The Scarlet Witch's Truest Valentine
By HexThis 15 Comments
In lieu of Children's Crusade number 7 (AHEM, editors of Marvel, September? Really?) I've decided to devote a post to my absolute darling Scarlet Witch aka Wanda Maximoff. It should go without say that she's among the richest characters Marvel has to offer, she's never been subject to revisions or retcons the way other characters have been and "fleshing out" her story has never been necessary. Wanda is a well of lush opportunity for any story arc, a very viable source of the drama and intrigue the miltiaristic Avengers have been lacking as of late. She's the Elizabeth Taylor of the Marvel Universe, she's gorgeous, spell-binding, vulnerable, an immensely powerful presence, all wrapped up in a neatly tied bow of melodrama. Naturally, where there is melodrama there is often romance and there's never been as sort of shortage of that in Wanda's history. The Vision, Wonderman, Hawkeye- Wanda's reeled them in with a seamlessly seductive yet subtle influence. But this will not be a contest between Vision and Wonderman or anything of the sort...oh no, I have a far better option for Wanda to which many would raise an eyebrow to. And it's NOT Pietro for god's sake....
Yes. Cap. And this is coming from a Scarlet Witch connoisseur. I think most would relate her romance with Cap to the House of M catastrophe wherein many fans have many mixed feelings about her characterization and dissent, it's a major point of contention. Some would even quite possibly consider Wanda's infatuation with Cap to be a manipulation of her's at the height of her mental breakdown but I would look no further than her earliest days to contrast that assertion as Wanda has always had a certain affection for Cap...
Before Vision or Wonderman or even really Hawkeye had come into the picture Wanda was simmering quite powerful feelings for Cap. Granted, this could all be attributed to a simple Silver Age crush, she isn't the first comicbook heroine to shed a tear in awe of a heroes valiant nature or musculature but I think her repressed longing for Cap actually makes sense with the psychology of the character. Wanda's life, particularly in her inception to the Brotherhood, was dominated by men who mostly sought to either over-protect her or exploit her completely....
Pictured above, Mastermind makes his first and second attempt to appeal to Wanda by way of some very aggressive means. Both Magneto and Pietro intervene always just before Wanda is about to defend herself, something that was commonplace for Wanda at the time. No matter what, in the end of the day Pietro was always on guard when it came to Wanda to a point of sheltering so extreme it fed the notion that they shared an incestuous co-dependency in the Ultimate franchise which I find to be absolutely ridiculous. Pietro's attachment to Wanda isn't necessarily heavily emotional but rather a matter of obligation and survival. Remember, the debt they owed to Magneto was as a result of Wanda's powers malfunctioning and causing fire which led to an angry mob attacking them both. He's the only one who'd ever seen Wanda's powers in full-effect and as such was the only one who knew what a threat she was to opponents for quite some time. Nonetheless, he was very vocal about his disapproval over her relationship with the Vision and made many efforts to negate Hawkeye's sleazy attempts at catching her eye as he knew the emotional impact of her situation tended to inform her powerset.
Regardless, the influence of Magneto and Pietro weighted heavily on Wanda's relationship with men. I mean, your father coercing you into guerrilla warfare using guilt then throwing you at a world leader to exploit your sex appeal to further his persuasions is bound to take a tole on your overall understanding of human relationships. And I imagined this only deteriorated as time went on given that Magneto would use other means to manipulate Wanda that were even more ethically devoid- redirecting a bullet so that it grazed Wanda's head just enough to temporarily hinder her powers for example...not very noble.
So it only makes sense that the object of Wanda's affection would be A) a man that could be vulnerable around her but also B) a man that was emotionally unavailable to her. Enter Vision, a synthezoid with a limited understanding of the wide spectrum of human emotions. For once there was a romantic relationship Wanda could have that would be at least partially on her terms. I think Wanda's nurturing instinct compelled her to look after Vision because she felt she could finally be granted the space and time to protect another person for once. Though of course that had certain repercussions from the very start.
