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Scarlet Witch is one of the most well-liked characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, mostly due to the impressive way Elizbeth Olsen has played her. Olsen figured out a way to connect with us right away. People loved this, especially the fact that she kept the character continuously interesting and always evolving. The character is terrific, and a ton can be done with her in the MCU. Olsen playing her well was a big deal, as it meant that further use could continue.

The best part of this is that fans can possibly see some great Scarlet Witch stories play out on a long-term basis. Who would have thought that the kid-sister of the Olsen Twins would turn out to be an amazing actress, far better than her more popular sisters? On top of this, who would have assumed Elizabeth would be narrowing in on that fame due to her MCU role? Likely very few. She showed so much potential early on that fans felt the moment they could see Liz evolve along with Wanda, they could be seeing something huge.

It is now to a point where Olsen holds her own alongside other major characters that are played by some big A-list names like Robert Downey, Jr, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johannson, and many more. This only makes her character mean more, as the youth of Wanda along with the real-life youth of Olsen can keep her as an essential part of the MCU for years to come. What she has brought to the table is clearly impressive. But what has she done to make the character work for her?

On top of this, what is it about the character of Scarlet Witch that makes her such an addictive character for fans of all ages? In this list, we're going to go over both. With that said, we hope you enjoy our list of 20 things even true fans don't remember about Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch.

How Her Powers Work

There are conflicting stories surrounding how Wanda managed to gain her powers and use them. We'll be sure to go over that soon. However, her powers are often hard to understand and thus, people have mistaken what she does. She trains in witchcraft to properly perfect her magical powers. Her development of the powers before she trains in the art can be considered a bit weird, however. They fall under a window called "chaos magic." This form of magic is very rare, and only special individuals even have the capability of learning it to begin with. To top of it off, it is incredibly hard to do for even skilled witches and warlocks.

Doctor Strange, despite how impressive he is, would bow to Scarlet Witch's abilities in this field. She has the power to quite literally warp reality itself.

Most who use this magic tend to recite spells as they are doing their magic, but people will notice the MCU version Olsen plays does not do this. In the comics, it was rare to see too. The very reason for this was that Wanda has gained such a level of ability in the field that she has no need to actually say a spell like other magic users may need. Due to her ability to touch all reality, she can even change the fabric of existence itself. Chaos magic on its own is a tough thing to crack, her mastery of it makes the character next level.

Another Thing That Helped Her Power.....

When she and her brother Quicksilver were newborns, something crazy happened. A demonic sorcerer named Chthon was able to add part of his essence to Wanda. This may sound weird, but the essence referred to is basically lifeforce or spiritual bits and pieces. It is said that by his blessing she is able to use her power and manipulate reality and all of chaos magic since she was young. The character of Chthon is part of another darker God called Demiurge. The idea behind this God was that he wanted to find a vessel to return to Earth in. Think of it like The Phoenix Force taking over Jean Grey. It needs a body and a way to take it over, but only the right person will do.

Demiurge chose Wanda and used Chthon to gain access to her body from the start. He wanted to see her get stronger, so for years he has assisted in her growth. The stronger she gets, the more damage he can do when he gains hold of her body to come to Earth and take it over. She ends up being freed from the demon God later on, with some help from family and the Avengers. Interestingly, while the God did manage to help to develop her into an amazing force, he made a mistake. His use of the magic had to permanently be with the body so that when he came to Earth he could use the magic he has helped her attain. As a result, removing the demon from the body did not rid Scarlet Witch of her powers. In the end, he made her incredibly strong and Omega-Level. She does find herself still somewhat connected to the former God, but only due to the magic taught. Not from an essence remaining.

