Scarlet Witch is more popular now than she’s ever been, and it’s honestly mostly thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She gained an entirely new fandom and that has made Marvel put her in her own solo books and Avengers, doing their best to keep her front and center. Fans have been talking about what the publisher is going to do with her next for a while, and events have been pointing to her becoming the next Sorcerer Supreme after Doctor Doom loses the mantle in One World Under Doom. This is her biggest upgrade in years, but it does beg the question of what should be done with Wanda in the months and years to come.
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Scarlet Witch becoming the Sorcerer Supreme will be the first time since the mid ’00s that she was actually important. However, it’s hard to say there’s a lot of excitement for it outside of the small but vocal Scarlet Witch fandom. She’s not really all that interesting of a hero for the vast majority of readers, but that doesn’t mean that she’s not an interesting character. She can be , but there’s really only one way for that to happen: if she’s a villain. While it’s a bit cliche for powerful women in the Marvel Universe to go crazy, Wanda Maximoff is just better as a villain, especially as Sorcerer Supreme.
Scarlet Witch Doesn’t Really Have Enough of a Personality to Be a Hero
Quick, name an aspect of Scarlet Witch’s character that isn’t built around men. You can’t. She’s been defined by her relationships to men for years now, starting with Magneto and her brother Quicksilver, then the Vision, and later Wonder Man. Her entire character is based around the way the men in her life have treated her, which is one of the reasons why she’s usually been kept in teams. I’m personally surprised that she’s continued to have series of her own over the last few years, although the last couple have seen her team up with Quicksilver and Vision.
As a character, Scarlet Witch has done a lot of interesting things, but most of these came when she’s a villain. Wanda as a hero is boring. I can’t really think of any aspect of her personality that makes her worth reading about on her own, and Marvel can’t either, judging by how her series has become team-up books. It’s time to come to terms with the fact that she’s not really that great of a character, despite what the MCU fandom likes to think, at least when she’s a hero. However, as a villain, there’s so much more to explore.
Over the decades, Scarlet Witch has become a villain numerous times. It was usually for the cliche reason that powerful Marvel heroines went evil — her power drove her crazy — and that has been repeated often, most notably in “Avengers Disassembled” and House of M. However, if you look at her life, there’s valid reasons for her to be evil. Wanda Maximoff has been used and abused over the years, mostly by the man in her life. Every single man in her life has done something terrible to her, and it would make a lot of sense if she decided that needed to stop.
Let’s be real for a second — Marvel hasn’t always wrote their women well. All one needs to look at is Carol Danvers over the decades to see that. Making Wanda Maximoff the Sorcerer Supreme is the next step in her journey and makes sense, but it would be even better if she used that power to take revenge against the men who have hurt her over the years. It would be a very different Scarlet Witch heel turn; usually she goes crazy from the power, but this time, it could be a choice. It’s about time to give her some agency in her life, and becoming a villain after gaining her greatest office should be the way to go.
Scarlet Witch as a Villainous Sorcerer Supreme Would Be Better than Her as a Heroic One
Right now, readers are getting an evil Sorcerer Supreme in One World Under Doom, but it’s mostly just a pretty standard Doctor Doom story. The next chapter in the story of the magic side of the Marvel Universe is Sorcerer Supreme, and every clue points to Wanda getting the nod. Most fans probably expect things to go back to normal with the mantle, but maybe it would be better to keep it in the hands of a villain, one like Scarlet Witch. She has a pretty great reason to break bad, and it could lead the character to new places.
The Scarlet Witch’s stories all go in the same directions, including her villain turns. However, maybe it would be better for the character and the Marvel Universe for her to choose evil. Her friends could think she’s going to evil because of the power, but she tells them the truth — that because of their actions in her life, she’s decided to go evil again. She could even still have a series, as we explore how she goes about her responsibilities as the Sorcerer Supreme and deals with her anger towards her friends.
The most memorable Scarlet Witch stories are ones where she’s evil, and this next chapter in her life should go in this direction. Maybe it could be the beginning of an arc that makes her into a character that doesn’t have to depend on men for everything. Her recent solo run saw her jumping back to hanging out with men instead of being an actual solo character. Maybe the only way she can actually be a solo character is if she’s evil. I think it would be interesting to see a new kind of Scarlet Witch heel turn, one that would see her finally break away from the men that have dominated her life.
Do you think that Scarlet Witch should be a villainous Sorcerer Supreme? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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Image courtesy of Stage 6 Films -
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm.
