Marvel Comics is well-known for having many of its characters wavering between being the world’s strongest saviors and its potential destroyers. The hero many people see as humanity’s greatest threat is Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk. As a giant green monster with virtually infinite strength fueled by rage, the Hulk has often played the role of villain and has battled many of his fellow heroes. The heroes and governments of the world have numerous contingencies in case the Jolly Green Giant were to go fully rogue and threaten humanity. However, with all this preparation for the Hulk’s corruption, they have forgotten who the most dangerous hero really is – the recently appointed Sorcerer Supreme, Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch.
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On paper, the Hulk and Scarlet Witch are very similar threats. Both are anti-heroes who have, on multiple occasions, taken on the role of villain because of their mental issues. They also both draw their abilities from incredibly powerful yet corrupting power sources and deities. On the one hand, the Hulk is powered by gamma radiation, which is the product of the demonic One Below All, who wants to use him as a weapon in its quest to eradicate all of existence. On the other hand, Scarlet Witch uses Chaos Magic, which was granted to her by the Lovecraftian god Cthon, who intended to transform her into his new vessel. However, as exemplified by their capabilities, personalities, and past actions, Scarlet Witch is by far the greater threat to the Marvel Universe.
The Infinite Marvel Multiverse is at Scarlet Witch’s Mercy
Even though the Hulk is often titled “the strongest there is,” the truth is that Scarlet Witch is practically a god who can channel the primordial forces of creation. Although at his peak, the Hulk can destroy planets with a stomp of his foot, defeat cosmic gods, and even come back from the dead through the power of the mystical Green Door, he’s still primarily limited to relying on brute physical strength to overpower his enemies. In contrast, Scarlet Witch’s Chaos Magic gives her unparalleled reality-warping capabilities that can affect all of reality at once. And she can do all of this with a mere thought.
Although originally Scarlet Witch’s hexes were much weaker, over time, as she’s grown to understand her connection to Chaos Magic, she’s basically become a god. Scarlet Witch is dubbed the Nexus Being of the Marvel Universe, which means that she’s the focal point of all magic in Earth-616 and can influence all of existence. Her Chaos Magic is also the equal counterpart to the Phoenix Force, which is the personification of multiversal order and destruction. At her peak, Scarlet Witch can manipulate the elements, the weather, minds, souls, matter, energy, time, space, and all of reality as if it were clay in her hands. There is quite literally nothing she can’t do if she puts her mind to it – and unfortunately her mind isn’t all that stable.
Scarlet Witch has matched, and for a short period even erased, the Phoenix Force from existence, created two children from nothingness, and rewrote all of reality. Additionally, when Scarlet Witch’s sanity fractured from trauma and the overuse of her magic during House of M, she threatened to destroy Marvel’s infinite cosmology as a mere side effect of her out of control powers. And, of course, with the mere utterance of “no more mutants,” the X-Gene was almost entirely eradicated across all existence, rendering over 90% of the mutant population powerless. Lastly, she’s now the new Sorcerer Supreme, which is bound to increase her power exponentially because she’ll be given new spells and mystical artifacts like the Eye of Agamotto – not that she’s really needed any boost in power.
Scarlet Witch Frequently Abuses Her Powers and has Caused Countless Atrocities
The Scarlet Witch’s actions clearly show that she’s an incredibly powerful being who ranks among Marvel’s strongest characters. However, many of these feats have directly caused untold suffering and death. The main universe Hulk has never even come close to matching these misdeeds, even when he led an alien invasion in World War Hulk. Scarlet Witch has far more frequently abused her multiversal powers in ways that would even make the cruelest of villains blanche.
Indeed, many of the most disastrous events in Marvel Comics’ history have been the direct result of Scarlet Witch and her mental health issues. When she created her own children using magic, they never were technically real and soon their existence was erased. This loss cost the Scarlet Witch her sanity. She blamed the Avengers for their role in making her lose her memory of her children. During Avengers: Disassembled, she committed many monstrous acts against her former friends. She made Iron Man lose his sobriety, turned She-Hulk into a feral beast who killed Vision, and murdered Ant-Man and Hawkeye. Still, even these horrific acts can’t compare to what Scarlet Witch did in House of M.
In House of M, Scarlet Witch rewrites reality not only to recreate her children, but also to make mutants the dominant race on Earth. Although she did this with the encouragement of her brother Quicksilver, it was still her own intentional act. She created this new reality to make everyone happy, but her act of supreme hubris created a fascist world where normal humans were made a second class who were subjugated and mistreated by their mutant overlords. Additionally, out of her own selfish desires, Scarlet Witch rewrote the minds and histories of everyone on Earth, turning them into fundamentally different people. Even with the best of intentions, her casual, selfish transformation of people’s very identity and existence was horrific.
Finally, as the House of M reality began to be torn apart along with the rest of the multiverse, Scarlet Witch became overwhelmed with self-hatred for her mutant identity. In her manic state, she decided to punish all mutantkind for her actions. When she cast her “no more mutants” spell, the impact was ghastly. The moment those words were spoken, countless mutants died, whether from falling from the sky mid-flight or being stuck in situations where they needed their abilities to survive. Hundreds of thousands of mutants were murdered that day, and it was all because of Scarlet Witch. This god-like power to threaten all of existence and kill so many people simultaneously makes Scarlet Witch someone who even the Hulk is at the mercy of.
There’s Far Less Holding Scarlet Witch Back
Both the Hulk and Scarlet Witch have made great strides in tackling their mental issues and gaining greater control over their powers. They both feel immense guilt for their actions and try to do better every day to make up for their past crimes. However, when it comes down to their mental stability and who has the greater chance of losing control again, Scarlet Witch is by far the more likely candidate.
The simple fact is that the Hulk has an inherent balance that Scarlet Witch is lacking. Bruce Banner is constantly trying to find ways to control his more savage counterpart, whether through meditation, therapy, isolation, or even just having an open dialogue with the Hulk. While Bruce and the Hulk are infamous for their squabbling, they are also well-known for setting aside their differences to face a common threat. With Bruce quite literally in the Hulk’s head, this means that the scientist’s rationality has a better chance of reeling in the Jolly Green Giant’s destructive nature before he goes too far. Additionally, Bruce has specifically designed many contingencies to kill himself in case he ever loses control, like the arrow Hawkeye used to murder him during Civil War 2.
Scarlet Witch, in contrast, doesn’t have an internal control or a person to act as a source of reason and restraint constantly. While she certainly has friends and allies like the Avengers and her brother Quicksilver, events like Avengers: Disassembled and House of M prove that they are just as likely to trigger her into an insanity-inducing rampage that threatens the entire multiverse. There’s no surefire conscience or person to keep Scarlet Witch grounded, which means that she’s far more vulnerable to corruption, whether from outside manipulation or her own unstable mental health. And aside from Doctor Strange’s magical abilities, there are very few means Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have at their disposal to contain Scarlet Witch if she does go rogue.
With all the gripes the Hulk gets about being the most significant potential threat to humanity, it’s shocking how everyone in Marvel seems to overlook the far greater danger Scarlet Witch represents, both in terms of her multiversal powers and her extremely fragile mental state. It’s utterly ludicrous that the Avengers seem more focused on finding ways to stop the Hulk, especially when they’ve already been victims of Scarlet Witch abusing her infinite power. And with Scarlet Witch becoming the all-new Sorcerer Supreme, her threat level has only risen. If left unchecked, she could be the greatest villain the Marvel Universe has ever seen. Again.
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