Stan Lee's Love For The Character Is Pretty Huge

Obviously, everyone knows Stan Lee by now. The genius former head of Marvel Comics gave us some of the most amazing characters the Marvel franchise ever had. Seriously, there are very few he did not have a hand in. When it comes to Scarlet Witch, she and her brother were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Stan loved the two as characters and had a special connection to them more than most. In fact, his move on X-Men to have them in the universe was made with the expressed idea that they would be reluctant to do as they do. This is how he explained it:

"I remember that I liked (Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch) very much and I thought it would be fun to have villains who aren’t really bad deep down. We already had a reluctant hero with Spider-Man so I thought it would be fun to create a pair of reluctant villains. I had big plans for Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. I wanted them to eventually give up being villains and become heroes. That’s why I used them in Avengers after I left X-Men.”

This is likely why she has become such a critical part of the franchise in the MCU and why Disney has been sure to treat her well in the universe. It is obvious that she is given a lot of ability and stands out as one of the best characters of any kind, especially female, in Marvel today.

Marvel Did Something They'll Never Do In The MCU

One of the most common things Marvel Comics has a habit of doing is hiring a writer who has "controversial" ideas. Remember when Captain America became a Hydra Agent or Magneto became a former German soldier from World War II? Do you remember how ticked off you were? Good. Then you'll know why people were incredibly angry at Marvel for going with a brother/sister relationship. We can't say it, but you know what we mean by this. You don't need anyone to fill in the blanks, right? Phew, we didn't want to. The brother and sister relationship between Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver has been well documented.

They are twins and incredibly close. Regardless of how they are used in a storyline, this seems to always be the constant in every single one of them. However, in the Ultimate X-Men series, it was implied they were in a romantic relationship. They did not split them at any point to explain they were close like family or even add a "step" to the end of it to make people in adult films happy. Rather, they never broke them apart in family bond but just had the two get far too close. The storyline was eventually dropped. Yet Elizabeth Olsen's version of Scarlet Witch loved her brother immensely, and she felt when he passed in the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. She felt it so deep within her that it caused her physical pain as well. This was a beautiful way to tip the hat at how close they were, but they did not go with a romantic story, and we thank them for it.

The Iconic Scarlet Witch Costume Was Heavily Changed For Olsen

When trying to sell Elizabeth Olsen on the idea to play Scarlet Witch, Joss Wheaton wanted to make sure he made her aware that she would not be wearing the same costume. He made sure to say "when you go home and look her up to learn the character, be aware that this is not the look we're going for." Joss wanted to sort of still go for something that would be a nod to the original, which is why he kept her iconic colors and even a skirt originally. However, she wears a jacket for the costume and is covered enough for Disney to be happy and for Olsen to want to do it.

Obviously, Olsen is incredibly beautiful and has appeared in films without clothing beforehand. She is clearly not afraid to show some skin, so wearing the original costume Scarlet Witch had would not be hard for her.

However, the original is far too revealing for Disney to ever clear it. Scarlet Witch is by no means the only woman that wears overly revealing clothing in the comics. She is one of many many women who they have gone this route with. That said, live-action roles and animated movies have had to cover them up quite often. In particular X-Men: Evolution, where they focused on less revealing, goth-clothing. It is quite similar to what Olsen wears in the movies.

FOX Does Not Use Her Out Of Professional Courtesy

One of the biggest things being spoken about these days is the big deal involving Disney buying 20th Century FOX. In this move, they will be bringing over the Avatar movies and the remaining movies from the Star Wars franchise. More importantly than all of this is that they'll gain control of the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. Within it, all of their villains as well, including Galactus. While they can use all of these characters in animated material any time, they cannot in movie form until the deal is complete without permission. Well, sort of. When this deal was done, one glaring hole was involved. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch might be big in the X-Men universe but they're also well-known Avengers too.

This meant that the FOX deal did not apply to them, nor did Disney's apply to FOX. It meant that both sides could use Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. However, both studios decided to extend a professional courtesy to the other. FOX would use Quicksilver and show minor material of Wanda in a movie or two. Meanwhile, Quicksilver would be used in one movie and removed by Disney. This meant FOX would use Quicksilver long-term while Disney used Scarlet Witch. Both characters are heavily used, but neither side uses both extensively. An interesting note is that after the next film, the first class movies are done for FOX anyway. So Quicksilver returning to the MCU isn't out of the cards.

