The Vision and The Scarlet Witch

Before we get the chance to see WandaVision on Disney+ I think we should do a brief recap of their relationship and arcs together, I have written plenty on Wanda herself but most comic fans know these two as a package deal so here we go...

In 1982 The Vision and Scarlet Witch had their own comic book series, the first volume of which centered around Magneto being revealed as Scarlet Witch’s father. Written by Bill Mantlo and Rick Leonardi the original run contained only 4 issues. More than that we see the Vision fall in love with the Scarlet Witch because he has instilled memories of WonderMan who was Wanda’s previous love interest. The series second run lasted 12 issues and was published in 1985, and was written by Steve Englehart. This part of the series gave us a magically pregnant Scarlet Witch who gives birth to twins.

What makes this series so interesting is that there is very little crime fighting and no superhero feats. This is a very family centered series for both Wanda and Vision. Now, does that mean there are certain sexist overtones? OF COURSE it does! Many other comic aficionados have pointed out Wanda’s “growth” during this series, referring to it in a similar way to SyFy wires very misguided young contributor, “Wanda grew by leaps and bounds throughout these 16 issues, and it's an interesting transformation to watch, particularly in the context of today, where the Scarlet Witch has become legendary for her sense of angry pride and her antihero or even villainous tendencies. Watching her go from a conflicted young adult to proud Avenger and wife to one of Marvel's most powerful and prominent characters over the years has truly been a gift.” Because how dare a young woman who's been through what Wanda’s been through be angry? Because how dare someone with her level of power USE IT? Because heaven forbid we try and write an overpowered woman without depicting her as ANGRY? Ya know what calm powerful women down, marriage and motherhood….can we tell that I hate nothing more then this analysis? This quote doesn’t just imply that a settled, suburban life is what “matured” Wanda, it outright states it and it's gross. It's also wildly inaccurate, the “emotional and angry” depiction of Wanda did not stop or even slow with this series, the way she was depicted even in House of M, which was an entire storyline about her power, she was shown as angry and emotional. This concept wouldn't make me as angry if it was ONLY applied to Wanda, unfortunately comic book writers really use this for every woman that can be considered overpowered; Jean Grey, Carol Danvers, Sue Storm, Raven...and so so many others BUT more on that in a different article.

The most important things to come out of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch were; the parentage of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver (yes I know it has since been retconned, but thats so beyond stupid so I’m ignoring it) and the twins as both major reveals set up multiple new storylines for Wanda.

The Vision and Scarlet Witch’s interactions with one another have ranged from loving, soft, and caring to violent to complete indifference and my initial gut feeling is that we are going to see a great deal of that range of emotion through this series. It was my hope that Visions death would allow Scarlet Witch the emotional motivation needed to access the full extent of her power and that Doctor Strange would help her control it, taking the role Agatha Harkness played in the comics but it is the unfortunate truth that they are going to instead have one of the most overpowered superheroes of all time have a mental break and then turn her into the villain in the next Doctor Strange film. I was genuinely hoping the men of Marvel would see the problems in her comic book story lines and not repeat those characterizations but it appears I gave them too much credit (if you are really interested in why the handling of her character and many others is sexist, or you just want to hear me explain myself, don’t worry there will be an article, youtube video and podcast episode all on this subject).

Anywho lets get on with the trailer breakdown first we see a Leave it to Beaver style household, obviously we’re starting in the 50s and Vision appears before Wanda and says her name. The way he delivers this is very much as if she is hearing it in a dreamlike state. In this first sequence we start to see an everyday use of her powers that feels a little let “comic book” and a little more “Bewitched”. We then change decades, now we are in the 70s, and we see my dear Wanda seeing the world around her as if she is glitching which helps to solidify my mental break theory. We see the mind stone and what seems to be modern day as she fights alongside Vision ( I was really really, very much hoping she would bring him back because she's a badass and she can. And this would help her unlock some of those OP powers I love so much). I am cautiously optimistic about this series, I still have hope that she will simply unlock the rest of her powers and appear in Doctor Strange to help him access/control the multiverse and that she won't be treated as a villain and that she will continue to be a part of Marvel’s line up. I don’t have a lot of hope, but I have hope. I will be reviewing episode by episode on youtube and doing episode recaps on my podcast Lady Comic Book History so if you have any interest at all in my opinions on the matter then stay tuned!