Superhero Origins: Quicksilver

Superhero Origins: Quicksilver

This speedy mutant turncoat is the son of the X-men’s greatest foe. Welcome to Watchmojo.com, and today we will explore the origins of Pietro Maximoff, otherwise known as Quicksilver.

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: The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver #01.

This mutant made his debut way back in X-men issue #4 as a member of Magneto’s brotherhood. He was shown as the twin brother of another member in the group, the Scarlet Witch. This prompted him to come to her defense during a fight with the team’s ill-mannered illusionist Mastermind, who announced his intentions to make her his bride. Ultimately their fight came to an end due to the fear that they would anger Magneto.

When he learned of the incident, Magneto took it upon himself to remind the pair that he had rescued them, and given both siblings a place on his team when the outside world had shunned them. Despite the gratitude, Quicksilver made it clear that he wasn’t all that sold on the end goal of total human domination.

Regardless, he continued to join Magneto’s team during skirmishes, using his power of super speed against the X-Men.

However, Quicksilver sided with his sister against Magneto when the tyrannical leader attempted to kill the X-Men by jettisoning them out of an airlock of his base Asteroid M. This led Cyclops to make a desperate plea with Quicksilver to abandon Magneto’s side and join the X-Men.

Though Quicksilver continued to work for Magneto, this ultimately changed when Iceman froze him solid. This prompted the Scarlet Witch to plead for Cyclops to thaw him out. Saved, the siblings voiced their displeasure of being left for dead by Magneto. As a result, they decided to quit the mutant war and return home to Europe.

Soon after, Quicksilver re-appeared alongside his sibling expressing their wishes to do good without taking sides in the mutant war. This prompted them to enlist with the Avengers instead of the X-Men.

Eventually, Quicksilver’s true origin was expanded upon, including the often hinted at revelation that Quicksilver and his sister were actually the unsuspecting children of Magneto, who himself was oblivious to this fact.

As it turned out, Magneto had once lived in a Ukrainian city as a peasant. There his fearful wife hid her pregnancy from him, before sending their newborns to live with a gypsy family whom roamed the countryside.

Eventually, a village attack on the gypsies caused the siblings to flee and wander alone.

They were later approached by Charles Xavier to join his team, however they showed no interest and refused. This prompted them to encounter a girl about to be crushed by a falling boulder. When Pietro’s sister used her hex powers to save the girl’s life, villagers quickly proclaimed her a witch and tried to burn her alive.

With Pietro coming to her defense, the two stood their ground, before getting saved by Magneto. He happened to have been on the scene, having returned to the town to find his estranged wife. Grateful for their rescue, twins adopted their new mutant identities and joined his ranks, until his megalomania prompted their ultimate defection.

An impulsive mutant with super speed and an unshakeable bond with his sister, Quicksilver continues to appear in various media, including several X-Men animated series. He finally received not one, but two distinct live action treatments in 2014’s “X-Men Days of Future’s Past” and 2015’s “The Avengers: Age of Ultron”.

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