| Scarlet Witch | |
The Scarlet Witch as drawn by George Pérez. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Uncanny X-Men #4 (Mar. 1964) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Wanda Maximoff |
| Species | Human Mutant |
| Team affiliations | Brotherhood of Evil Mutants Avengers West Coast Avengers Defenders Secret Defenders Force Works |
| Notable aliases | Wanda Frank, Ana Maximoff, Wanda Magnus |
| Abilities | Reality warping, manifested as probability alteration and magic |
The Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in X-Men #4 (Sep. 1963) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
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In 1964, the Scarlet Witch first appears with her brother, Quicksilver, as a part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in Uncanny X-Men #4 (Mar. 1964). After several brief appearances in issues #5 (May 1964); #6 (July 1964); #7 (Sept. 1964) & #11 (May 1965), Wanda and her brother reform and join the Avengers in Avengers #16 (May 1965). The Scarlet Witch becomes a semi-regular member of the team until issue #49 (Feb. 1968), and then returns from issue #75 (Apr. 1970) and is a perennial member until Avengers #503 (Dec. 2004), the final issue. The Scarlet Witch also stars in two limited series with husband and fellow Avenger the Vision, being Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1 - 4 (Nov. 1982 - Feb. 1983), by writer Bill Mantlo and penciller Rick Leonardi, and a second volume with the same title numbered #1 - 12 (Oct. 1985 - Sept. 1986), written by Steve Englehart and penciled by Richard Howell.
The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's pregnant mother — Magda — takes sanctuary at Mount Wundagore in Transia, the home of the High Evolutionary, after seeing her husband Magnus use his magnetic powers for the first time. The twins are born; as Mt. Wundagore is the prison of the Elder God Chthon, his residual energies alter Wanda, which will later give her the ability to use magic in addition to her mutant abilities. Fearing that Magnus would discover the children, Magda leaves but dies of exposure to the elements. The births are attended by Bova, who soon after assists World War II superheroine Miss America, who gives birth to a stillborn child and loses her own life in the process. These complications are thought to be due to radiation poisoning, deliberately caused by the villain Isbisa, the enemy of her husband Robert Frank, also known as the hero the Whizzer. Bova hides the truth from Frank and claims that only the mother has died, and that he now has twin children. Frank, however, is shocked at the death of his wife and flees at super-speed. [1] As Wundagore was no place for human infants, the High Evolutionary places them in the care of the gypsies Django and Marya Maximoff, who raise the twins as their own children. The twins are forced to flee a mob when Wanda uses her powers to protect herself, which causes a fire that kills their adopted gypsy mother. [2]
Once Pietro and Wanda reach adolescence, they discover that they are in fact mutants. Pietro possesses superhuman speed, while Wanda learns that she can control probability. When the pair display their powers in public, and are again attacked by a superstitious crowd, they are saved by their father — now the supervillain Magneto — although neither Magneto nor his children are aware of their connection. Magneto then recruits the pair for the first incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The Brotherhood battles the X-Men on several occasions, [3] although the twins become reluctant members of the Brotherhood and only remain because of their obligation to Magneto. When Magneto and his lackey the Toad are abducted by the cosmic entity the Stranger, the Brotherhood dissolves and the twins declare their debt to Magneto to have been paid. [4]
Soon after Magneto's abduction, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are recruited by the hero Iron Man to join the Avengers. Along with Captain America as leader and former villain Hawkeye, the four become the second generation of Avengers and are later dubbed as "Cap's Kooky Quartet". [5]
Wanda becomes close friends with Hawkeye and a loyal member of the team until accidentally shot on a mission against Magneto. Quicksilver then flees from the Avengers with his wounded sister. [6] The pair accompany Magneto back to his mid-Atlantic base, [7] and Wanda spends the next few weeks recovering from her wound, watching as Magneto captures the X-Men [8] and Pietro skirmishes with the X-Man Cyclops [9] and later Spider-Man. [10] After these encounters the twins finally realize that Magneto is the true villain. Wanda and Pietro are then kidnapped along with several other mutants by the Sentinels, but are subsequently freed by the X-Men. [11]
Quicksilver later returns to the Avengers and advises them that Wanda has been kidnapped and taken to another dimension by the warlord Arkon. [12] After being rescued, Wanda — together with Pietro — rejoins the team. The Scarlet Witch then falls in love with teammate the Vision, an android originally created as a weapon by Avengers foe Ultron. Before long, the two develop a romantic relationship.[13] Their relationship has a tumultuous start as both Quicksilver and Hawkeye object — Quicksilver cannot accept his sister loves a robot while Hawkeye loves Wanda himself. [14] Despite this, the pair eventually marry with the blessing of the entire team. [15]