She Was Passed Over For Sorcerer Supreme

Remember how we made reference to Doctor Strange earlier? We spoke about how power wise, Scarlet Witch is likely more powerful than Strange in every way and he would have to bow down to her. We weren't joking about this or making it seem like she was a bigger deal for a random reason. We seriously meant every word of it. In fact, even Marvel Comics references it to such a degree that it has been revealed the infamous Eye of Agamotto considered her for the role as Sorcerer Supreme before it ever considered Steven Strange. The question is, why pick Strange when Wanda is naturally more powerful and able to hold the role?

The Eye is nothing if not all-seeing. Underneath it all, the eye can see so much that it has the capability to see the past and future. Not just of set events but of possible events that could be with even the slightest alterations.

As a result, Strange was picked over Wanda for a simple reason. Scarlet Witch is insanely strong WITHOUT the Eye. With it, she may be simply the most powerful force in the history of the universe with no ability to be stopped.

The Eye felt she was too unstable for the role, with a lack of control in her power. The classic issue of her control is one of the hallmark traits of Scarlet Witch. The Eye could see all she would do, could do, or think of doing. That combined with the Eye would be horrific.

She Ended The Dark Phoenix

FOX's movie coming out this year called X-Men: The Dark Phoenix, will dive into the character of Dark Phoenix as well as the Phoenix Force itself. The force is commonly associated with Jean Grey, but can also be seen inhabiting other hosts including Emma Frost and even Cyclops. It is in the last of these where Scarlet Witch came into play. During the ending portion of Avengers Vs X-Men, the story surrounded the force and five mutants who were able to split the power between them. In the end, it is only the Force going up against Scarlet Witch when everything came to an end for it.

Scarlet was able to remove the force from Cyclops and put it onto Hope Summers. She was able to control the Phoenix Force a bit better due to her immense power. The trio would restore the damage done by the Dark Phoenix and at the end of it all, Hope and Scarlet knew they had to end The Phoenix Force for good. As a result, they came together and said the words "no more Phoenix." Just as quick as it was said, the force was gone. While Hope helped to contain the force within her body as a host, it was clearly Scarlet Witch her completely ended the force and removed it from the universe. Beforehand, the Phoenix Force was considered one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

The Infamous Cow Nanny

One of the most interesting things you'll come across when reading the history of Scarlet Witch was that both she and her brother were raised partially by a cow. Obviously, this was not your ordinary mooing cow that just grazed meadows all day. Rather, this was a cow was part of a special anamorphic race of super-intelligent creatures called the New Men. It was here that an evolved cow-woman going by the name of Bova was what amounts to a nanny or caretaker for the twins. There are a few different versions of this storyline, but the most popular revolves around the fact that Bova was the midwife for the birth of the twins.

In the story, she takes care of Wanda and her brother when their supposed mother Magda Lehnsherr runs away. This was Magneto's wife, in case you were wondering. Bova did her best to find proper caretakers for both twins, but she had some difficulty. That was before the lovely Maximoff family down the mountain offered to adopt the two. This is obviously only one story and a version of events surrounded in what amounts to a mysterious backstory for the two regarding where they were born, and by whom. But this does rank as one of the older versions, therefore it ranks as one of the most trusted sources of their origin.

Her Original Avengers Jump

We brought up earlier that Stan Lee had a special connection to both Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, which is certainly factual. Lee loved the two so much that they were always meant for big things due to how he would write them for many years to come. Lee lived up to what he claimed when he had large plans for the two. However, he did it much earlier than many assumed he would. Of course, when they first arrived, they did so as villains. They are not exactly sure of themselves in this role, as they seem to feel that they're in the right but do not like what they have to do to accomplish what they're asked to accomplish. As Lee pointed out, there was some apprehension. This opened the door to a possible hero jump.

This would be done officially in a comic involving the original Avenger, Captain America. The story called Cap's Kooky Quartet. The 16-issue series focuses on a period where all the Avengers except Cap are no longer with the team, which forces Steve Rogers to recruit some help.

