Marvel Studios revealed how the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver got their abilities in 2021's WandaVision episode 8, "Previously On," confirmed that this actually was not the case.
After Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness revealed herself to Wanda Maximoff, she took origins of Quicksilver's superpowers into question, but one MCU theory might have found the perfect explanation.
The Scarlet Witch Gave Quicksilver His Powers: MCU Theory Explained
The Mind Stone Didn't Actually Give Wanda Maximoff Any Of Her Powers
The Mind Stone enhanced Wanda Maximoff's natural magical abilities, but did not give her any new powers. This then raises questions about why the Mind Stone gave Pietro Maximoff brand-new speedster powers, though a theory posed by Reddit ghostrider8303 suggests that the Mind Stone had nothing to do with this process at all. HYDRA's experiments with the Mind Stone culminated in the deaths of all other subjects, and while Wanda Maximoff may have been saved by her innate magic, Pietro wouldn't have been so lucky.
Knowing that the Mind Stone experiment would have killed her brother, ghostrider8303's theory suggests that Wanda Maximoff herself gifted superpowers to her brother. This would have prompted HYDRA to cease experimenting on Pietro, considering him another success story alongside his sister, and therefore sparing his life and even considering him a "miracle." Of course, if this is the case, one would imagine Wanda would have mentioned it, but her MCU history proves that she doesn't always use her own abilities consciously.
Major MCU Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver Origin Mystery Is Solved By Excellent X-Men Villain Theory
The MCU's Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver could be connected to the X-Men if one major villain theory turns out to be true in Marvel Studios' future.
In the same way that Wanda Maximoff subconsciously created the Hex around the sleepy New Jersey town of Westview in WandaVision, she may have subconsciously imbued her brother with superpowers. She would have had no way of knowing that this would have culminated in Pietro's early demise in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron after the pair ed the Avengers in the fight against the titular tyrannical artificial intelligence, Ultron. While some may consider this theory outlandish, the MCU's history and WandaVision's own storyline actually prove this could easily be true.
WandaVision Proved Witches Can Easily Grant Power To Others
Both Wanda Maximoff & Agatha Harkness Gave Abilities To Others In WandaVision
WandaVision saw not just one, but two powerful witches bestowing abilities on otherwise unpowered individuals. Perhaps most notably, Agatha Harkness hijacked Westview resident Ralph Bohner and gave him speedster abilities akin to Quicksilver before forcing him to masquerade as a resurrected Pietro Maximoff and infiltrate the Maximoff household. Bohner's powers were connected to an enchanted necklace that Agatha had him wear, and her spell was broken when it was removed, so Wanda Maximoff must have done something different to her actual brother to give him permanent abilities.
Evan Peters originally portrayed Peter Maximoff's Quicksilver in 20th Century Fox's X-Men franchise, so his appearance in WandaVision led to theories suggesting the X-Men franchise was being folded into the MCU, but this turned out to not be the case.
The Scarlet Witch may have done something similar to what she did to her own sons in WandaVision. Billy and Tommy Maximoff were born in the Hex via the use of magic, and had no physical counterparts already existing in Westview. They very quickly displayed superpowers, however, as the twins soon aged up to ten years old, and then began to express mind reading and speedster powers, given to them by Wanda Maximoff. Agatha All Along revealed that these powers were permanent and growing, as Joe Locke's Billy Maximoff could read minds and created the Witches' Road from scratch.
No Other Hero Gained Permanent Powers From Direct Exposure To An Infinity Stone
Several Heroes Have Indirectly Gained Power From Infinity Stones
At first glance, it's believable that simply being exposed to the Mind Stone could have granted Wanda and Pietro Maximoff abilities, as Infinity Stones are remarkably powerful. However, on deeper inspection, this seems more and more unlikely, as no hero in the MCU's history has been empowered by direct with an Infinity Stone, even though many have Infinity Stone-inspired abilities. The fact that every previous Infinity Stone-empowered hero got their gifts through indirect with the Stones suggests the same for the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, and s the theory that Wanda gave her brother his powers.
Infinity Stone |
Debut Movie |
|---|---|
Space Stone, a.k.a. Tesseract |
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) |
Mind Stone |
The Avengers (2012) |
Reality Stone, a.k.a. Aether |
Thor: The Dark World (2013) |
Power Stone |
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) |
Time Stone |
Doctor Strange (2016) |
Soul Stone |
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) |
The Red Skull touching the Tesseract in Captain America: The First Avenger transported him to Vormir, rather than granting him the power he felt he deserved. Captain Marvel's powers are also connected to the Space Stone, but Carol Danvers received her gifts after being exposed to the energy of Mar-Vell's lightspeed engine, which was powered by the Tesseract. Vision was able to access the Mind Stone's powers as it was connected to his own bodily systems, but he was quickly killed when it was removed, with no permanent abilities remaining.
The Infinity Stones’ 10 Most Impressive Displays Of Power In The MCU
The Infinity Stones are the MCU's most impressive source of power for good reason, facilitating some incredible feats of creation and destruction.
The Reality Stone did nothing to enhance Jane Foster in Thor: The Dark World, and there have been theories suggesting it may have actually caused her cancer in Thor: Love and Thunder. The Guardians of the Galaxy using the Power Stone also granted them no permanent abilities, and similarly would have killed them all had they held on for much longer. The Masters of the Mystic Arts continuously used the Time Stone, which gave them no innate abilities to access time, while the Soul Stone also seemingly had no permanent effect, so HYDRA's Mind Stone experiments simply don't make sense.
What This Scarlet Witch Theory Means For The MCU’s Future
The Scarlet Witch Continues To Prove Herself One Of The MCU's Most Powerful Characters
The idea that Wanda Maximoff was able to bestow superpowers on Pietro several years before officially embracing her identity as the Scarlet Witch proves just how powerful and dangerous she was in the MCU. Wanda always had access to reality warping and Chaos Magic abilities, but didn't know her own strength, which means she could have unleashed destruction at any moment. She seemed to have significantly more control after becoming the Scarlet Witch, though this coincided with her descent into darkness and, ultimately, her demise in the Darkhold Castle on Mount Wundagore.
Marvel Comics' Scarlet Witch displayed the power to remove and bestow powers on individuals across the world, most notably in her "no more mutants" moment, which culminated in the majority of the Earth's mutant population losing their abilities, including Quicksilver and Magneto, who was then the twins' father.
The Scarlet Witch's access to reality warping abilities means it's very likely she is indeed not dead. There have been hopes that Elizabeth Olsen will return to the MCU following her WandaVision, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Agatha All Along storylines, and her return could also see her manipulate reality to bring back her long-dead brother. Aaron Taylor-Johnson will soon make his SSU debut as Kraven the Hunter, but it would be brilliant to see him return to the MCU as Quicksilver, perhaps once again being empowered by his sister.
WandaVision
- Release Date
- 2021 - 2021-00-00
- Showrunner
- Jac Schaeffer
- Directors
- Matt Shakman
WHERE TO WATCH
WandaVision, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first TV show on Disney+, first aired in 2021. The series kicked off the MCU’s Phase 4 and brought back Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, and Paul Bettany as Vision. WandaVision strayed away from Marvel’s typical formula, this time formatting itself more like a classic sitcom as Wanda struggles to cope with the death of Vision.
- Seasons
- 1
Your comment has not been saved