Scarlet Witch
The great quotes of: The Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch as drawn by Frank Cho.
The Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) is a fictional comic book character that appears in books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Men #4 (March 1964) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. She is the daughter of Magneto, the twin sister of Quicksilver, and the paternal half-sister of Polaris.
Debuting in the Silver Age of comic books, the Scarlet Witch has been featured in five decades of Marvel continuity, starring in two self-titled limited series with husband the Vision and as a regular team member in superhero title the Avengers. The character has also appeared in other Marvel-endorsed products such as animated films; arcade and video games; television series and merchandise such as action figures and trading cards.
The Scarlet Witch was ranked 97th in Wizard‘s “200 Greatest Comic Book Characters of All Time” list and 14th in Comics Buyer’s Guide‘s “100 Sexiest Women in Comics” list.
Publication history
The Scarlet Witch debuted, together with her brother, Quicksilver, as a part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in X-Men #4 (March 1964). After several brief appearances as a villain in issues #5 (May 1964); #6 (July 1964); #7 (Sept. 1964); and #11 (May 1965), Wanda and her brother were added to the cast of the superhero team the Avengers in Avengers #16 (May 1965). The Scarlet Witch was a semi-regular member of the team until issue #49 (Feb. 1968), and then returned in issue #75 (April 1970) and was a perennial member of both the main team and several affiliated teams (such as the West Coast Avengers and Force Works) until Avengers #503 (Dec. 2004), the final issue of the first volume.
The Scarlet Witch starred in two limited series with husband and fellow Avenger the Vision: Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1 – 4 (Nov. 1982 – Feb. 1983), by writer Bill Mantlo and penciller Rick Leonardi, and a second volume of the same title numbered #1 – 12 (Oct. 1985 – Sept. 1986), written by Steve Englehart and penciled by Richard Howell. A solo limited series, titled Scarlet Witch, ran four issues in 1994. A one-shot titled Mystic Arcana Scarlet Witch was published in October 2007 and an Avengers Origins: The Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver one-shot followed in January 2012.
Artist George Pérez designed a new costume with a strong Roma influence for the character in 1998. This design has rarely been used by artists other than Pérez. Alan Davis stated that when he became the artist on The Avengers, he “asked to change the Scarlet Witch just because I didn’t feel the design George Pérez created worked with my drawing style. I tend to go for simpler, more open lines and don’t do lots of detail in rendering.”
The character played a pivotal role in the Avengers Disassembled storyline and related limited series House of M, and appeared in the Young Avengers follow-up series, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade.
Don Markstein asserts that the character is unlike any other, stating, “The Scarlet Witch is unique among superheroes, and not just because she’s the only one who wears a wimple. Her super power is unlike any other — she can alter probability so as to cause mishaps for her foes. In other words, she ‘hexes’ them.”
The Scarlet Witch is a regular character in Uncanny Avengers (2012), beginning with issue #1.
Fictional character biography
Magda — pregnant with the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver — 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 during a battle between the Knights of Wundagore and the Other, “the elemental host of Cthon”; Mt. Wundagore is the prison of the Elder GodChthon, and Magda had come to the mountain in the midst of a plot of his to escape the prison. Cthon altered Wanda and will later give her the ability to use magic in addition to her mutant abilities; Cthon had planned to use her as a vessel for his own demonic possession when she reached maturity, a vessel with both mutant and magical powers. Fearing that Magnus would discover the children, Magda leaves the sanctuary and dies of exposure to the elements. The twins are attended by Bova. Bova soon assists the World War II superheroine Miss America through labor, but the birth results in a stillborn child and Miss America 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 Miss America’s husband Robert Frank, a.k.a Whizzer. Bova hides the truth from Frank and claims that only the mother has died, and that he now has twin children. Frank is shocked at the death of his wife and flees at super speed. As Wundagore was no place for human infants, the High Evolutionary places them in the care of the Romani 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 and accidentally causes a fire that kills their adoptive Roma mother.
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
Once Pietro (Quicksilver) and Wanda (The Scarlet Witch) 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, and the twins become reluctant members of the Brotherhood and only remain because of their obligation to Magneto. When Magneto and his lackey Toad are abducted by the cosmic entity Stranger, the Brotherhood dissolves and the twins declare that their debt to Magneto has been paid.
The Avengers
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 the Avengers and are later dubbed as “Cap’s Kooky Quartet.”
Cover of Avengers #104 (Oct. 1972), featuring the Scarlet Witch and the Avengers. Art by Rich Buckler and Joe Sinnott.
Wanda becomes close friends with Hawkeye and a loyal member of the team until she is accidentally shot on a mission against Magneto. Quicksilver then flees from the Avengers with his wounded sister. The pair accompany Magneto back to his mid-Atlantic base, and Wanda spends the next few weeks recovering from her wound. She watches as Magneto captures the X-Men and Pietro skirmishes with Cyclops, one of the X-Men, and later Spider-Man. 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.
Quicksilver later returns to the Avengers and advises them that Wanda has been kidnapped and taken to another dimension by the warlord Arkon. After being rescued, Wanda — together with Pietro — rejoins the team. The Scarlet Witch then falls in love with teammate Vision, an android originally created as a weapon by the Avengers’ foe Ultron. Before long, the two develop a romantic relationship. Their relationship has a tumultuous start as both Quicksilver and Hawkeye object — Quicksilver cannot accept the idea that his sister loves a robot while Hawkeye loves Wanda himself. Despite this, the pair eventually marry with the blessing of the entire team.
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 and this proves invaluable in battle against foes such as Ultron. Wanda and Pietro also met Robert Frank, who briefly joins the Avengers, believing them to be his children. 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. 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. The Scarlet Witch and Vision take a leave of absence from the Avengers, settling in the town of Leonia, New Jersey, and courtesy of Wanda’s enhanced power conceive twin boys named Thomas and William. Wanda gives birth, and, with Vision, eventually leaves the east coast to join the West Coast Avengers, needing some time away from the main team after Vision becomes unbalanced and tries to take over the world’s computers.
Their relationship is almost ended when fellow Avenger Mockingbird unwittingly betrays the team and helps a coalition of the world governments kidnap and dismantled Vision, having viewed him as a threat to humanity. Although rebuilt, Vision is recreated as a colorless, emotionless synthezoid. Wanda’s agitation is increased when Wonder Man – whose brain patterns were the model for the Vision – refuses to repeat the process and “humanize” Vision, as he is secretly in love with the Scarlet Witch and sees an opportunity for himself. 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 teammates with the assistance of Captain America and She-Hulk.
Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch discover their origin in Avengers #185 (July 1979). Art by George Pérez and Terry Austin.
Another personal setback follows when it is revealed that Wanda’s children are in fact two (of five) missing shards of the soul of the demonic entity Mephisto that were previously scattered in an ill-fated encounter with the powerful mutant child, Franklin Richards. Absorbed back into Mephisto, Wanda’s mentor Agatha Harkness temporarily erases Wanda’s memories of her children from her mind in order to ensure that she can temporarily disrupt Mephisto’s physical form. Combined with Wanda being captured and mind controlled as a bride of the serpent god Set, Vision announcing his intent to relocate to the East Coast Avengers, and Magneto seeking to recruit Wanda into a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Wanda begins to go into and out of various catatonic states. It is then ultimately revealed that Immortus was behind these attacks on Wanda, as he sought to destroy Wanda’s life so that he could steal her away and transform her into a power source, tapping into the temporal nexus energy she possessed. The Avengers ultimately rescue Wanda, who regains her memories of her children in the process (Avengers West Coast #61-#62).
