Out of all the Avengers in the MCU, Wanda Maximoff is perhaps the one to have suffered the most in her life, with trauma dating all the way back to her childhood and extending up to the present day. Her storyline throughout her tenure in the franchise has been, more so than anyone else's, characterized by grief.
From her introduction in Age of Ultron to her most recent appearance in the limited series WandaVision, Wanda has suffered loss after loss, all of which continue to weigh on her as she prepares for her next appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Killed By Thanos
Many fans were shocked when, at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, the Mad Titan Thanos succeeded in his quest to eliminate half of all life in the known universe, resulting in the deaths of untold trillions, including several fan-favorite Avengers. One such death was Wanda Maximoff herself, the only character in the infamous dusting scene to pass silently into nothingness, accepting her fate.
Experiencing death so suddenly and unfairly would take a psychological toll on anyone, especially upon their return five years later. Unfortunately for Wanda, the life she returned to felt empty and meaningless now that one of the few people she had cared about was long deceased. Unlike the rest of the world, Wanda felt little joy upon her return to life.
Previously On...
In the penultimate episode of WandaVision, titled "Previously On," the witch Agatha Harkness captures Wanda in her dungeon in an attempt to understand how she could have possibly conjured the Westview Anomaly. In order to get a better grasp of her powers, Agatha takes Wanda on a trip down memory lane, revisiting some of the most traumatic moments in her life.
There is little competition among the Avengers concerning who has the most tragic backstory. While plenty of the team's other members have experienced great loss throughout their lives, few come even close to the trauma of Wanda. The sorceress's life has been filled fill back-to-back tragedies that, while making her stronger, have also scarred her beyond compare. Forcing Wanda to relive each of these tragedies was a cruel and unreasonable misdoing on Agatha's part.
Strucker's Experiments
When the audience meets Wanda, the character is one of two survivors of Hydra scientist Baron von Strucker's experiments, alongside her brother Pietro. Though these experiments gave the two incredible powers, they were also abusive and inhumane, leading to all of the other subjects dying horrible deaths.
Strucker's practices were some of the worst crimes committed by the already atrocious Hydra organization, with his experiments concerning the Mind Stone rising to the degree of an Avengers-level threat. Though little is ever shown of Wanda's time in Strucker's lab, one can only imagine that it was filled with pain and anguish.
Joining Ultron
After Baron von Strucker's defeat at the hands of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Wanda and Pietro were in search of a new handler, someone who could point them toward who to fight next. Unfortunately for them, they unwisely threw in their lot with the artificial intelligence known as Ultron, which would ultimately only bring them suffering.
While Wanda and Pietro would eventually come to realize the error of their ways and betray Ultron, the damage was already done. The robot's plan to destroy the earth was well underway, and it was all the twins could do to ally with the Avengers to help stop him. Though Wanda would later go on to become one of the strongest Avengers, Pietro was left dead after the battle, a fate that could have been avoided had they never sided with Ultron in the first place.
Losing Her Parents
Despite living in a war-torn Sokovia, it is hinted that Wanda and Pietro's childhood was relatively pleasant, largely due to the efforts of their parents, who did all they could to shelter their children from the horrors of the outside world. However, Olek and Iryna Maximoff were killed when a Stark Enterprises missile careened into their home, trapping the surviving Wanda and Pietro beneath rubble for two days.
This moment was quite formative in the lives of both Wanda and Pietro, who would foster a seething hatred for Tony Stark as a result of their parents' deaths. From that day on, the twins' lives would never be the same, as they were always in a desperate search for some restitution for their loss, a search that would never bear fruit.
The Lagos Incident
In the first act of Captain America: Civil War, Wanda inadvertently causes the deaths of several innocents after attempting to shield a street full of civilians from a bomb. Her error proved to be the inciting incident for the superhero registration act known as the Sokovia Accords, the controversy around which would start the Superhero Civil War and tear the Avengers apart.
Wanda's grief over the deaths she caused continued to haunt her long after the event. After spending so long paying restitution for her acts as Ultron's minion, she had taken a step back in her road to redemption. These events continue to plague Wanda's memory, with one of the commercial segments of WandaVision calling back on the Lagos incident, with the slogan "For when you make a mess that you didn't mean to."
Watching Vision Die
After going through the trauma of having to kill Vision herself, Wanda was forced to watch in horror as Thanos used the Time Stone to resurrect the synthezoid, only to kill him once more in removing the Mind Stone from his head. Despite her great strength, Wanda was powerless to stop her beloved from dying a second time.
This event proved to be the moment that broke Wanda, leading directly into the events of WandaVision. Even later, the act of seeing the Vision's dead body would lead Wanda to utter one of the saddest lines in the MCU while standing over him: "I can't feel you."
Pietro's Death
After the death of her parents, the only person that Wanda had left in the world was her twin brother Pietro. However, her speedster brother sacrificed his life to save those of fellow Avenger Hawkeye and a young civilian boy during the Battle of Sokovia. Pietro became the first Avenger to lose his life in the line of duty.
Though fans still hope to see some version of Quicksilver in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the fact remains that Wanda's brother is dead. Her grief over this fact is put on display in WandaVision, where even the mention of his death causes her to lash out at those around her. Much like the deaths of her parents, Wanda never truly got over the loss of her brother.
Killing Vision
Upon realizing that Thanos is moments away from completing the Infinity Gauntlet, Vision made the bold choice to ask Wanda to destroy the Mind Stone within his head, which would also kill him. Though she fought until the last moment for another solution, Wanda eventually acquiesced to his request, being the only one powerful enough to do so, and killed the man she loved.
Losing a loved one is painful enough without also being the one to end their life. Wanda's actions would be traumatizing to anyone and ultimately proved to be fruitless despite her best efforts. This moment only added to the growing list of horrors that causes many fans to believe that Wanda may become Multiverse of Madness's primary villain.
Closing The Hex
In WandaVision's finale, Wanda comes to realize that she cannot keep her hex over Westview without mentally torturing its inhabitants. She is forced to close her pocket reality, losing her conjuring of Vision in the process, as well as their two children.
Once again, Wanda was left without any of her loved ones, alone in the universe. The final scenes of WandaVision are heart-wrenching and painful for viewers, as Wanda is forced to say goodbye to the only people that matter to her in the world. Fans can only imagine the pain she is in as she heads into Multiverse of Madness.