WandaVision is the perfect summing up of the charcater’s life, from past to present. It shows the transformation of Wanda’s character in the best manner.
The character of Wanda Maximoff is one of great significance in Marvel comics. She is also one of the most controversial ones. And WandaVision does do justice to the character given the confusing way it was introduced. From movies to the show, MCU has made the worthy display of all the events and moments that transformed Wanda into the Scarlet Witch.
Watch: WandaVision – Wanda Creates The Hex
Wanda’s Transformation Through Grief and Sorrow
“But what is grief, if not love persevering?”
Vision to Wanda in WandaVision Episode 8
The most important thing about WandaVision is, very clearly, its exploration of loss and grief. And how even superheroes struggle to cope with these. Undoubtedly, the above quote has the most profound words spoken by any MCU character. A strong concept distilled down to such a beautiful elegant phrase. And what’s more, the words serve as the solution for Wanda perfectly.
Throughout WandaVision, we have seen Wanda cope with her grief in various ways. And each way has further given way to the next. Let us see how.
The Sitcom Telecast
The sitcoms, though light-hearted in nature, are a result of Wanda trying to escape the past horrors of her life. This includes her childhood trauma of losing her parents, her experimentation with the Mind Stone, death of brother Pietro, Lagos incident, Sokovia Accords, and finally the death of Vision at the hands of Thanos. As we saw in episode 8, all the pain and rage manifested in the form of an alternate reality i.e. the Westview anomaly. This is where she had everything she wanted but could never “possess”, like happiness, loving people, Vision, and her children.
Wanda’s Pietro
Wanda had only Pietro as family. And with his death in Avengers: Age of Ultron, she lost the only reason to live (until Vision happened). However, the absence of a loved one can never be replaced by the arrival of someone else in our lives. So, this vacuum that she had in her heart as a result of Pietro’s death would remain forever. And we know now that did not recast Pietro but it was “Agatha all along.”
Watch: Avengers Age of Ultron- Pietro’s Death
The Twins
That Wanda gave birth to twins, also makes sense. She and Pietro were twins too. But they never had the time to enjoy their sibling relationship as they lost their parents at a very young age and that too in front of their eyes in a most ruthless manner. Tommy and Billy can be said to be the manifestations of this feeling, the inability to enjoy life as siblings. And she made sure that her children got what she never could. However, she was unable to do so as Agatha got hold of the two kids. Bringing back the pain all over again.
Wanda and Vision
Death of Vision is perhaps the latest of sorrows and perhaps the greatest of them all. Vision was the love of her life. Firstly, that someone could love her is also something that, we don’t think, she would’ve ever imagined. And what added to this was all the pain that grew inside her since she was a child. Love was never there in her life. So, when she found love in Vision and Vision returned the same, she did all she could to keep it safe. They left the Avengers to live far away in Edinburg’s old town (as we know from Avengers: Infinity War).
Watch: Scarlet Witch Kills Vision Scene – Vision Death Scene | Avengers Infinity War
However, this feeling too would leave her soon. With the death of Vision, she lost all hope. When she ultimately finds him, or his body, in the SWORD facility, she can’t feel him anymore. “I can’t feel you.” The scene is perhaps the most painful scene in the whole show.
Wanda Is Scarlet Witch
In a way, it seems that pain, rage, and anger have always been her inherent traits. And rightfully so. All that she wanted, she never had. This along with the power she had received from the Mind Stone combined to help her break the barriers of reality and make one of her own: a power that would make her the Scarlet Witch.
Watch: Wanda becomes the Scarlet Witch | WandaVision
So, in a way, we can say that it was not merely her experimentation but her whole life that would contribute towards Wanda transformation into the Scarlet Witch, the most powerful superhero in the MCU.
