Powers that only true Marvel fans know Scarlet Witch has
Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch is one of the most complicated, endearing Avengers. First appearing as a villain, a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in early issues of X-Men, Wanda has been a member of the Avengers from nearly the very beginning, joining the team all the way back in issue.
She Can Short Circuit Machinery
Some of the most powerful enemies in Marvel comics are robotic in nature, or at least incredibly high-tech. From the mutant hunting Sentinels to the impenetrable Ultron, there are dozens of robotic foes making things miserable for everyone’s favorite heroes on a daily basis.
Due to his adamantium— or vibranium, if one follows the movies— body, Ultron can be one of the hardest villains for the Avengers to physically beat in a fight. He’s made of an indestructible metal and can’t always be taken down in simple combat.
She Is Resistant To The Phoenix Force
One of Scarlet Witch’s most jaw-droppingly powerful and incredible abilities is her power to stand up to the Phoenix Force.
As a key component to X-Men lore, the Phoenix Force is one of the most powerful entities in the known universe, if not even potentially the most powerful.
It has destroyed entire civilizations. When it partnered with the already extremely powerful Jean Grey, the Phoenix could have unmade existence.
When it targets a host, there’s little the host can do about it. The only person to even hold it at bay was Jean herself, but the Phoenix managed to take her over.
That has not proven to be the case with the Scarlet Witch. When the Phoenix Force turned its eye on her, Wanda proved to be completely resistant to it, which is a power very few characters have ever demonstrated.
This has led to the reinterpretation of Scarlet Witch’s powers as cosmic rather than demonic in origin.
She Can Control the Outcome of Various Events
Scarlet Witch has many wide applications for her luck-based abilities. While she can control the outcome of events on a one-to-one basis, she can also control the outcomes of larger events as well.
Unfortunately for the Avengers but fortunately for readers, this aspect of her power is not the Deus Ex Machina that one might fear it could be.
She can’t use her power to always ensure that the Avengers are victorious, and even when she tries to affect a situation to her advantage, it takes a great deal of control that she does not always have.
Part of what leads to Scarlet Witch’s occasionally perceived lack of control is that she has so many wide and diverse powers that are so loosely defined.
It would take years for her to practice just her luck powers alone to begin to truly understand their potential.
She Can Create Reality Distorting Illusions
When Scarlet Witch was first introduced in X-Men #4, she served as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants alongside her brother and several other villains, including Mastermind.
His mutant power is to create illusions so authentic that a person will inherently believe them to be real. Mastermind later used these abilities to get into Jean Grey’s head over the course of a few years in order to effectively kick off the Dark Phoenix Saga.
The hilarious thing looking back on this now is that they didn’t even need Mastermind on the team because Scarlet Witch technically has the exact same power.
Her Reality Powers Stem From Chaos Magic
As complicated as Scarlet Witch’s powers might be, the source of her powers is also just as complicated.
For most of her time in the comics, she was established to be a mutant. Recently, after her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that was established to not be true with the revelation that the High Evolutionary had altered both she and her brother genetically at birth.
However, she also has some magic abilities as well.
She Trained In the Actual Art of Witchcraft Under Agatha Harkness
Many fans do not realize that Scarlet Witch actually lives up to her name. When writer Steve Englehart took over, he decided to embrace that aspect of her title by actually having her study the art of witchcraft.
This new arc introduced her longtime mentor Agatha Harkness, a character who has become deeply tied to Scarlet Witch over time.
Her Hex Powers Can Give Enemies Bad Luck
When originally created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, “hex powers” were the only abilities Scarlet Witch was established to have and even then the definition was not altogether clear.
It is revealed later on that her hex powers actually affect probability and that she can manipulate the outcomes of various events.
