty days to return all the dead, a barrier was placed around Genosha to prevent any of the dead from leaving. The barrier did not prevent the living from entering the island though, since the alien Cotati set up a base on the island as part of an attempted invasion and were attacked by the mutant zombies. When the Gateways on Krakoa were affected, Krakoan mutants investigated and wound up under siege until the spell took effect. The Krakoans remained unaware the Scarlet Witch was responsible for this crisis. (Empyre: X-Men v1 #3)
Sensing Chthon return, the Scarlet Witch discovered that the original Darkhold book had been uncovered by Doctor Doom and his prime champion Victorious. Reluctantly, she joined forces with Doom to defeat Chthon. They learned that Chthon was once defeated by a group of five warriors called the Darkhold Defenders. With Victorious' help, the Scarlet Witch assembled a modern version of the team, formed by some of her superhero allies. The group read excerpts of the Darkhold to chase for Chthon in the Other-Realm; however, they were corrupted. (Darkhold Alpha v1 #1) The deviant team was sent to defeat Chthon's army and weaken him. The Scarlet Witch then entered Chthon's domain with Doctor Doom to confront the demon directly. She betrayed Doctor Doom and took the Darkhold in order defeat Chthon herself. Fused with the book, she was able to defeat and possess Chthon entirely. Empowered by the Darkhold and Chthon, she undid the corruption. Afterwards, the Scarlet Witch taunted Doom for his past abusive schemes against her and proclaimed her freedom. (Darkhold Omega v1 #1)
At Lotkill in New York, she established a shop called the Emporium that was a spiritual mercantile to serve as a place where she could help people. Within the premise was a magical Last Door that mystically transported people that were in need of help with Wanda offering to aid them. One of the first people to come through its doors was Darcy Lewis though she refused to explain what problem she was suffering from at the time. Instead, she was allowed to stay with Wanda and help manage the shop. (Scarlet Witch v3 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Powers and abilities
Some accounts originally claimed that she was a Mutant. (X-Men v1 #4) One account claimed that she was not in fact a Mutant but engineered to appear as one. (Uncanny Avengers v2 #4) Regardless, her mystical abilities stemmed from her birth with this being the basis for her witchcraft. (Scarlet Witch v2 #1) Such was her mystical strength that she was a candidate for Sorcerer Supreme. (New Avengers v1 #53)
It was shown that she could see auras of people that were good and bad. (Scarlet Witch v2 #1)
The mystical energy she controlled was chaos energy and that with enough time and training she could use it to far more than simple disruptive hexes. (Avengers v3 #13)
One of her spells allowed her to decrease the effect of gravity. (Avengers v3 #40)
As a witch, she was able to traverse through the otherworldly realm of the Witches' Road though journeying through it was said to scare her. (Scarlet Witch v2 #4) If killed, her flesh may be destroyed but her soul could end up in the Land of the Dead. From there, she would have to walk through the Witches' Underworld in order to return back to life. To accomplish this, she had to battle her way back onto the Witches' Road and find the door to the world of the living. (Scarlet Witch v4 #2)
She could call upon Celtic spells by evoking the power of the exalted Morrigan. (Scarlet Witch v2 #1) Another patron deity was Hekate who was the Greek goddess of witches. (Scarlet Witch v2 #2)
Magic held a cost for it use and particularly powerful spells could result in Wanda aging with more wrinkles and greylines forming in her features. (Scarlet Witch v2 #2)
As a Nexus Being, the Scarlet Witch was an agent for the cosmic being known as the Queen of Nevers with them being disruptors in creation who enjoy true free will. These Nexi bend the grand design and change the 'math' with some believing that they exist to control. In reality, they personified freedom as they all wield the power of possibility. In the case of Wanda Maximoff, she was on the path to becoming the Ultimate Nexus with the ability to touch all realities. As a Nexus, she could join her patron the Neverqueen and enter her domain to a realm of pure possibility and attain eternal rest for her service. (Scarlet Witch v4 #2)
In Lotkill, New York, she established a spiritual mercantile called the Emporium. Within it was the Last Door that was part seeking spell and part portal designed to bring those that needed help to the shop. Once there, Wanda sought out to help them with whatever problem that affected them. (Scarlet Witch v3 #1)
Notes
- The Scarlet Witch was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby where she made her first appearance in X-Men v1 #4 (March, 1964).
Alternate Versions
- In X-Men v1 #141 (1980), an alternate version of the Scarlet Witch appeared in the Days of Future's Past reality that was designated as Earth-811 in the Multiverse.
