Marvel Confirms One Way Scarlet Witch Is Stronger Than Vision

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Marvel's What If...? episode 5.

part of the Mind Stone's power seems to live on inside Wanda Maximoff.

Unfortunately Vision's possession of the Mind Stone led to his being targeted by Thanos in the Time Stone, and a horrified Wanda could only watch as he tore the restored Mind Stone from Vision, killing him before her eyes for a second time. The MCU has often forgotten that true heroes must sacrifice, but Avengers: Infinity War demonstrated this truth in heartbreaking fashion - and proved Scarlet Witch is a hero, however scarred she may be with grief from what she has gone through.

Marvel's What If...? episode 5 inverts this story, asking whether Vision is as strong and self-sacrificial a hero as Scarlet Witch - and, sadly, he fails the test. In this timeline, a zombie virus from the Quantum Realm has ravaged the entire planet Earth, and a handful of humans and superheroes struggle to survive. To their horror, these survivors discover Vision keeping his zombified love captive, summoning people to him using a signal from the Mind Stone to bring humans to his side to feed to Wanda and sustain her. While Vision has learned it's possible to use the Mind Stone to free someone from the zombie virus, Wanda's connection to this power means she is resistant, and she will never be anything more than a quasi-mindless, destructive zombie. And yet, for all that's the case, Vision cannot bring himself to kill her - instead sacrificing others for her sake. Even when he recognizes the horror of what he has done, Vision simply commits suicide by pulling out his Infinity Stone, a dark parallel of Thanos' actions in the main timeline.

This is the true magic of a What If...? scenario. The most enticing parallel timelines are twisted versions of a familiar one, forcing viewers to reinterpret characters in light of the contrasts between them. In this case, What If...? episode 5 confirms Scarlet Witch has a strength Vision does not - the ability to sacrifice someone she loves for the sake of the world. In contrast, Vision's love is redefined to be a little more self-focused and possessive; he clearly knows full well what he is doing is wrong, because he is persuaded far too easily, but he has avoided itting that to himself for two weeks, instead committing atrocities by feeding people to the zombie Scarlet Witch. It evokes the debate on love and selfish attachment in Star Wars, ironic given the writer and director of What If...?, AC Bradley, longed to bring Star Wars into the fold.

This twist carries further emotional weight because it suggests the relationship between Vision and Scarlet Witch will always be one of tragedy. It is a terrible thing for two superheroes to be in love, for they will always be fighting together side-by-side on the front lines, and sooner or later one or the other will be forced to pay a terrible price to save the world. Scarlet Witch is strong enough to do so - but Vision is not.

More: Marvel Zombies Confirmed Why Scarlet Witch’s Multiverse Break Is So Dangerous

Marvel's What If...? releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.