How Powerful Scarlet Witch Really Is In Each MCU Movie
It appears as though Wanda's abilities will receive a significant reality-bending upgrade, confirming that she is a force to be reckoned with.
Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Doctor Strange 2.
The Scarlet Witch's powers grow with every MCU appearance and major tragedy that happens in her life, and with the rollout of MCU Phase 4, it is once again time to ask how powerful Scarlet Witch truly is. As Agatha Harkness explains in the finale of WandaVision, “The Scarlet Witch is not born; she is forged. She has no coven or need for incantation. Her power exceeds that of the Sorcerer Supreme. It is her destiny to destroy the world.” This foreshadowed what happens in the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ending, during which Wanda Maximoff nearly destroys all of reality until America Chavez, through Doctor Strange's guidance, shows Wanda the error of her ways. So, how powerful is Wanda Maximoff, really? At this point, Scarlet Witch's powers are only limited by the imagination of the character's next writer.
However, what's clear is that with every major appearance of Scarlet Witch in the MCU, she only grows stronger, in line with the prophecy about Wanda either ruling or destroying the world. Following Wanda's appearances in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War, audiences first get a glimpse of Wanda's sheer power when she goes toe-to-toe with Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. After Wanda loses Vision, WandaVision reveals that Scarlet Witch can bend reality to her will through her subconscious mind. Corrupted by the Darkhold in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda's reach extends across the multiverse. Scarlet Witch's death in the ending of Doctor Strange 2 even implies that only Wanda is capable of destroying Scarlet Witch.
The Scarlet Witch's powers are further compounded by the fact that, even though she might really be dead, there are countless other variants of Wanda Maximoff across the multiverse. Whether or not Wanda will return to the MCU, the repercussions of her chaos magic could be revealed in upcoming MCU Phase 4 films such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Thor: Love and Thunder. With Wanda's future in the MCU being uncertain, here's a look back at the evolution of the Scarlet Witch's powers in every movie she appears in.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Originating from the Mind Stone, Wanda's abilities are reminiscent of the Infinity Stone itself, with the MCU's writers giving her psionic powers like telepathy and telekinesis (a notable departure from her comic book counterpart). Largely motivated by her anger towards Tony Stark, whose weaponry contributed to the loss of her parents, Wanda's illusion-making abilities are put on display in the film's opening sequence as she forces Tony to confront a simulacrum of his greatest fear: the fall of the Avengers at the hands of intergalactic forces and the end of the world. After she and her brother join Ultron, Stark's failed attempt at peaceful artificial intelligence, Wanda's mind-altering power is a great asset to him, rendering Captain America, Black Widow, and even Thor - an Asgardian god - helpless and trapped within their own personal nightmares.
However, when the twins are informed of Ultron's true master plan (involving the destruction of their home country) Wanda is seen using her abilities to override the Mind Stone's control over Dr. Helen Cho, an impressive feat in itself. Once the twin's heel-turn and eventual collaboration with the Avengers, Wanda's considerable skills are further put to the test, with her telepathy helping to safely remove the Sokovian citizens out of harm's way and her telekinesis proving destructive against Ultron's robotic army and, later, his own vibranium body. When Pietro's psionic link to Wanda is severed with his death, she unleashes a huge surge of energy, displaying a direct correlation between her empathy and power output.
Captain America: Civil War
After Pietro's death, Wanda starts a new life with the Avengers, presumably with the intention of atoning for her role in Ultron's violence against humanity. Curiously, her mind control is hardly present going forward in the series, however, her telekinesis appears to have received a major upgrade capable of extracting poisonous gas from an entire building, creating force fields, and even enabling her brief periods of flight.
Sadly, after Wanda fails to contain Crossbones' explosives in her attempt to save Captain America and her attempt to safely redirect the explosion with her telekinesis ends up killing hundreds, the considerable collateral damage calls the whole enterprise into question. Clearly shaken by the incident and the public's negative reception of her, Wanda is confined to the Avengers compound with Vision. But when Steve calls on her to aid him in his protection of Bucky, Wanda makes the choice to escape.
Spurred on by a new sense of purpose, Wanda easily overpowers Vision with her abilities, rendering him helpless through her interference with the Mind Stone embedded in his forehead, and causing him to fall several stories belowground. The brilliant display of power is considerable, and Wanda goes on to play a major part in the climactic airport battle, hurling cars and levitating enormous objects throughout the fight. At one point in the confrontation, Wanda admonishes Hawkeye for "pulling [his] punches" with Black Widow – an interesting comment from someone who earlier in the film seemed so terrified of her own potential. But perhaps this sentiment ties into Wanda's own recent and ominous self-discovery: the greatest realization of one's power comes at the cost of losing the connections that ground them – an idea that she will understand even more fully in her next appearances.
