Superhero Origins: The Scarlet Witch
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This red wearing covered turncoat is the daughter of the X-men’s greatest foe. Welcome to Watchmojo.com, and today we will explore the origins of Wanda Maximoff, otherwise known as The Scarlet Witch.
As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginings and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen to primarily follow the storyline, which unfolded in 1964’s Uncanny X-Men #4, 5 and 11 and 1965’s Avengers #16, which was then expanded upon in 1996’s Uncanny Origins #2 and 2012’s Avengers Origins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch #01.
This mutant made her debut way back in X-men issue #4 as a member of Magneto’s evil mutant brotherhood. Shown alongside her twin brother Quicksilver, another member of the group, the Scarlet Witch was introduced when she got into a fight with the team’s ill-mannered illusionist Mastermind, who announced his intentions to make her his bride. After declaring that she’d rather die than marry him, Quicksilver came to her defense and Mastermind backed off, fearing Magneto’s wrath.
When Magneto did return, Toad informed him of the altercation. In response, Magneto took it upon himself to remind the Scarlet Witch and her brother that he had rescued them, and given them a place on his team when the outside world had shunned them.
Though her brother had wanted to leave the team, she decided that the pair should continue to serve Magneto until their debt was repaid. As a result, the pair soon found themselves in yet another of Magneto’s skirmishes against humanity. While Mastermind created an illusion army to scare the humans, Scarlet Witch used her hex power to battle the X-Men.
Afterwards, The Scarlet Witch began to realize that Magneto was a madman, as he regularly attempted to harm innocents to achieve his goals.
Though The Scarlet Witch and her brother continued to work for Magneto, this ultimately changed when Iceman froze Quicksilver, and Cyclops thawed him out through an act of compassion, which caused her and her twin to finally voiced their displeasure and quit the mutant war, opting to return home to Europe.
Soon after, The Scarlet Witch re-appeared alongside her sibling expressing wishes to do good without taking sides in the mutant struggle, and as such, enlisted with the Avengers.
Eventually, The Scarlet Witch’s true origin was expanded upon, including the often hinted at revelation that her and Quicksilver were actually the unsuspecting children of Magneto, who was likewise oblivious to the truth.
As it turned out, Magneto had once lived in a small village in Ukraine, where his wife had hid her pregnancy from him, as she was fearful of his temper.
As a result, when they were born their mother ultimately sent them to live with a gypsy family that roamed the countryside. Eventually, an attack on the gypsy caravan caused the sibling’s dormant mutant powers to emerge, before they decided to flee.
Following this, the duo was approached by Charles Xavier, who offered for them to join his team. However, they refused. Soon after, they encountered a girl about to be crushed by a falling boulder. In response, Wanda used her hex powers to save the girl’s life, causing villagers to proclaim her a witch, and attempt to burn her alive.
Though the twins stood their ground, ready to die bravely, Magneto saved them, as he happened to have been nearby, having returned to the area to look for his estranged wife. Thankful for their rescue, the twins adopted their mutant identities and joined his ranks, until his megalomania, and his abuse, prompted them to defect.
A mutant able to create hex fields of bad luck, and known for her unshakeable bond with her brother, her most notable relationships is her shocking affair and marriage to the Android Vision, and her even more scandelous and more disturbing bout of comic book twin-cest.
Today, Scarlet Witch continues to appear in various media, including video games and several X-Men animated series. She finally received the live action treatment when actress Elizabeth Olsen was cast as the character in “The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron”.
Are you a fan of this sexy Brotherhood turncoat turned full-fledged Avenger? For more in-depth comic book origins about your favorite, sexy and controversial comic book characters, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
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