- In Scarlet Witch v1 #1 (1993), an alternate version of the Scarlet Witch known as Lore appeared in the reality that was designated as Earth-TRN955 in the Multiverse. She reflected the characteristics of her dark necromatic reality as its nexus being with Lore having drained her world's energies and seeking out other dimensions to conquer by possessing her fellow nexus beings. This involved feeding on their power and their world as she could not manifest there where in the process she came to kill her victims.
- In X-Men: Alpha v1 #1 (1994), an alternate version of the Scarlet Witch appeared in the Age of Apocalypse reality that was designated as Earth-295 in the Multiverse. She and her brother Quicksilver were the children of Magneto with Wanda having been a member of the X-Men. Shortly after meeting Rogue, she came to be killed whilst protecting a group of young mountains at Wundagore Mountain from Nemesis.
- In Avengers v3 #2 (1998), an alternate version of the Scarlet Witch appeared in the Morgan Le Fay's Reality Warp that was designated as Earth-398 in the Multiverse.
- In Ultimate X-Men v1 #1 (2000), an alternate version of the Scarlet Witch named Wanda Lensherr appeared in the Ultimate Marvel reality that was designated as Earth-1610 in the Multiverse.
- In Exiles #4 (2001), an alternate version of the Scarlet Witch appeared in the Exiles reality that was designated as Earth-2182 in the Multiverse. On this world, the Scarlet Witch fell in love with Nightcrawler where the couple had a daughter named Talia Wagner.
- In Marvel 1602 v1 #1 (2003), an alternate version of the Scarlet Witch appeared in the Marvel 1602 reality that was designated as Earth-311 in the Multiverse.
- In House of M v1 #6 (2005), an alternate version of the Scarlet Witch known as Princess Wanda Magnus appeared in the House of M reality that was designated as Earth-58163 in the Multiverse
- In Maestro v1 #1 (2020), an alternate version of the Scarlet Witch appeared in the Future Imperfect reality that was designated as Earth-9200 in the Multiverse.
- In Heroes Reborn v2 #1 (2021), an alternate version of the Scarlet Witch appeared in the new Heroes Reborn reality that was designated as Earth-21798 in the Multiverse. In a world without the Avengers, Wanda and her brother never changed from their villainous ways where they remained as supervillains. One day, Pietro was fatally wounded and Wanda used her chaos magic to absorb his powers where she came to be known as the Silver Witch who was a wanted fugitive and an enemy of the Squadron Supreme.
In other media
Television
- In The Marvel Super Heroes, the Scarlet Witch made her first appearance in the animated television series where she was shown in the Captain America segments with her being voiced by actor Peg Dixon.
- In Iron Man, the Scarlet Witch appeared in the 1990s animated television series where she was voiced by actor Katherine Moffat in the first season and by actor Jennifer Darling in the second season.
- In The Avengers: United They Stand, the Scarlet Witch appeared in the 1990s animated television series where she was voiced by actor Stavroula Logothettis.
- In X-Men, the Scarlet Witch appeared in the 1990s animated television series where she guest starred in the episode "Family Ties" and was voiced by actor Susan Roman.
- In X-Men: Evolution, the Scarlet Witch appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actor Kelly Sheridan.
- In Wolverine and the X-Men, the Scarlet Witch appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actor Kate Higgins.
- In WandaVision, Wanda Maximoff appeared in the setting of the live-action television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Endgame where she was once again portrayed by actress Elizabeth Olsen.
Films
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Scarlet Witch made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting:
- In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda Maximoff made her first appearance in the setting of the live-action film where she was portrayed by actress Elizabeth Olsen.
- In Captain America, Civil War, Wanda Maximoff returned in the live-action film where she was once more played by actress Elizabeth Olsen.
Video games
- In X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, the Scarlet Witch appeared as a playable character in the setting of the video game where she was voiced by actress Jennifer Hale.
- In Marvel Heroes, the Scarlet Witch appeared as a playable character in the setting of the MMORPG where she was voiced again by actress Kate Higgins.
- In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, the Scarlet Witch appeared as a playable character in the video game where she was voiced once more by actress Kate Higgins
Appearances
- X-Men v1: (1964)
- Avengers v1:
- Avengers v3:
- Uncanny Avengers v1:
- Uncanny Avengers v2:
- Scarlet Witch:
- Uncanny Avengers v3:
- Avengers: No Road Home v1:
- Scarlet Witch v3: (2023)
External Links
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