The Scarlet Witch begins to become frustrated with the fluctuating level of her mutant ability, and is tutored by a true witch, Agatha Harkness. The training allows Wanda even greater control over her hexes [16] and this proves invaluable in battle against foes such as Ultron. [17] Wanda and Pietro also met Robert Frank, who briefly joins the Avengers, believing them to be his children. [18] This is later disproved when Wanda and Pietro are abducted by Django Maximoff and taken to Wundagore. Wanda is temporarily possessed by the demon Chthon, but after being released is advised by Bova that neither Frank nor Maximoff is their biological father. [19] Soon after, while trying to track down Magda one last time, Magneto would learn that he was the father of the twins. He immediately informed them of their relationship shortly after the birth of Pietro's daughter Luna. [20] The Scarlet Witch and the Vision take a leave of absence from the Avengers, [21] and courtesy of Wanda's enhanced power conceive twin boys named Thomas and William. [22] Wanda gives birth, [23] and with the Vision eventually joins the West Coast Avengers, [24] needing some time away from the main team after the Vision becomes unbalanced and tries to take over the world's computers. [25]
Their relationship is almost ended when the Vision is abducted by a coalition of the world governments and dismantled to ensure that he is no longer a threat. Although rebuilt, the Vision is recreated as a colorless, emotionless synthezoid. [26] Wanda's agitation is increased when Wonder Man - whose brain patterns were the model for the Vision - refuses to repeat the process and "humanize" the Vision, as he is secretly in love with the Scarlet Witch and sees an opportunity for himself. [27] Now desperate, the Scarlet Witch consults a Dean of Robotics in the state of Texas, who secretly manages a mutant research facility. The Scarlet Witch is bonded with a sentient symbiotic substance, with the Dean intending to use Wanda as a prototype to replace mankind. Wanda is, however, rescued by her team mates with the assistance of Captain America and She-Hulk. [28]
Another personal setback follows when it is revealed that Wanda's children are in fact two missing shards of the soul of the demonic entity Mephisto. In an act of kindness, Agatha Harkness then erases all memory of the children from Wanda's memory. [29] Despite this, the Scarlet Witch retreats from reality and falls into a catatonic state. The Vision, now guided by cold logic, decides in the wake of recent developments on the East coast to return to the main team, and is apparently oblivious to the condition of his wife. [30] Wanda's weakened state over the loss of her children and changes in her husband makes her susceptible to the mental commands of Magneto, who is also apparently being aided by Quicksilver. Adopting a new evil persona, Wanda turns against the Avengers as she and her family battle the Avengers West Coast team, [31] until it is revealed that Pietro was only waiting for the right moment to stop his father and helps drive Magneto off. During the battle Wanda again reverts back to a catatonic state, with this being caused by the time entity Immortus; although he is later defeated and Wanda is rescued by the Avengers and restored to sanity. [32]
Despite the Vision's absence, the Scarlet Witch remains with the team. When the West Coast team is dissolved by the main team due to internal disputes and mistakes in the field, [33] Wanda goes on to lead a breakaway team called Force Works. [34] The team suffers several setbacks, including the death of Wonder Man on the first mission. [35] When the team splinters after the last mission involving Kang the Conqueror, [36] the Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye return to the main team. [37] The Vision and Scarlet Witch reconcile shortly before sacrificing themselves with the other Avengers and Fantastic Four to stop the mutant villain Onslaught. [38] Due to the intervention of Franklin Richards, the Scarlet Witch and her team mates exist in a parallel universe for a year, [39] until being returned to the mainstream universe by Franklin. [40]
Shortly after the heroes return, the Scarlet Witch is kidnapped by the sorceress Morgan le Fay, with the intention of using Wanda's powers to warp reality in le Fay's image. Although successful, Wanda retaliates by restoring Captain America's memories, who in turn is able to restore several Avengers' memories. Wanda also accidentally resurrects Wonder Man, who assists in her escape. Although the Avengers defeat le Fay, the Vision is damaged in the final battle when Le Fay destroys the lower half of his body. The Vision is placed in a surgical repair device, and via hologram communicates with Wanda and asks her not to visit him while he heals. [41]
An upset Wanda visits Agatha Harkness and learns that she is now able to channel chaos magic, which will allow her to change reality. After much deliberation and still hurting from Vision's rejection, Wanda resurrects Wonder Man and the two become lovers. [42] The Vision is eventually repaired and there is a confrontation between he and Wonder Man, although they part on amicable terms. [43] During the war against Kang, Wanda and Wonder Man separate, as they realize that theirs is a relationship of passion with no interest in a normal future. [44] Wanda later reconciles with the Vision, and becomes energized with chaos magic when the villain Scorpio splits the cosmic entity the In-Betweener into his separate order and chaos personas. [45]
