Avengers 4 Should Keep Scarlet Witch Dead

Many of the heroes who were turned to dust in Avengers: Infinity War are expected to be resurrected one way or another in Avengers 4. However, there is one hero that Marvel Studios should keep dead: Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. Scarlet Witch.

Brilliantly played by Elizabeth Olsen, the character was officially introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron alongside her (short-lived) twin, Pietro Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver, and both of them had powers that originated from HYDRA's experiments with the Mind Stone. Given her comic book origins and ties to X-Men, many were excited about Scarlet Witch joining the Avengers. But after three years and three movies, other than her romance with Paul Bettany's Vision, it seems like Wanda's personal arc in the MCU is going nowhere.

This Page: Deaths in the MCU So Far
Page 2: Why Scarlet Witch Should Be Killed Off For Real

Avengers 4 Is Going To Undo A Lot Of Death

Avengers 4 will see the original members of the Avengers come together in an effort to resolve the predicament that Thanos' galactic genocide left the universe in. That (presumably) includes resurrecting the second generation of heroes that were snuffed out of existence by the end of Infinity War. While directors Joe and Anthony Russo, as well as writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, are still maintaining that this won't be the case, there are just too many indications at this point (Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 set after Avengers 4, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 set after Infinity War with most of the cast returning) that prove them otherwise.

Not much is known yet how exactly Tony Stark and his Avenger pals are going to do this, but it may have something to do with time travel. There are actually a few ways that it could be made possible, including via the Quantum Realm - a concept that will be further explored in Ant-Man & The Wasp and Captain Marvel. If anything, the main function of Avengers 4, other than wrapping up the 22-film narrative that the franchise has been treading since 2008's Iron Man, is to see MCU's changing of the guards. Saving universe will demand huge sacrifices from the original heroes, allowing a new breed of characters to come in and take the charge in Phase 4 once some (or most) of the founding crew members are gone.

Even With Big Deaths, Marvel Has A Death Problem

One of biggest MCU gripes is how quickly the franchise overturns its deaths. Phil Coulson's death in The Avengers was eventually reversed so he can spearhead Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; Nick Fury pretended to die in Captain America: The Winter Soldier; and of course, Loki has faked his own death at least twice. While there have been genuine losses over its first decade, most of them are one-and-done villains and supporting characters. Heroes, especially leading ones, on the other hand, have continued to live on movie-after-movie giving fans the sense that regardless how big of a threat comes their way, they're always going to emerge on the other side unscathed.

Sure, the movies are based on comic books, where no one really dies for good, but this concept doesn't really work for movies. In fact, it has started to backfire on the MCU as many have pointed out the lack of real stakes and consequences in Marvel movies. It's even somehow affected people's emotional reaction to the handful of deaths in Infinity War because it's expected that most of them are going to be resurrected one way or another in just a year.

Page 2: Why Scarlet Witch Should Be Killed Off For Real

Why Scarlet Witch's Death Should Be Real

Shortly after her villainous stint at the beginning of Age of Ultron, Wanda officially became an Avenger under the tutelage of Cap and Black Widow. Unfortunately, the mishap in Lagos that kicked-off the events of Captain America: Civil War halted her road to becoming a hero. Since then, she's been tagged as a criminal alongside the rest of Team Cap. And while some of their team members like Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Clint Barton/Hawkeye opted to strike a house arrest deal with the government, the others have been operating underground while the government treats them as fugitives.

Though Scarlet Witch is one of the most powerful Marvel heroes, we haven't really seen that on screen during in her years in the MCU. Joss Whedon may have touched on some of the more interesting aspects of her superhero skills like mind manipulation, but after Age of Ultron fans barely saw her use any of her capabilities other than generating energy blasts and flying. Sure, it gets mentioned from time-to-time - Okoye even said something about it during the battle in Wakanda, and Wanda was able to destroy one of the Infinity Stones (quite a feat) - but for the most part she's been relegated to a support staff role.

In the comic books, Scarlet Witch has even cooler skills like warping realities and magic. While Marvel Studios might introduce those abilities down the line, it would need some build-up, since up to this point she has still been learning the basics of her powers. And since the MCU appears to be going more cosmic come Phase 4 with the introduction of Captain Marvel, as well as the development of The Eternals and possibly even Nova, the franchise simply may not have room to give Scarlet Witch's powers the development they deserve.

There's Little Future Use For Scarlet Witch

Because of a rights overlap with 20th Century Fox, Marvel Studios has had to make some changes to Wanda's origins. Instead of being a mutant, her powers originate from experiments with the Mind Stone. So while she's supposed to be a mutant, daughter of Magneto and part of the X-Men in the comics, all of those elements of her character are missing in the MCU. Instead, Marvel Studios anchored her story to Vision as they developed a romantic relationship with each other - which played a major part in Infinity War. However, that didn't seem to be enough for people to fully invest in her the way they do in her peers. Case in point: the Russos subtly ditched her Russian accent in Avengers 3 and fans didn't really mind (or maybe even noticed).

Wanda's new origin story doesn't just cancel out the possibility of connecting her to Professor X and his brood once they officially come over to Marvel Studios via the in-process Fox and Disney buyout - it also leaves her with a bleak future in the MCU. Considering her strong connection to the Infinity Stones, once Marvel Studios finally move on from the current saga, she won't have any potential narrative in the foreseeable future. Even Vision, who's also dependent on the Mind Stone, can be rebuilt, and function as a normal bot.

At this point, the only reason to resurrect Wanda is for the possible adaptation of House of M. Olsen has previously expressed her desire to star in a spin-off mining inspiration from the quintessential Scarlet Witch comic book story. Released in 2005, the run features a delusional Wanda who loses control of her ability to alter reality. Following a nervous breakdown due to losing her and Vision's two children, she accidentally conceives an alternate reality where her family is royalty and mutants are under the reign of Magneto. It's a convoluted storyline that heavily involves Wanda's lineage, and considering that Marvel Studios has already retconned that, it would be quite difficult to adapt the story without trading off its narrative impact.

In an ideal world, Scarlet Witch would be one of the faces of the MCU moving forward. Her team-up with Black Widow and Okoye against Proxima Midnight showed as a glimpse of the potential for a team-up movie with all-female superheroes. But with the way Marvel Studios has set her character up, it just doesn't seem like there's more to be done with her story that will have a tremendous impact in the franchise. Couple that with the need to keep at least some characters dead from Thanos' snap to preserve its integrity, and it seems natural that Scarlet Witch should be one of the big deaths in Avengers 4.