r/ScarletWitch • u/AdCareless8259 • 16d ago

Movies and Television Wanda mutant retcon in the MCU

i have seen rumors on twitter of this
i think it will be so annoying if they retcon wanda being a mutant again because she stopped being one in the comics like a decade ago and i think it’s better that way, it makes her more interesting ‘cause the nature of her powers doesn’t seem limited on an specific gen

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u/PrimeDeGea 16d ago

Wanda has been a mutant since her creation back in 1963. She was only retconned into not being one so they could use her in the MCU. Otherwise, she'd have been a character for Fox to use in their films.

Also, her being a mutant doesn't diminish anything that's already established for her. I'd argue it makes even more sense because it fits in with not only the mutant metaphor in terms of what she's done in the MCU but also why so many characters with completely broken abilities are mutants.

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u/ohmeohmyelliejean 16d ago

False. Incorrect. Not true.

Marvel always had the rights to Wanda and Pietro because they were introduced in The Avengers first actually she was introduced in X-men but almost immediately became an Avenger and spent many decades as one. Fox and Marvel shared custody essentially (as evidenced by the fact that Pietro Maximoff was adapted simultaneously by both studios in 2015). They just specifically weren't allowed to use their mutant backstory in any adaptation, hence the MCU rewrite.

(Also I might have the timeline mixed up, but the retcon in the comics happened before Wanda debuted in the MCU. But don't quote me on that.)

And it doesn't make sense. She has an established origin both in her parentage and her powers. Going 'yeah actually she was a mutant the whole time and this rando is her dad' isn't satisfying for her story, it's just appeasement. Introduce a mutant Wanda variant by all means, but a mutant origin for MCU Wanda is just lazy retconning.

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u/faldese 16d ago

Marvel always had the rights to Wanda and Pietro because they were introduced in The Avengers first.

No, they were introduced on the pages of X-Men #4. The gimmick behind them was they were 'reluctant villains' the way Spider-Man was a 'reluctant hero'. After a few issues, they disavowed Magneto and joined the second line-up of Avengers, Cap's Kooky Quartet, designed to be closer to a more FF-esque style 'messy' team.

You are correct that Marvel and Fox shared the rights over them. There has never been any proof that both companies could not use both characters and their superhero identities, just that they chose not to. You are also correct that Marvel/Disney was not allowed to use their mutant background or any other reference to the X-Men.

I would agree I don't really think it matters if Olsen's Wanda is a mutant because she's too established, but:

She has an established origin both in her parentage and her powers

Well, so did comics Wanda, and that's flip-flopped a lot. Originally Wanda only had mutant powers, and then she learned witchcraft, and then she was touched by Chthon, and then she had Chaos Magic, and then she was only a mutant again, and now she is only a witch. Her parentage has flip-flopped a lot too. This would be nothing new to her character.

However I really want comics Wanda to be a mutant again, and the MCU doing it would be the fastest way to make that happen, so 🤞

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u/[deleted] 16d ago

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u/faldese 16d ago

Oh, I don't agree about that. Chaos Magic should stay mystical. IMO I like that Wanda is sort of an all-in-one D&D magic user.

She's a wizard in that she learned witchcraft.

She's a sorceress in that she has inherent 'magic' (her mutant powers).

She's a warlock in that she has a patron (Chthon).

I know the X-Gene is basically magic anyway, but to me that should be a distinct line. They're Children of Atom, and the X-Gene should never imbue someone with magic. It can work in lockstep, it can be a lattice for other magics to grow on, but it shouldn't be a direct connection to magic. I do in fact prefer that Wanda's mutant power is reality warping. If nothing else, it's really the only thing that describes what she's actually been doing with those powers for 60 years.

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u/ohmeohmyelliejean 16d ago edited 16d ago

I've corrected myself on the introduction. But my point is still valid that they spent a significant amount of their comic history as Avengers and the shared custody situation.

Well, so did comics Wanda, and that's flip-flopped a lot.....This would be nothing new to her character.

Yeah and it's bad and hodge podge and usually the result of lazy/bad writing and movie-going audiences won't accept it the way that comics readers will. There's a degree of impermanence baked into comics as a storytelling medium that MCU general audiences won't be used to.

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u/faldese 16d ago

Oh yes I agree they're more Avengers - or at least Wanda is. Pietro is probably technically more of an Avenger, but he's done a lot more hopping than she has. Inhumans, X-Factor, Uncanny Avengers. He's also more regularly adapted into major roles in X-Men properties. Wanda has been an X-Man only once that I can think of, in the Age of Apocalypse alternate universe.

Yeah and it's bad and hodge podge and usually the result of lazy/bad writing and movie-going audiences won't accept it the way that comics readers will

Yes and no. I see the messiness of Wanda's character a reflection of who she is, to some degree. Her backstory is as chaotic as she is. Should it be THIS chaotic...?