And this would be the pattern of Wanda and the Vision's relationship. Perpetual adandoment. I know that's somewhat harsh to say and given that there were points in which the Vision was inhibited unwillingly I don't penalize him too heavily for any of it. But is it conducive to the sort of relationship Wanda always wanted? Not very much. Whereas before she was being tossed around and protected left and right, she had soon become the anchor in her relationship with Vision. As someone whose very power hinged on chaos, this didn't provide enough emotional stability for Wanda as she was always getting the Vision back on to have him ripped away from her completely. In a different time, perhaps through different means they may have worked but clearly Wanda impregnating herself to provide a human life for Vision was an early sign that this relationship was on a rickety foundation.
Which leads us to bachelor number 2.....
And once again, here's where Wanda's unstable powerset came in to remedy her emotional struggles. Not in the most healthy way though as she had revived Wonderman, re-materializing him from the energy he was composed of under the tutelage of Agatha Harkness. Like her later reality manipulations, I suspected Wanda's attraction vulnerable men in combination with her devastating hunger for emotional security after having lost both her parents (twice over in an emotional sense if you count Magneto and Magda) created an all too unhealthy platform for her relationship with Simon. The two carried on for a time but Simon, much like Vision, abandoned Wanda in order to start a foundation in Los Angeles. Wanda initially was distressed at the fact Simon had, even after being resurrected by her, found something to strive for that was more fulfilling to him. She got over it fast but was that because she wasn't hurt or rather...that she instead was used to the disappointment. Ah, a female superheroine who doesn't have a thousand men vying for her at once and loses at love, a rare breed.
So then why do I believe Cap is the guy for Wanda? Well, if you look at the aforementioned there are a lot of things that would a step-up from two men of similar origins. But it isn't even about the competition between the three men. Cap, almost without knowing it, surpassed the Vision and Simon for numerous reasons. The first being that he was the first man in Wanda's life that influenced her to live up to her potential. Think about it, Wanda's transformation from unwilling mutant guerilla waif, joined at the hip with her brother began after she became an Avenger. It was then that Wanda was permitted to not only find her own strength as a sorceress but as a woman as well, going against the wishes of her brother more often and much more ease, opting to make decisions for herself like her relationship with the Vision. When Cap briefly split from the Avengers, she had actually stood up to both Hawkeye and Pietro's snide attitudes and advocated for Cap's leadership skills.
Even in the earliest of her appearances in the Avengers, Wanda displayed a certain tenacity under Cap's influence that hadn't been seen before.....
Yet, I'm plenty aware that this was all before/during a breakdown of Wanda's which leads me to an interesting theory of mine. I actually believe that amongst all of the other hexes Wanda's shattered mind cast as her reality-altering powers spun out of control, the one thing meant to be the failsafe in all this was Steve, the only person who could potentially appeal to her sanity amidst all the psychosis. The lingering insinuation of her attraction to him is, in real time, over 40 years old, it stretches all the way back to the very first Scarlet Witch-involved stories so the sexual component was always there. But I think what's more important is that on some level Wanda knew that if anything were to happen to her the person she could rely on the most for support would be Cap above all else. Unlike Pietro or Magneto or the Vision, who've all faced different forms of corruption, Steve is among the most moral and unswayed in the Marvel Universe. Not only that but like Wanda he is very in touch with his emotions, his convictions to a point where it informs his heroism even more than his expert tactics. He was always a soft, compassionate sort whose strength was not necessarily brazenly expressed but always there- again, much like Wanda herself. The most literal catalyst, however, for Wanda's revived interest in him seems to have come from this little snippet....
To me, this speaks volumes to Cap's character and not only that but I think it substantiates the real love and affection they had for one another. It wasn't a fling, it was the entirety of Wanda's career as a Avenger that brought her to Cap. He taught her to use her strength in a way where she would no longer have to ask permission or be the first to fall, he never exploited, dismissed, or abused nor did he ever take his devotion and responsibility to her lightly.
Though Wanda's fate is currently to be decided and Steve is involved with Sharon Carter, I have hope that one day this relationship will be touched upon once again. How could it not? Even recently Wolverine, in his usual irrational fury, suggested Cap still possibly loved Wanda and we even saw Cap take quite nicely to Wiccan during the Children's Crusade. But for the time being, I think this little pocket in time wherein Wanda consummated things with Steve was one of the most vibrant examples of how wonderful of a character she truly is. A piece of her history, something over 40 years old shoots enough sparks for me to write all this so surely there's no end to the depths and complexities of Miss Wanda Maximoff!