This article is full of spoilers for The Avengers: Age of Ultron so if you haven’t seen it, stop reading now!
I’ll start by confessing that I went into this movie fearing the worst for Scarlet Witch. Interviews with Joss Whedon and Elizabeth Olsen call her “spacy,” which seems to fit with her appearance in the sequence after Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Aaron Taylor-Johnson repeatedly mentioned that Quicksilver works hard to protect his sister. Add her magic powers and close sibling relationship and I was worried we weren’t getting Wanda Maximoff, but another River Tam or Drusilla, effectively ruining one of my absolute favourite superheroes.
I’m happy to admit that I was wrong.
I’m now a bit confused by the way they spoke about her—unlike Maria Hill, I wouldn’t describe her as merely “weird.” As a new supporting character, the film doesn’t give her much time for development, but they did a good job of establishing some of the character’s key traits: her orphaned status, her close ties with her twin brother, and her intense protectiveness of the people she cares about. (While the bathing suit and cape combo didn’t make an appearance, she was generally dressed in red).
However, they did erase a significant character aspect: her Romani heritage. Given copyright issues over the character, Marvel had to find a way to reinvent her origins, and while I’m upset to see her heritage erased, I think her hatred for Tony Stark after her parents’ deaths makes sense. The twins’ social activism in the film is in line with their fights for mutant rights in early X-Men comics. Their codependent relationship is clearly established too, so her reaction to Pietro’s death is appropriately dramatic. Pietro’s temper is so quick and over-the-top that it’s easy to forget that Wanda can be equally fiery and impassioned when provoked, but we definitely saw her vengeful side in the film.
While a departure from the comics, her mind-manipulation and telekinesis served the plot well, and a lot of her attacks looked like her signature “hex bolts.” In the early comics, Wanda could be hesitant about using her powers, but I didn’t like the way they chose to show that in the movie. I understand that Hawkeye has to give his little speech, and maybe it’d have worked earlier in the movie, but to have her break down in the middle of a battle just felt forced. She doesn’t need that moment of weakness to come out strong; she is kicking ass from the moment we meet her. In the film (as in the comics) Wanda is a powerhouse, one who’s confident in her formidable skills, and who can go down dark paths but ultimately wants to do what’s right. She’s incredibly caring and compassionate, and doesn’t need to join a team to fight for those she loves. That said, I appreciated that the twins joined up but mainly interacted with Hawkeye and Captain America—the four members of the second iteration of the Avengers in the comics, affectionately called “Cap’s Kooky Quartet.”
With Scarlet Witch confirmed to appear in Captain America: Civil War, I am looking forward to seeing Wanda develop, even without her brother. In the comics, they aren’t always active Avengers at the same time, and while Pietro was off living on the moon, Wanda found a new family in the Avengers.
This brings us to the film’s breakout star: The Vision. While his powers are even less clearly defined in the film than Wanda’s, they seem in line with the comics: he can fly, interact with other machines, and alter his density. He can still create some kind of beam from his forehead, but they’ve replaced his Solar Jewel with the Mind Gem, which should lead to a pivotal role in the Infinity Wars films. Even though it’s Vision’s power source, I expect some Avengers will be in favour of taking and hiding the Gem, leaving us to wonder whether this is robbing a person of his life force or just turning off a machine. In the comics, Vision’s brain patterns come from a human being, but here he’s entirely synthetic, leading to inevitable confusion around his personhood down the road. Questions about his humanity have plagued Vision since his first appearances, and the conversation Steve and Tony have about whether he’s a person or an object seems like foreshadowing. Vision doesn’t ally himself with Ultron, but he initially doesn’t see himself as an Avenger either, so I’m interested to see how his relation to humanity grows over the course of the films.
The Scarlet Witch, however, sees him as person before he’s even born. Wanda can’t see into Ultron’s mind, but she can feel the unfinished Vision dreaming, and she’s intrigued by him for the rest of the movie. Vizh and Scarlet Witch are one of my favourite fictional couples—I squealed when he saved her life and they looked affectionately at each other—and I’m looking forward to watching a romance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe develop organically over a few films. By the time the Infinity Wars films roll around, Wanda will know (and hopefully love) Vision enough to defend him, maybe enough to single-handedly save his ass if he gets captured by the baddies. Who knows where each of them will stand in the upcoming Civil War film, since they’ll feel natural separation from the rest of the team, Wanda for her initial status as an antagonist and Vision for his A.I. angst. I’m expecting an excellent dramatic backdrop for a blossoming relationship.
I know that neither character will ever get to star in their own films, but I think that many would agree that the Scarlet Witch and Vision stole this show. Quicksilver, another favourite of mine, wasn’t treated as well, although at least he was fridged to fuel Wanda rather than the other way around, leading to her final chilling scene with Ultron (even if he is a robot). There is a lot to love and to hate in the film, but Wanda and Vision have been established as interesting and complex characters, and they’re well on their way to having the most nuanced romance in the MCU.
//Images via Marvel Entertainment
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