The MCU’s Scarlet Witch has shown off her incredible abilities with some of Marvel Studios’ most impressive displays of power. Elizabeth Olsen debuted as Wanda Maximoff in Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s mid-credits scene alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson as her on-screen brother, Pietro. The pair then had a larger role in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, acting as minor villains and eventual allies to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the battle against Ultron. While Pietro’s journey ended in Age of Ultron, Wanda went on to become one of the MCU’s most powerful and significant characters, having appeared in a total of eight Marvel Studios films and TV series’ on Disney+.
Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff was adapted from Marvel Comics’ Scarlet Witch, a prominent mutant who has been featured as a member of various superhero teams including the Avengers, West Coast Avengers, A-Force, and the Brotherhood of Mutants. Originally depicted as reluctant villains, both Wanda and her brother would go on to have impressive careers as superheroes, though would still cause their fair share of trouble, just as the MCU’s Scarlet Witch has. Over the course of her MCU career, the Scarlet Witch has demonstrated her remarkable chaos magic abilities many times, giving the MCU some of its most spectacular displays of power.
10 Child Wanda Stopped A Bomb From Killing Her & Pietro
Wanda’s traumatic childhood had been hinted at in several MCU projects before WandaVision episode 8, “Previously On,” delved deeper into the story. Wanda and Pietro grew up in war torn Sokovia, and on one fateful night, their apartment building was destroyed by missiles, taking the lives of their parents in the process. One missile with Stark Industries branding threatened to kill Wanda and Pietro, too, who had become trapped beneath rubble, but the bomb didn’t explode, and they survived for two days before being recovered. WandaVision revealed that Wanda had used her magic to stop the bomb from exploding, proving just how strong she was even at that early an age
9 Scarlet Witch Mind-Controlled Most Of The Avengers
During her first main appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda Maximoff was originally depicted as a minor villain to the Avengers, working with HYDRA with a mission of vengeance against Tony Stark. Joining Age of Ultron’s opening battle, Wanda used her chaos magic ability to mind-control most of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, allowing her to see into their minds. She makes Tony Stark see a harrowing vision of a deadly future, Natasha Romanoff relive her tragic training in the Red Room, Steve Rogers is reunited with Peggy Carter, Thor sees a vision of Ragnarok, and Bruce Banner’s Hulk is angered to the point of rampaging through Johannesburg.
8 Wanda Maximoff Overpowered Vision In Captain America: Civil War
After becoming an official member of the Avengers, Captain America: Civil War saw Wanda sidelined after causing a catastrophe during a mission in Lagos. Unwittingly imprisoned in Avengers HQ by Tony Stark and Vision, Wanda is eventually rescued by Clint Barton, but not before incapacitating Vision after he tries to keep her contained. Since Wanda’s abilities were enhanced by the Mind Stone, she has a connection to the Infinity Stone, allowing her to manipulate it to increase Vision’s density and send him crashing through several floors of Avengers HQ. Vision is an incredibly powerful hero in the MCU, so Wanda’s ability to overpower him was seriously impressive.
7 Scarlet Witch Brought Mount Wundagore Down On Herself
The MCU’s Phase 4 saw Wanda embrace her identity as the Scarlet Witch, though she also became corrupted through her use of the Darkhold and obsession with finding her children in another reality. Her destructive rampage in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness culminated in her almost ripping America Chavez’s power from her body, but the young hero was able to show the Scarlet Witch the error of her ways. Consumed with grief, disappointment, anger, and shame at her actions, Wanda collapsed the castle on Mount Wundagore which contained her throne and the Darkhold carvings, bringing the building down upon herself and apparently sacrificing her own life.
6 Agatha Harkness Was Outsmarted By The Scarlet Witch In WandaVision
Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness appeared to be a worthy opponent to the Scarlet Witch in WandaVision, since she is a supremely powerful Salem witch who wanted to steal Wanda’s power for herself. Even though she was considered an enemy, however, Agatha taught Wanda several lessons in witchcraft, including the use of runes to allow only the witch who cast them to use her magic. This knowledge helps Wanda Maximoff outsmart Agatha in the pair’s final battle above Westview, New Jersey. Wanda’s runes make it impossible for Agatha to steal her magic, which allows Wanda to finally become the Scarlet Witch – for better or worse.
5 Every Universe’s Darkhold Was Destroyed By The Scarlet Witch
After realizing her wrongdoing in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda didn’t only destroy Mount Wundagore, but in fact destroyed every copy of the Darkhold across the entire multiverse. The Darkhold was introduced in WandaVision as the MCU’s Book of the Damned, drafted by the demon Chthon in Mount Wundagore before it was transcribed by an unknown author. Wanda acquired the Darkhold from Agatha Harkness in WandaVision, and used it to scour the multiverse in search of her children, and it also provided her with the spells necessary to dream-walk. The Darkhold was a book of incredible power, but it was still no match for the Scarlet Witch.
4 Scarlet Witch Almost Defeated Thanos Single-Handedly In Endgame
Wanda Maximoff wasn’t involved in the majority of Avengers: Endgame’s story, as she had fallen victim to Thanos’ snap in Avengers: Infinity War, but she returned for the film’s final battle. Fueled by rage at Thanos killing Vision only moments before (for her), Wanda took on the Mad Titan single-handedly, expertly levitating him off the ground, brutally ripping apart his heavy armor, swiftly breaking his double-edged sword, and almost killing Thanos all by herself. It was only Thanos’ insistence on his army firing rounds on the battleground that ended this attack, but the Scarlet Witch could very well have ended Thanos’ crusade there and then had she not been interrupted.
3 Wanda Maximoff Created An Entire World In WandaVision
While audiences had previously seen Wanda’s strength grow gradually, Phase 4’s WandaVision took a major step forward in establishing her as one of the franchise’s most powerful characters. After losing Vision and being denied the chance to bury his body, Wanda traveled to the site of the pair’s dream home in Westview, New Jersey, and inadvertently sent out energy that constructed a hexagon-shaped prison around the town. Wanda had complete control over the town inside the Hex, using her love of sitcoms to make a TV-style world with changing sets, costumes, and characters, all to live out a happy life with a fabricated Vision and their two children.
2 Earth-838’s Illuminati Were Massacred By The Scarlet Witch
Following the dismantling of the Westview Hex and the loss of Vision and her children, Wanda began studying the Darkhold and learned that she could journey to another reality of the multiverse to reunite with her kids. To do this, she wanted to absorb America Chavez’s universe-hopping power, but was opposed by Doctor Strange and the Illuminati team on Earth-838. However, the Scarlet Witch wouldn’t let a few superpowered people get in her way, and she quickly dispatched the majority of the Illuminati team, including the likes of Professor X, Reed Richards, and an alternate Captain Marvel, who are generally considered some of the most powerful characters in Marvel’s roster.
1 Scarlet Witch Destroyed The Mind Stone In Infinity War
There is perhaps no better display of Wanda Maximoff’s strength than seeing her destroy an Infinity Stone in Avengers: Infinity War. Realizing that the only way to stop Thanos was to not let him complete the Infinity Gauntlet, Vision begs Wanda to destroy the Mind Stone, claiming she can as her abilities stem from the stone itself. Overwhelming the Mind Stone with her energy, Wanda manages to crack it open, destroying Vision in the process, but Thanos’ ability to turn back time make this a pointless exercise. Even so, the destruction of the Mind Stone was certainly the most impressive display of power from the MCU’s Scarlet Witch.
