MCU Iron Man and Scarlet Witch Are More Similar Than You Think

Iron Man and Scarlet Witch may have had their grudges against each other, but looking back at their overall arcs in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they have a lot of similarities with each other. While Scarlet Witch was only properly introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron, her history with Tony Stark predates the events of Jon Favreau's Iron Man. As shown in WandaVision, her and Pietro Maximoff's parents were killed by a Stark Industry bomb in Sokovia in 1999, effectively radicalizing them both and motivating them to join HYDRA's experiment in their country. It's also the reason why they joined Ultron's crusade, albeit not fully knowing how nefarious the corrupt sentient robot was.

As a way to potentially get back at Iron Man for his role in the death of her parents, Wanda took the opportunity to hypnotize him during their first contact at the beginning of Age of Ultron. This amplified Tony's already nagging fears of a dystopian future where the rest of the Avengers were all dead. With a renewed sense of panic, he went ahead and brashly moved forward with Ultron Program without consulting the rest of his allies; this backfired big time when the peacekeeping AI was corrupted and turned on them. It was one of the biggest mistakes Tony committed since his epiphany in Iron Man, and something that had big ramifications on his arc moving forward.

Eventually, Tony and Wanda found themselves fighting on the same side when the latter officially joined the Avengers against Ultron, but their relationship never really progressed from simply being allies. Marvel Studios didn't also properly resolve their issues with each other as they didn't have any more one-on-one interactions past Captain America: Civil War. Despite their mostly contentious dynamic, the pair actually share a lot of similarities with each other.

Iron Man and Scarlet Witch Began In The MCU As Villain-Types

Tony Stark poses in the desert in Iron Man

It was several years in between the pair's introduction in the MCU, and their origin stories couldn't be any more different; Tony Stark was born in privilege being the heir to Stark Industries, while Wanda Maximoff lived with her family in the war-torn Sokovia. However, when they debuted in the franchise, they were both borderline villains. Before his abduction in Afghanistan, Tony couldn't care less about anyone else but himself. He justified Stark Industries' war-profiteering activities, and treated most people badly. It was only after his humbling near-death experience in Afghanistan that he realized that he needed to change, make up for his mistake, and use his resources for good, hence why he became Iron Man.

Several years into Tony's redemption, Wanda was officially introduced in Age of Ultron. He and her brother were radicalized and joined HYDRA's experiment, effectively making her more aware of her apparent innate abilities as revealed in WandaVision. She harbored ill feelings against Tony given Stark Industries' weapons' manufacturing. Fueled by this, she and Pietro joined Ultron as they set out to destroy the Avengers. But, like Iron Man, the Maximoffs came to a realization about the negative impact of their actions, and decided to break ties with the villain and team up with the heroes to defeat the evil robot.

Iron Man and Scarlet Witch Made Mistakes Because Of Their Powers

WandaVision Scarlet Witch Elizabeth Olsen

Both Iron Man and Scarlet Witch are powerful in their respective rights; unfortunately, their initial inability to control these special abilities led them to make bad decisions. For Tony, that includes his wealth and genius which resulted in creating war weapons. This was mainly due to his lack of empathy towards other people besides from people inside his circle. Having a virtually infinite amount of resources, he was able to make anything that he wanted to do, but before he became Iron Man, he used this privilege the wrong way. His creations were means of destruction, and while this was not what he intended, his failure to keep an eye on how they're actually utilized caused irreparable damage to other people's lives, including the Maximoffs. Even as Tony started to redeem himself, he continued to struggle with this. Without anyone to keep him in check, he still made similar mistakes as with the creation of Ultron.

Wanda, on the other hand, can wield magic, but she has yet to fully understand the full extent of her powers. She officially joined the Avengers after Age of Ultron and became a hero, but she still didn't get the guidance she needed from more seasoned heroes in the team and it's not for the lack of trying. Captain America and Black Widow manned the training of the new Avengers; in Civil War, they're seen going on group missions. While they're able to impart Wanda knowledge when it came to fighting strategies, no one has been able to properly teach her how to use magic because no one else has the same skill set. Despite this, she's proven time and again how powerful she is, but not totally grasping what she can do leads to accidents like the incident in Lagos and the creation of the hex in Westview. As her story continues, expect this arc to be further explored as she was seen studying the Darkhold, unaware that she's learning evil spells.

Iron Man and Scarlet Witch Blame The Wrong People For Their Parents' Deaths

WandaVision Episode 8 Stark Industries Bomb

Scarlet Witch and Iron Man's respective arcs are shaped by the death of their parents. For Tony, Howard and Maria Stark's demise in 1991 set him up to be the face of Stark Industries. While it took a little more time before he assumed the company's top position, it forced him to be more involved in it quicker. However, arguably, the biggest impact the tragedy had on Iron Man's life was carrying the burden of regret. As complicated as his relationship was to his father, particularly, it haunted him that he was never able to properly say goodbye to them because he was full of teenage angst towards them. So when he learned that they were assassinated by Bucky, who was still operating as the Winter Soldier at that time, in Civil War he took it out on him. In the grand scheme of things, however, Bucky was also just a victim of the circumstance as he was operating against his will.

Interestingly, Tony is on the opposite side of the same situation when it comes to Wanda's arc. Like him, she blamed the wrong person for killing her parents which coincidentally was Iron Man. As told in Age of Ultron and shown in WandaVision, it's a Stark Industries bomb that blasted off their Sokovian apartment during a random night; this effectively killed the Maximoffs, leaving both her and Pietro waiting for another explosion that would also take them out. But, that never happened, and the pair had to move forward with their lives carrying the trauma from that experience. Wanda hated Tony for this, but in reality, he didn't really kill them. Granted that he created those weapons, he never intended them to be used to murder innocent people. Unfortunately, both of these situations never really got proper resolutions before Iron Man died in Avengers: Endgame.

Iron Man and Scarlet Witch Loved Vision

Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man/Tony Stark talking to J.A.R.V.I.S.

WandaVision finally put the focus on Wanda and Vision's love affair in the MCU after it developing quietly in the Marvel Cinematic Universe background for the last several years. As odd as their partnership was, they bonded over their shared connection to the Mind Stone, and from there, the romance between them started to progress leading to a full-blown love affair in Avengers: Infinity War which ended in tragedy when Vision was killed by Thanos for the Infinity Stone and Scarlet Witch getting dusted from the snap. Considering his recent arc in the MCU, it's easy to forget that Vision started as Just A Rather Very Intelligent System aka. J.A.R.V.I.S. — Iron Man's natural-language user interface computer system that functioned as his personal assistant. Admittedly, ever since the synthezoid was born in Age of Ultron, he barely had any more interactions with his ultimate creator. In fact, it's not even revealed if either of them knew about each other's fates following Thanos' attack in Infinity War. But it's worth remembering that before he had his physical body, Vision was essentially Tony's closest friend and confidante, making their bond as important as his love affair with Wanda.

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