Those who’ve seen Wanda Maximoff (aka The Scarlet Witch) in action know that her mutant hex/reality warping powers are nothing to be trifled with. In Avengers: Endgame, Thanos himself was terrified by what Wanda could do – so much so that he demanded his troops “rain fire” down on her, even though it put his own troops at risk.
So, it should come as no surprise that Wanda is more than capable of defeating even vicious opponents like the X-Men’s nigh-unkillable brawler Wolverine. However, the way Wanda chooses to murder Logan in one alternate universe should horrify many fans of the fast-healing mutant.
This parallel universe was presented in What If --? (1989) #25 and was an alternate take on Marvel’s big event storyline Atlantis Attacks. In the original story, followers of the evil serpent god Set resurrected the malevolent entity and brainwashed seven female superheroes – the Invisible Woman, Dagger, Jean Grey, Andromeda, She-Hulk, Storm, and Scarlet Witch – into becoming the “brides” of the seven-headed snake god and bearing his children.
In the mainstream Marvel Universe, the superhero population rallied together and managed to keep Set from dominating the world. However, this was not true in all of the worlds in Marvel’s multiverse. In one universe, Set managed to come to Earth and slaughter most of the Avengers. The heroes mounted a desperate counter attack, but they were almost all killed. To prevent any more uprisings, Set contaminated the world’s water supply with a drug that turned every human into a snake-like creature under his control.
However, certain superhumans – including Thor, Doctor Doom, Sabretooth, Wolverine, Hulk, Rachel Summers, Cloak, and the Aquarium – proved immune to the drug thanks to their powers. Thor convinced them all to stand against Set and Sabretooth came up with the sadistic plan to kill the brides of Set to prevent more snake gods from being born. Although reluctant, the heroes agreed to go along with this plan.
The team split into two groups, with Thor, Rachel Summers, and Doctor Doom taking on Set, while the others went after the brides. After battling several former superheroes like Spider-Man, the Punisher, and the X-Men (who had all been turned into serpent-creatures), Wolverine and the others managed to draw out the brides. Unfortunately, the tide quickly turned against the heroes when Storm easily incinerated Sabretooth and the Invisible Woman cut off the Hulk’s oxygen supply with a force field.
However, the hero who died the most gruesome death was Wolverine. As he tried to approach Jean Grey, his former teammate telekinetically flung him toward the Aquarium. Logan felt this attack wouldn’t do any real damage as the Aquarium was surrounded at all times by a positive matter “null field” that protected him from physical assaults. Likewise, Wolverine had his adamantium skeleton and healing factor and would likely recover from any impact – but he didn’t count on the Scarlet Witch stepping in.
Right before Wolverine connected with the Aquarium, the Scarlet Witch unleashed her reality-bending hex powers and transformed Wolverine’s molecules into anti-matter. As Logan made contact with the positive-matter of the Aquarium’s force field, the impact caused both heroes to explode – leaving behind only Wolverine’s adamantium skeleton.
It’s a gruesome and shocking end to Wolverine that shows the Scarlet Witch isn’t just powerful – she’s sadistically creative in choosing the way her targets die. To be fair, Wanda wasn’t in her right mind at the time – but seeing as how she’s also in a somewhat mixed-up state in her upcoming Disney+ show WandaVision, perhaps fans should be worried about other characters suffering similar grisly fates.