After the Avengers return from events in England, Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp, enters into a romantic tryst with the wounded-but-recovering Hawkeye. While discussing the affair with Wanda, a slightly tipsy Wasp confesses to a pregnancy scare and inadvertently mentions Wanda's own children. This causes Wanda to suffer a mental breakdown, and she starts rewriting reality, causing a series of threats and incidents to inexplicably occur one after the other, including the deaths of the Vision, Scott Lang and Hawkeye. She also procedes to recreate her children. The Avengers confront her and Dr. Strange shuts down her mind. Wanda is then retrieved by her father Magneto, and taken to Genosha. [46]
After the events of the House of M, a newly resurrected Hawkeye seeks out and becomes intimate with Wanda, who is now living a normal life with no mutant abilities and no memory of her past. [47] The mutant Beast later finds Wanda and seeks her help to deal with the aftermath of Decimation, but she has no memory of him. [48] The Young Avengers Wiccan and Speed then decide to find Wanda, as Wiccan wants to know once and for all if she is indeed their mother. They travel to several places connected to Wanda and themselves in their search. Though they do not find her, she is briefly shown leading a seemingly normal and peaceful life in a house in the woods at the base of a mountain.[49]
She appears on the cover of Mighty Avengers #21, whether this means she is returning and joining the team is yet to be seen.
Initially, the Scarlet Witch had the mutant ability to manipulate probability via her "hexes", which usually manifested physically as "hex spheres" or "hex bolts". Wanda has the ability to affect probability fields to cause an occurrence of various unlikely phenomena, including spontaneous combustion of flammable objects, rapid rust or decay of organic or inorganic materials, deflection of objects in flight, and disruption of energy transmissions or fields. These hexes were relatively short range and limited to line of sight. Casting a hex requires a gesture and concentration on her part, though the gestures are largely a focus for the concentration. Despite this precision, the hexes are not necessarily guaranteed to work, particularly if Wanda is tired or using her powers excessively. If overextended, Wanda's hexes can backfire, causing probability to work against her wishes or to undo previous hexes. The effects are varied but almost always detrimental to opponents, such as causing the artifact the Evil Eye to work against inter-dimensional warlord Dormammu [50] the robot Ultron to short circuit [51] or a gas main underneath the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to explode. [52]
Writer Kurt Busiek redefined the Scarlet Witch's powers, and maintained that it was in fact an ability to manipulate chaos magic, given to her by the demon Chthon (imprisoned within Wundagore Mountain) when she was born. Busiek's redefinition upgraded Wanda's powers substantially, and she is shown as being capable of feats such as the resurrection of Wonder Man. Writer Brian Michael Bendis later revamped Wanda's powers yet again, with Doctor Strange stating that there was in fact no such thing as chaos magic and that Wanda had been altering reality all along.
During the Age of Apocalypse, The Scarlet Witch is a member of Magneto's X-Men. She dies defending the X-Men's base on Wundagore Mountain from an attack by Nemesis. [53]
Scarlet Witch was one of the Avengers in the Heroes Reborn universe, in which she was raised by Agatha Harkness. The Asgardian sorceress Enchantress falsely claims to be her mother. [54]
A version of the Scarlet Witch helps Ash find the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. She is later attacked and infected by a zombie Punisher. [55]
An older version of the Scarlet Witch appears in the MC2 universe. [56]
In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, Wanda Lensherr Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, is still the daughter of Magneto and the sister of Quicksilver. She has the ability to alter probability; making the impossible, possible. Wanda is originally a member of Magneto's cult, the Brotherhood of Mutants. Following her father's apparent death, she and her brother lead the Brotherhood and guide the group away from Magneto's mutant supremacist ideals and keep in touch with Charles Xavier to promote a more peaceful mutant-human integration. The siblings eventually agree to work for the Ultimates in exchange for the release of imprisoned Brotherhood members, although Nick Fury retains them in the black ops division of the team due to their terrorist past. This version is later killed via a seeking bullet by a copy of the robot Ultron. [57]
The Ultimate Scarlet Witch has to "do the math" in order to use her powers — she must calculate the mathematical probability that the effect she intends to create will actually happen, with the more unlikely the effect, the more complex the mathematical formula. Very much like her Earth-616 counterpart, Wanda can fly, alter reality, create force fields, and teleport objects. A drawback is that Wanda must use her hands to channel her powers.
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