He goes after three former villains to help him out in saving the world. Those people would be Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye. This was a short-run series, but it provided the first Avengers appearance for all three. Now they are heavily recognizable as major members of the team. Obviously, the Kooky Quartet name would never truly be used again, considering it's kind of odd. What did you expect though, it was 1965.

The Evolution Of MCU Scarlet Witch

If you pay close attention to how the Scarlet Witch character is used, we see her evolve more and more as each movie goes on. With most characters, we see them learn lessons or get somewhat better at things. However, there isn't growth in extreme measures. When it comes to Wanda though, that is not the case. She continues to evolve as a character and even did so in Avengers: Age of Ultron. They go complete comic book with her and her brother regarding their villain start, in hesitation. Wanda then realizes when there is a stopping point and when there is a need to change pace. So she has to experience wrong to know what is right.

It takes a certain level of evolution to grasp this. After the passing of her brother, someone she was insanely close to...she evolves again. Not just in her outfits, but in her power. In Civil War, we notice she cannot control it as much but finds ways to concentrate it by the end. Eventually, we get all the way to Infinity War where she has no issue controlling her power. In fact, it is seen as so immense, she can literally break universally powerful infinity stones. She even does this at one point, proving her power is only increasing and her ability to concentrate toward the end with not only Thanos but Vision, as well as the Mind Stone. This is too much for vets and yet this evolved form of Wanda could handle it for the most part. She was no match in the end yet, but we could be seeing the full reach of her power by Avengers 4.

Her Accent Disappears By The Start Of Infinity War

If you pay close attention, while Scarlet Witch does evolve in the MCU...one thing changes up big time. Her accent is pretty much gone by the Infinity War film. In fact, in every single movie since she came to the MCU...her accent has slowly begun to go away. What was the purpose of this and why have an accent to begin with if she is set to lose it? The Russo Brothers, the men who directed the Avengers movies, shed light on this.

They mention that while Scarlet Witch is clearly not from this country, her accent is noticeable in a big way. By the time Infinity War comes around, world governments are keeping themselves on alert for signs of The Vision or Wanda.

The reason for this is likely due to the threat they provide. This is why Vision ends up having a proper disguise, a human form. Meanwhile, Wanda loses her accent to fit into the culture she is trying to pretend she's from. The idea is that she loses her accent so that she cannot be found out, as people will be on the lookout, or maybe "hearout" for her voice to detect her. Changing it made sense...but why in private? The thought here is that due to her power of reality changing, she has changed her very own reality to fit in somewhat. Therefore, she is fully connected to the persona she has taken on, voice and all. She is also responsible for the body Vision uses.

She Might Be The Alpha Of "Nexus" Level Beings In The Marvel Universe

One of the few things Marvel does to categorize power is named the levels for which they seem to be. In some cases, you have what is known as an Omega-Level mutant. People like Professor X, Jean Grey, and Vulcan fall under this category. These mutants can literally change the universe or the world if they want to. In fact, they have at one point. The ability to remain on top is impressive, but Omega is not the top level of power in Marvel Comics. In fact, the category of "Nexus" is the area of which Scarlet Witch truly belongs. Though classified as Omega-Level many times, she is now often referred to as the Nexus-level being she truly deserves to be.

There are very few powerful enough to be here. Those in the category are Odin, Jean Grey w/Phoenix force, and Kang the Conquerer to name the short list of few. If you recall, she shut down The Phoenix Force like it was nothing. She also rewrote the mutant genome in the House of M storyline. Doctor Strange said he could not undo it, as it would tear the fabric of reality itself in the attempt. The Nexus level is one that few belong because quite frankly this type of being is truly unstoppable. Judging off of this, we could call her the Alpha and Omega of the Nexus-Level characters. Power as high as Wanda's cannot truly be measured. She may not have a cap...which is freaking scary, to say the least.

