When Wanda Maximoff first debuted as the Scarlet Witch, it was as a villain. Both her and her twin brother, Quicksilver, were members of Magnetos Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. After being rescued by Magneto from an angry mob, the twins reluctantly remained with the Brotherhood, but finally left after Magneto was kidnapped by the Stranger. Wanda and her brother were part of the first (but certainly not the last) big shake-up in the Avengers membership. With all the original members departing, Captain America was left with a team consisting of the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Hawkeyethree reformed villains. Later, her and Quicksilver would discover that Magneto is in fact their biological father. Despite this, Wanda quickly proved herself and has become a stalwart of the Avengers, across 402 issues. She began a romance and then married her fellow teammate, the Vision. After the Vision was destroyed and rebuilt as an emotionless entity, though, their marriage ended. Wanda accidentally resurrected Wonder Man with her powers and they began a relationship for a time. During the Avengers Disassembled storyline, Wanda uncharacteristically went insane and used her powers to try and destroy the Avengers. Later, she used her powers to warp reality and then decreased the mutant population down to only 198 by simply speaking the words no more mutants. Wanda has since reformed and after serving an integral role in the conclusion of the Avengers vs. X-Men crossover, she joined the Avengers Unity Squad to try and make amends for her past actions against the mutant community. And shes already made her film debut, played by Elizabeth Olsen, in the post-credits sequence of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Percival Constantine is the author of several novels and short stories, including the Vanguard superhero series, and regularly writes and comments on movies, comics, and other pop culture. More information can be found at his website, PercivalConstantine.com
