Scarlet Witch

We all know that I can talk about Scarlet Witch all day, everyday. I will never stop writing articles about how badass she is because people who refute me don’t actually read comic books, or know how to read at all who knows, so here is an even more in depth look at the growth of Scarlet Witch’s powers. The powers of the Scarlet Witch are often overlooked (or dismissed because she didn’t get what comic book nerds would consider overpowered until House of M), the reality is that she was always truly powerful her powers just weren’t clearly defined until closer to the 1980s.

Wanda made her first appearance with her brother Quicksilver in the 4th issue of the X-Men in March 1964, her original powers were described as nothing more the “hex powers”. She had the ability to manipulate probability and inflict hexes on her enemies. Even this in of itself is pretty powerful but as far as mutants go it is fairly low level. She started to study under the tutelage of Agatha Harkness in the Avengers issues #128-#135 in October of 1974-May of 1975. During this time her powers moved from generic hexes to actual magic ability. The mid 70s is where we begin to see what Scarlet Witch is truly capable of, the writers started to grow her powers and they haven’t stopped growing since.

However her powers held weight even before her time with Agatha Harkness. She went up against Dormammu and used the Evil Eye artifact against him in the Avengers issue #118 in December of 1973. Dormammu is one of the most powerful magic based villains in the Marvel universe and Wanda was able to defeat him long before the expansion of her powers.

After she began learning from Agatha, Ultron came into the picture. In this specific story line Ultron created Jacosta to take as a robot bride. The one to defeat him in this story line was, of course, Scarlet Witch. She short circuited the android in the Avengers issues 161 in July of 1977. I love this origin because we got to see a version of this on screen in Scarlet Witch’s debut movie Age of Ultron, she used her magic, energy manipulation to rip the mechanical heart from his chest. As this was our first look at Scarlet Witch, we got a pretty good idea of how powerful she was and how powerful she could possibly become.

Another example of the extent of her powers before they were as rich as they are now is the explosion of the gas main underneath the Brotherhood of Mutants. This event shows intention, she is no longer causing random occurrences but she has the ability to cause destruction intentionally. She was also strong enough to be deemed Chthon’s vessel on earth. Chthon, in the context of the Marvel universe is one of the most powerful Elder Gods of earth that has regenerated into a demonic state, that said his vessel must be strong enough to contain his Godly being.

The woman who fell in love with an android desperately wanted children, which she couldn’t have naturally for obvious reasons. Wanda’s need for children caused Thomas and William to be conceived and born of Wanda’s magic (The Vision and the Scarlet Witch v2 December 1985). Wanda is so powerful that Morgan le Fey kidnapped her with the intention of using her reality warping abilities to her advantage. Wanda has the power to raise the dead... Wanda resurrects Wonder Man and the Vision (The Avengers v1-3 1998, Too Many Avengers v3-4 1998) as well as her brother Quicksilver in House of M.

Wanda Maximoff’s powers are vast and intense and they always have been, she is only just now getting attention because we are starting to see those powers come to life on screen. I look forward to seeing how they grow my girls powers in Phase 4 of the MCU, but they have done an amazing job so far at showing a steady growth in her abilities. This is my 3rd article involving Scarlet Witch (there will be a fourth, stay tuned).