The Start Of The True Unstable Scarlet Witch

There are two very huge things that happen in Marvel Comics, and both ultimately give us the dangerously unstable Scarlet Witch we know the most. Both have to do, somewhat, with Vision. Years ago they wanted to have a family and succeeded in their attempt to start it. But failed ultimately due to an unspeakable evil act, which sadly we have to sort of speak of. Wanda used her reality-altering powers to have children using the same things normal humans use to make them. Obviously a bit different. In order to have her twins, Wanda had to give birth by using her powers. Yet the power she used to direct energy into her womb to have the children had the essence of now well-known demon Mephisto. Through Master Pandemonium, an agent of his, they were able to destabilize Wanda at this moment.

This forced her to lose the grip of her children in the womb, losing completely focus. This cost her the children, and they ultimately became souls that Pandemonium was able to ultimately claim. This cost her extreme emotional distress. So much so, it made her lose her mind in many ways. She was considered to be so dangerous at this time that if she wanted to, her emotions would have allowed her to destroy the planet. This was simply because of the sadness she felt from the loss of her children. The loss was such a hard thing that she never truly recovered from it, and has come up at times in the comics since.

The Second Reason For Her Mind Going Haywire

During this same time period regarding the loss of her twins during the birth process because of the interference of demons, she pretty much lost Vision too. The demon we referred to above, Mephisto, had a plan. In order to take away the kids from Scarlet Witch, he would need to remove Vision from helping. This would distract Wanda enough for him to break her concentration. Vision was abducted and even dismantled during all of this. Afterward, Vision would be rebuilt to the happiness of all. The problem was that in the rebuild, he lost all of his emotions from the previous form.

This meant the man Scarlet Witch knew and loved, even married, was no longer the Vision she was seeing. This yet again broke Wanda severely, as she lost her twins and now the love of her life.

Their relationship would never truly be the same as a result. What made Wanda fall in love with Vision was his true personality. Despite his android appearance, he was gifted with the personality he could use to feel true emotion like a normal human. Without this, he was a robot and nothing more. Wanda could not use him to lean on after the passing of her twins. Now, she had no one to lean on for the loss of Vision. As a result of both ordeals, Wanda would become very emotional, unstable, and dangerous. This would ultimately be the period in which Scarlet Witch became the literal most dangerous character in all of Marvel.

She Once Resurrected Wonder Man

While it might seem improbable, Wonder Man was someone Scarlet Witch loved as well. Her marriage to ole' Vis would not last due to his personality no longer being present. Wanda left the main Avengers team after all of this and would go to the West of the United States to join a few different teams. One would be Force Works and the other would be the West Coast Avengers. Those Avengers allowed her to meet someone quite interesting to her named, of course, Wonder Man. She would fall in love with the character, which was terrific for Wanda after all she had been through in recent years. One thing people often do not know regarding Vision was that Wonder Man played an important role in making him.

Obviously, the MCU does not address this, as the story of Vision is a bit different. But in the comics, Wonder Man's brain was the one used to develop Vision's consciousness. This meant that Wonder Man could literally be another Vision, which is likely why Wanda fell so hard for the guy. Sadly, during one of their missions Wonder Man would pass. This devastated Wanda because she had finally met someone just like her beloved Vision and wanted to be happy for the first time in years. Scarlet Witch would not be like any other woman who lost her man, as she could do something about it. Wanda used her powers to bring him back from the world of the dead. This was the first time Scarlet Witch did such, as she was normally known for taking lives, not bringing them back.

She Ended The Lives Of Many Marvel Characters

As mentioned in our previous entry, Scarlet Witch is well known in Marvel due to her power to take lives. She is far too powerful to take out and even has the power to bend reality so much that she could literally create her own world. What makes her so powerful also makes her weak at times. Her emotions can ultimately make her more powerful but also highly unstable. She has no ability to stop until she person she targets is turned to dust. Normally Wanda tries to never take a life when she is in her right mind, but she can stop anyone. She once stopped Namor and the entire Atlantean army he led ALONE! But this entry is about people she ended, right? So who made the infamous list?

While the worlds of these people, similar to DC's multiverse, have been ended by Wanda...they are not gone in other places. That allows them to keep the characters she removed from the world of the living in the comics.

