Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Scarlet Witch #3As she fights to return to life, a murdered Scarlet Witch must face an evil variant of herself in a hellish landscape that feels straight out of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Hated by mutantkind, feared as a force of cosmic destruction, and a spiritual prison for the elder god Chthon, the Scarlet Witch has moved on from her mistakes to focus on something simpler. However, peace does not last when you are an avatar of chaos magic and the anchor being for an entire universe.

Scarlet Witch #3 by Steve Orlando, Russel Dauterman and Jacopo Camagni sees the aftermath of Wanda Maximoff's death and the destruction of her quaint new hometown of Lotkill, New York. As her friends and family fight to save Lotkill, the Scarlet Witch must transcend death and her own dark past to return to the world of the living.

Lost on the edge of death and life, Wanda plunges further and further into the darkness below the Land of the Dead in order to return to Earth. It's in this darkness where she comes face-to-face with a necromantic variant of herself named “Lore.”

The Scarlet Witch is an Avatar of the Cosmos Itself

Wanda is Being Prepared to Become an Even Greater Power

In the series' first issue, a natural force of destruction and entropy named the “Griever at the End of All Things,” arrives on Earth to wreak destruction. The Griever is the Wanda’s purpose as a Nexus Being. The Fourth, aka the Queen of Nevers, divulges to Wanda that all Nexi are avatars of the Fourth’s will, designed to inspire infinite possibility within the multiverse. To halt the Greiver’s assault on Earth, the Fourth sends Wanda down a dark descent where she must through a crucible to be reborn.

The Scarlet Witch is done being controlled and manipulated by dark forces as well as her own heart.

However, on her journey back to Earth, Wanda faces another ancient cosmic threat, the multiverse’s first Sorcerer Supreme and the first Devourer of Worlds, Moridun. As Wanda attempts to defeat the infinite being, he finds an opening into her soul, thus turning her into a living host of both Moridun and Chthon. However, the Scarlet Witch is done being controlled and manipulated by dark forces as well as her own heart. As she falls further into the swells of darkness of the Nexi’s Land of the Dead, Wanda faces this realm’s new queen, Lore.

Wanda Maximoff's Dark Other Returns After 30 Years

Lore Will Become the Scarlet Witch's Greatest Threat Yet

Should the MCU wish to bring back Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, this battle between the Scarlet Witch a twisted variant of herself would fit perfectly into the current Multiverse Saga. Lore was originally introduced in Scarlet Witch (1994) #1 by Andy Lanning, Dan Abnett and John Higgins as an alternate version of the Scarlet Witch from a reality where necromancy was the most common form of magic. As a Nexus Being, Lore devoured her reality’s energy and began a crusade to feed on the power of other realities by possessing their Nexi. Lore was eventually killed by Wanda, but as of Scarlet Witch (2024) #3, Wanda’s dark variant has returned with a startlingly new demonic form.

While their conflict is brief, it shows how far Wanda could have fallen under different circumstances. Lore’s pale gray skin and all-black lace outfit accentuate the fierce pop of red in the variant’s hair and glowing eyes. While surrounded by twisted black spirits, the issue reveals that Lore’s revival has left her more corpse-like than when she and Wanda last fought. Wanda’s trial to save the Earth will certainly be her hardest yet, as she faces the embodiment of her worst self, but the Scarlet Witch has never been one to crumble under chaos.

Scarlet Witch #3 is available now from Marvel Comics.