WandaVision episode 6 saw Evan Peters’ Quicksilver in action, and the powers he displayed further prove that he’s not the X-Men version of Pietro Maximoff. With the Infinity Saga now over, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now moving forward with its Phase 4, which will not only cover the movie side of this connected universe but also TV shows to stream exclusively on Disney+. These series, unlike Netflix’s Marvel shows, will have a direct impact on the movies and some will tie directly into them, as is the case of WandaVision.
Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame and done in the style of sitcoms from different decades, WandaVision is all about Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), who are living an idyllic suburban life in the town of Westview. However, nothing is what it seems, and viewers soon learn there’s someone else behind the seemingly perfect life in Westview, and the truth might be too dark and complex. Each episode has had a big twist or reveal, and the biggest one so far happened in episode 5, when Quicksilver appeared at Wanda’s door, but it wasn’t Aaron Taylor-Johnson reprising his role from Avengers: Age of Ultron, and instead it was Evan Peters’ version.
Naturally, the arrival of Evan Peters’ Quicksilver to the MCU raised a lot of questions and made way for a lot of theories – from who brought him to Westview to the possibility of him actually being the real villain in disguise. WandaVision episode 6 gave viewers a chance to see what this Quicksilver is like and what he can do, and his powers and more don’t really match those he had during his time in Fox’s X-Men franchise – here are Quicksilver’s powers in WandaVision.
WandaVision’s Quicksilver Powers Explained
Quicksilver’s first appearance in WandaVision was very brief, arriving right at the end of the episode much to the surprise of Wanda. As such, viewers didn’t get to see him in action, but episode 6 seized Quicksilver’s powers and charisma and made him an active part of the story, and through these powers, Marvel proved that this isn’t the X-Men’s Quicksilver, even though Evan Peters plays the character. Of course, Wandavision’s Quicksilver has superhuman speed, just like the previous version, along with superhuman reflexes, but there’s one big difference from the X-Men’s Quicksilver that is easy to miss but changes everything: no risk of whiplash.
In Fox’s realm of X-Men, Quicksilver casually explained that due to his incredible speed, if he carried someone with him, the effects of high-speed friction caused by air resistance could injure the other person, so to protect them he had to hold the back of their heads so their necks wouldn’t break. In WandaVision, Quicksilver casually took Wanda’s kids, Tommy and Billy, to steal all the candy in the neighborhood and didn’t take any precautions to avoid whiplash, and the kids did just fine. This is the big proof that this version of Quicksilver has the same powers as the one from Age of Ultron, and thus isn’t exactly the one seen in the X-Men movies.
Why WandaVision Doesn’t Show Pietro’s X-Men Powers
Since the Disney/Fox merge was made official, Marvel fans have been waiting for the X-Men and company to be included in the MCU canon, thus expanding this already extensive universe while also finally being able to use the term “mutant” and those that come with it. The arrival of Evan Peters’ Quicksilver in WandaVision seemed to point in that direction, but his powers show the opposite. The reason for Quicksilver not showing his X-Men powers and instead sticking to those he had in his one and only appearance in the movies was made in order to confirm that he’s not X-Men canon, and also because the nature of his appearance in Westview wouldn’t allow him to have the powers he displayed in Fox’s movies.
WandaVision’s Quicksilver is a facsimile to fit Wanda’s fake reality, and while his arrival might have not been planned by her (as she was as surprised as viewers to see him there), he has to match the idea of Pietro that Wanda has, and so his powers had to change. Of course, there are still many, many questions about him, his real role in Westview, and most importantly, why he’s different from the Pietro that Wanda grew up with, as he retains memories from the MCU’s Pietro, but he’s also different.
Why Quicksilver Is More Like The Comics Version
The MCU’s Quicksilver is not only different from the X-Men one but is also more like the comics version, which in turn makes him different from his Age of Ultron version. This Quicksilver has a sense of humor (though a dark one, like when he told Wanda her husband couldn’t die twice), he’s arrogant, overconfident, and can be impulsive, and doesn’t care much about rules, as seen when he simply took his nephews on a mission to steal candy and destroy pumpkins. At times, he felt like a borderline villain, which at the same time could hint at his true identity. These changes in Quicksilver’s personality in WandaVision could be part of the MCU’s efforts to set him apart from the X-Men’s version of the character and create confusion as well, as these traits weren’t really there in the MCU’s previous version. As mentioned before, Quicksilver leaning more towards the personality he has in the comics could also hint at his real identity, as many have theorized he’s not really Pietro Maximoff, instead being the show’s real villain posing as Wanda’s brother to further manipulate her. Whatever the case, what’s for sure is that Quicksilver’s powers in WandaVision so far show he’s not the X-Men version of the character, but they also hint at something else going on with him and thus Wanda as well.