So who did she take out? Hawkeye, Quicksilver, T'Channa(Dr. Doom), Jonathan Hart, Howard the Duck, Scott Lang, Magneto, Steve Rogers, Lisa Hardy, Arthur Hardy, and many many more. This is not even including The Phoenix Force and other cosmic beings she depowered. She has depowered many in her time and ranks as one of the few who even have the power to do so.

House of M

The House of M storyline is infamous in Marvel Comics and happens to include many of the top players in the world. The story goes that the Avengers meet up with the X-Men and talk about Wanda. They see she is becoming unstable due to all that has happened to her, and this has led to multiple issues. Many people are seeing her as a threat. So they speak about the possibility of ending her life to save the universe from her threat. In the meantime, Quicksilver tells his sister that due to her powers, she can make her own reality where she can be happy. She can have it separate from the world where she lost so much. The issue is that this reality becomes unstable and blends in with the current. The heroes have to find Wanda so she can restore reality.

In this new reality, Wanda finds that Magneto has ended Quicksilver for what he claimed to be using Scarlet Witch. Wanda then resurrects her brother right after this. Fighting breaks out among the heroes, mostly the X-Men and the Avengers. Her reality, what we now call the "House of M" would need to be removed to stop the fighting. Seeing that she hurt so many and could hurt more, or they hurt themselves as a result of her actions, she did what she felt she had to do. She would utter the words "no more mutants." As a direct result, the House of M was done and around 90% of the mutants were depowered, as well as some superheroes too. Including such greats as Professor X, Magneto, Jubilee, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Emma Frost, Mr. Fantastic, etc. The story then resulted in several major storylines, one being Marvel's infamous Civil War story.

MCU Storyline Isn't Too Far Off

One thing we knew when Disney decided to use Scarlet Witch is that they could not call her a mutant. FOX could, but since they owned the rights to the name it really hurt Disney when they planned to use Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. There are two main storylines regarding the twins. One is, of course, they are the children of Magneto and are raised as mutants. However, one of the biggest stories is likely becoming more popular as a result of Disney. The MCU uses the storyline that they were never mutants, but the product of lab experimentation.

Apparently, a being named the High Evolutionary kidnapped them at an early age from their real parents, Django and Marya Maximoff. He then put them several experiments and manipulated their inner chromosomes.

This resulted in the two developing powers. Though he failed to reach the level he wanted, he succeeded in the power. They would not be able to know their powers until they got a bit older. This resulted in their small town to then simply assume they were mutants, and they had no indication to think otherwise. Of course, as mentioned previously, Chthon would help to develop Wanda's powers far more. This allowed her to grow more and more powerful, which is why she is clearly more powerful than her brother. However, this does go to prove Disney simply went with this story which was understandable. They did go with it a bit differently, of course. But it worked.

Magneto Isn't Her Father

A lot has been made about Scarlet Witch being the daughter of Magneto, but as we told you in the previous entry....it is simply not the case. Apparently, the power of deception was a big deal here. For the longest time, the story was that they were simply raised by the Maximoff family to keep them away from their true father, Magneto. Their mother would give birth to them assuming she could then protect them from their father and then abandon them. This would then result in their adoption shortly after. Magneto would show up and be like, "Hey guys, I'm your father." That was

The deception would be revealed in the Axis storyline, which ultimately told us about their kidnapping and experimentation. This storyline was by no means something known until truly the last few years. Magneto being the father of Wanda and her brother made sense to many, as the family they were with were not mutants. So simply assuming Magneto was their dad ultimately was believable for them. He would use the two, however, and this very well could be why the two never truly felt like they could be proper villains and would break away from their father and evil. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were always close and neither wanted to be too far away from the other. When Wanda left for the Avengers, her brother did as well. Though flip-flopping with Quicksilver has happened off and on.

What holds true today is that while they were twins and will forever be this, their father has switched up a lot. But now the story is simply that Magneto isn't their dad as we all have known for many years. This is the Scarlet Witch Olsen plays in the MCU.

Sources: WhatsCulture, CBR, Marvel, EW, Wiki