Avengers: Infinity War & Endgame
After being broken out of the Raft by Steve Rogers, Wanda joins his faction of the Avengers and goes on the run. Although little is known of the time between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, the next time Wanda is seen, she is in a sweet relationship with an evolving Vision. When the couple is attacked by Thanos' children Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight, Wanda's control over her powers is significant. Now able to fly telekinetically with seeming ease and firing off rapid energy bolts, she is more than a match for her attackers, able to fend them off before help can arrive.
Later in the film, it is revealed that, due to her shared connection to the Mind Stone, Wanda is the only person able to destroy the gem empowering her android partner, but the team plans to remove it in Wakanda, hoping to spare him. In the face of Thanos' forces overpowering the Wakandan Army and the Earth-bound Avengers, Wanda joins the battle, taking down enormous warships and disposing of Proxima Midnight. As Thanos appears, Wanda is convinced by Vision to destroy the stone (and kill him) and she tearfully agrees, managing to shatter the Mind Stone with one hand and hold the Mad Titan (now possessing the other five Infinity Stones) back with the other.
Like all of the blipped heroes, Wanda makes a brief return in Avengers: Endgame after the core team reversed Thanos' Snap. But unlike every other character who has taken on Thanos throughout the series, Wanda has the distinction of not only holding her own with him but almost defeating him. Channeling rage and emotion in ways not-yet-seen, Wanda smashes the Mad Titan with telekinetic attacks and forcibly levitates him, painfully removing his armor and breaking his bladed weapon with ease. It is only Thanos' desperate call for his ships to fire upon his own troops that enables his hurried escape from the Scarlet Witch.
WandaVision
WandaVision is where the MCU starts to reveal Wanda's reality-altering powers and the Scarlet Witch prophecy, which sets up Wanda's path towards becoming not just part of the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness cast, but also its main antagonist. In WandaVision, it's revealed that Wanda's powers come from the Mind Stone. Wanda's mind control comes back with a vengeance as she subconsciously puts the entire town of Westview under her spell, trapping them in a surreal pocket dimension inspired by three decades of sitcoms and Wanda's grief from losing Vision.
Wanda manifests her dream town and family into reality, creating the sons she always wanted, and even a version of Vision born of chaos magic, all within the safe confines of her altered version of Westview. Moreover, passing through the borders of our reality and Westview is what gives Monica Rambeau her powers, which are comparable to Captain Marvel's, further revealing the extent of Wanda's dominion over matter and reality. After Wanda realizes her true potential, she makes quick work of the centuries-old witch Agatha Harkness, claiming the Darkhold for herself in order to study it and better understand her true nature.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Scarlet Witch's powers threaten to unravel the very fabric of the multiverse in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as Wanda nearly fulfills Agatha Harkness' prophecy about the Scarlet Witch in her violent and misguided quest to steal her sons from an alternate universe. Empowered by the knowledge contained in the Darkhold, Wanda is able to constantly overpower and outsmart not just Doctor Strange, but all of Kamar-Taj, in every single magical duel. Moreover, during a horror-inspired psionic battle, in what might be the best MCU introduction for a long-awaited Marvel character, Wanda makes quick work of Doctor Strange 2's Professor X, one of the most powerful telepaths in the MCU. The way Wanda easily kills Earth-838's Black Bolt, Mr. Fantastic, Captain Carter, and Captain Marvel reveals that Wanda's reality-bending and telekinetic powers are off the charts. Notably, Wanda does this all while possessing the version of herself from Earth-838, dream-walking from this universe by channeling her power through Mount Wundagore in lieu of the Darkhold. As Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness reveals, the Scarlet Witch is one of the most powerful and dangerous beings in the multiverse.
Scarlet Witch's powers can only be compared to the likes of Doctor Strange and America Chavez. Although America Chavez's origin is unknown, what's clear is that she can create portals to other realities at will, which is why Wanda and one version of Doctor Strange tried to absorb America and her powers. Before Wanda presumably destroyed herself, she exhibited not just comparable powers, but also a dangerously similar perspective to Strange Supreme in Marvel's What if...?, as both reacted to grief by almost destroying their respective realities. Indeed, as proven by the fates of Strange Supreme and Scarlet Witch, when dealing with this level of power, it can be all too easy for Earth's mightiest heroes to become the villain and cause their own destruction. Should Wanda somehow return to the MCU, either as part of the Doctor Strange 3 cast or in her own long-overdue Scarlet Witch MCU movie, her powers are bound to evolve further. Hopefully, Wanda's understanding of how dangerous she truly is – not just to herself but to all of existence – continues to evolve as well.
Next: Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness Easter Eggs & MCU References
