Summary
Scarlet WitchandQuicksilverare two characters that have always ridden the line between hero and villain, while also playing key roles in the history of two of Marvel Comics’ most influential and iconic teams: the X-Men and the Avengers. But more than that, both Pietro and Wanda Maximoff are incredibly well-rounded characters who don’t require a team or a ‘hero/villain’ label to define them.
Wanda and Pietro pass through the Marvel Universe marching to the beat of their own drum, and more often than not, they do so together - especially when it comes to unraveling the greatest mystery of both their lives: their origin. From their stint as villains working under a man they’ve come to know as their father, Magneto, to aligning themselves with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, to going off on their own in an attempt to shape the world in their image (or just for a bit of introspective self-realization), here are10 essential Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver stories in Marvel Comics!
10Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver’s Historic Debut Saw Them as X-Men Villains
X-Men#4 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Despite perhaps being more widely recognized as members of the Avengers (thanks in part to the MCU),Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver actually began their Marvel Comics careers asX-Menvillains. The two were members of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and were even featured in the first generation of that legacy villainous squad. This issue not only introduced these two iconic characters, but also put their powers on full display, showing Quicksilver with the ability to run at high speeds, andScarlet Witch with the power to cast hexesat anything she points to.
These two made quite a bit of trouble for the X-Men, and even tangled with the likes of Namor before finally leaving the team altogether. While their time on the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants was admittedly short, it is where they got their start, and remains one of the most impactful moments of their Marvel Comics history.
9Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver Leave the Life of Villainy Behind them to Join the Avengers
Avengers#16 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
While Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver technically made their debut asX-Menvillains, the two wouldn’t fully come into their own untilAvengers#16, when they decided to officially leave the life of crime behind them and join the ranks of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The storyline itself is essentially a series of tryouts held by the original Avengers to see who is fit to replace them, and its significance is marked by the official additions of classic Avengers like Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver, as well as by the fact that this is the first time Captain America became the leader of the team.
Joining the Avengers was the launching-off point for the majority of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’s adventuresfor many years afterward, at which point Marvel felt more comfortable fleshing out their personal histories on the page.
8Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver Become Enemies When Wanda Joins Magneto Once More
Avengers West Coast#56 by John Byre
After being a hero for the majority of her Marvel Comics career, Scarlet Witch finds herself entranced by the joys of villainy yet again under her former master and alleged father, Magneto - and it seems she isn’t the only one.Avengers West Coast#56 not only presents Scarlet Witch as a villain, but also her brother, Quicksilver, with the issue ending with Quicksilver joining his sister and supposed father in their quest for world domination. However, it’s revealed in issue #60 that Quicksilver was still loyal to the Avengers, and only pretended to join his villainous family to stop their evil schemes.
While the two have found themselves on opposite sides before,this storyline is one of the more dramatic examples of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver being active enemies. Every time before this, it was always a momentary lapse of judgment by one before they were eventually saved by the other. But this time,Scarlet Witch exhibits a level of evil she never had before, and Quicksilver didn’t let the fact that they were twins keep him from stopping her, marking this as a major deviation from their established relationship.
7Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver Explore Their Origins for the First Time
Avengers#186 by Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant, David Michelinie, and John Byrne
The origins of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are seemingly ever-revolving doors of continuity resetsand retcons, though their first origin story is told inAvengers#186. In it, the twins go to East Transia located at the base of Mt. Wundagore to meet a man claiming to be their father. Previously, Wanda and Pietro believed their parents were the Whizzer and Miss America (and that their last name was Frank), but now, they’re learning that isn’t the case.
A man named Django Maximoff claims to be their father, and the two will soon learn that he was their adoptive father, and that they were born on Mt. Wundagore in the laboratory of the High Evolutionary, and cared for by one of the High Evolutionary’s earliest creations, an anthropomorphic cow named Bova. It’s a strange tale, to be sure, and only the beginning of the continuity nightmare that is their origin story.
6Scarlet Witch Reveals to the Avengers That Magneto is the ‘Real’ Father of Herself & Quicksilver
Avengers#234 by Roger Stern, Allen Milgrom, and Joe Sinnott
Avengers#234 is a perfect one-stop-shop when it comes to learning the earliest version of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’s confusing origin. It details everything fans first read inAvengers#186, while also recounting the story of how Magneto approached Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch upon the birth of Pietro’s daughter, Luna, to tell them that he was their true father. Fans knew their mother, Magda, was afraid of the man who fathered her children after she revealed that he developed powers that drove him mad, but it wasn’t until Magneto came clean himself that readers learned he was their father.
ThisAvengersissue also shows Wanda opening up to her fellow teammates like she’d never done before, cementing the fact that the Avengers were truly her found-family. All-in-all,any fan curious about the original origin of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver will learn everything they want to by reading this one issue, making this story integral to their wider Marvel Comics lore.
5Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver’s True Parentage is (Finally) Revealed
Avengers and X-Men: AXIS#7 by Rick Remender and Adam Kubert &Uncanny AvengersVol. 2 #4 by Rick Remender, Gerry Duggan, and Daniel Acuña
So far in Marvel Comics canon, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch believed their parents were the Whizzer and Miss America before learning that their mother was Magda who gave birth to them under the care of the High Evolutionary before they were adopted by Django and Marya Maximoff, only to then learn that Magda’s lover, and their father, was Magneto all along. But then, after the events ofAvengers and X-Men: AXIS#7 andUncanny Avengers#4,Wanda and Pietro learn the truth: their birth parents were simply Django and Marya Maximoff.
Scarlet Witch learns that Magneto isn’t her father after she issues a blood curse in AXIS meant to incapacitate him (and all other blood relatives), and it has no effect. Then, in Uncanny Avengers, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver travel to Counter-Earth, where the High Evolutionary finally tells them the truth. These are two separate storylines, but both amount to the same (albeit anticlimactic) conclusion about Wanda and Pietro’s parentage - finally wrapping up a mystery literally decades in the making.
4Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver’s Parentage Becomes More Confusing, as Wolverine Might Be Their REAL Father
Ultimates 3#3 by Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira
As if the truth behind who Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch’s real parents were wasn’t confusing enough, Marvel decides to throw another name in the proverbial hat byteasing the possibility that Wolverine is the real father of Wanda and Pietro. This was revealed when Wolverine admitted he and Magda were intimate around the time she became pregnant with Wanda and Pietro, meaning it’s all-too possible Wolverine is, in fact, their father.
Thankfully, this storyline takes place in the Ultimate Universe, which means that if it’s even true, it would have no impact on the conclusion that was drawn inUncanny AvengersandAXIS. However, the Ultimate Universe isn’t some random alt-reality in the Marvel multiverse, but a prominent continuity that still impacts storylines to this day (indeed, the Maker just created an all-new Ultimate Universe in the shadow of the original), so anything that happens to the Ultimate Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver is still a must-read for fans of the characters.
3The Ultimate Universe Reveals Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch were Secretly Lovers
Ultimates 3#1 by Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira
After fighting side-by-side as both members of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants and on the Ultimates (similar to their Earth-616 counterparts), the Ultimate Universe versions of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver deviate quite dramatically from their main-universe selves, as it’s revealedthey didn’t just love each other as siblings, Wanda and Pietro were in love with each other.
Thankfully (once again), this only took place in the Ultimate Universe, and during a storyline that many fans would rather forget than acknowledge. However, if one is to note every essential Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch story, they must explore even the most uncomfortable corners of their Marvel Comics history - and this storyline is certainly that.
2Quicksilver is Secretly Responsible for Scarlet Witch’s Most Infamous Story
House of M#7 by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel
House of Mis easily Scarlet Witch’s most infamous storyline, as it details how she became unhinged following the realization that her children weren’t real, then rewrote reality that was supposed to ‘make everyone happy’, before uttering the iconic line, “No more mutants”, which eliminated the vast majority of the mutant population in an instant. While Scarlet Witch is certainly on the front lines of this story,House of Mis still very much a ‘Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’ comic, as Pietro was secretly responsible for all of it.
It wasQuicksilver who convinced Scarlet Witch (when she was at her most vulnerable) to use her powers to reshape realityin the first place, and it was Quicksilver’s injuries caused by Magneto - who was angry at his ‘children’ for what they had done - that inspired Scarlet Witch to decimate the mutant population in the first place. Scarlet Witch takes the rap, but Quicksilver is just as much to blame for the events ofHouse of M.
1Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver Chart a New Future Together in Latest Marvel Comics Miniseries
Scarlet Witch & Quicksilverby Steve Orlando and Lorenzo Tammetta
So many storylines centered around Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are totally wrapped up in their past. From multiple comics trying to unravel who their real parents are, to storylines that see the characters backslide into villainy after proving themselves as heroes. However, in the most recent team-up miniseries,Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver, Marvel Comics allows the Maximoff twins to charge head-first into the future without being bogged down by the past.
This storyline is all about growth, healing, and moving forward. Wanda and Pietro discuss their shared history, of course, but this story isn’t about that. It’s also not showing them trying to reshape the world or falling to villainy once more. At its core,Scarlet Witch & Quicksilverdetails Wanda and Pietro simply trying to live their lives as best they canwhile fending off villains that threaten to disrupt their peace, which is honestly the perfect payoff after years of turmoil experienced by these two, making it an essentialScarlet WitchandQuicksilverstory.