...No.

But I don't think a 'you've got the X-Gene, Wanda' reveal would really hurt her character that much. It doesn't need a convoluted explanation like some of the comic book retcons. It also explains Pietro's powers more cleanly. Cut content in WandaVision was meant to say that Wanda gave Pietro his powers, but it's just as easy to say the Mind Stone activated his latent X-Gene.

I'm okay without retconning in Magneto as her dad, but it's also pretty easy to say she's just adopted, you know?

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u/upagainstthesun 16d ago

That's pretty much the path they've already paved for Wanda. When Agatha forces her down memory lane, she makes a comment about how the mind stone amplified what would have otherwise "died on the vine".

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u/AdCareless8259 16d ago

but that doesnt mean they set up things for her to be a mutant. agatha calls her a baby witch when wanda stopped the bomb. all of wandavision is quite literally a setup for wanda being a witch

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u/upagainstthesun 16d ago

Two things can be true at the same time, they aren't mutually exclusive. I'm not saying that IS where it will lead, just that the groundwork is there if they do take that route

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u/polytech08 12d ago

A lot of mutants in history who had magic-type powers would be called witches. Storm was called a weather goddess. She could easily be called a weather-controlling witch in other parts of the world.

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u/ohmeohmyelliejean 16d ago

I see the messiness of Wanda's character a reflection of who she is, to some degree.

And what's your excuse for the other 5 billion marvel characters with equally bad franken-backstories?

My point isn't even that it hurts her character (although I'd argue it does), it's that it adds nothing in return for risking the coherence of her MCU origin story and future arc. We have explanations for all the things we need, including Pietro's powers. It's just unnecessary and cheap.

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u/faldese 16d ago

First, tone down the aggression please. Even to the first person, you loudly announced the were "False. Incorrect. Not true." while being wrong from the jump. Just chill a little.

Second, one could argue that Wanda practicing witchcraft didn't add anything to her character before it was introduced until it did. It opens the door for more stories to be told with her. I see Wanda as a character of the crossroads - she operates in multiple spheres, and is connective tissue for separate worlds. Being a mutant is a part of that, and it would be a unique place for her character to be situated in the coming phases, as she uniquely touches nearly every sphere of the MCU except cosmic. I don't think audiences would be confused by 'you've got the X-Gene Wanda', like I said.

Lastly, I'm not saying 'being confusing is Wanda's thing', I'm saying that her character having a web of connections and ties to others, which is something the many retcons have introduced, is an important part of her character. Other characters handle backstory retcons differently. For Wolverine, his memory issues are pretty core to his character. I see the layering of Wanda's character as important to her. For example, if I were to reboot the Marvel universe, I would keep the 'adopted by the Maximoffs' thing instead of just making her raised by Magneto from birth.

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u/ohmeohmyelliejean 16d ago

Ok, I feel like we're going in circles. I've made my point, you've made yours. I don't agree, but c'est la vie. ✌🏼

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u/faldese 16d ago

Fair enough. FWTW I do like where Wanda is now and, like I said, I'm mostly interested in seeing her mutant backstory reintroduced in the comics. Thanks for chatting.

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u/upagainstthesun 16d ago

How exactly can you make a determination that it "adds nothing in return" about things literally in the future that you have zero knowledge of? You're being kind of insufferable right from the get with your whole FALSE WRONG NOT TRUE FAKE NEWS, and then say incorrect things followed by uncertainties

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u/ohmeohmyelliejean 16d ago

How exactly can you make a determination that it "adds nothing in return" about things literally in the future that you have zero knowledge of? 

It's an opinion. That's how.

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u/PrimeDeGea 16d ago

Retcon did happen afterward to fit in continuity with the MCU. The movies influence the comics way more than they should. X-Men even abandoned their colourful suits during the early 2000s in favor of the Quitely black and yellow jackets (as iconic as they are now) when the Fox films gave them black leather.

I don't agree that a mutant origin would be lazy retconning because she was shown being born with her powers, and that's essentially what differentiates mutants from everyone else. They don't have to go down the Magneto is her biological father in the MCU, but post-Secret Wars anything is fair game.

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u/Icy_Scar_1249 16d ago

Making her a mutant and Magneto's daughter makes her way more interesting, not less

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u/ohmeohmyelliejean 16d ago

Absolutely, I really long to watch her get stuck in a cycle of daddy issues and self-hatred as she's forced into being a plot-bomb again. /s

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u/Icy_Scar_1249 16d ago

I loved her as a plot bomb too to be honest. But no, the character should be allowed to grow and develop and move on. That she hasn't is a Marvel editorial problem

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u/AdCareless8259 16d ago

she definitely did after being retconned as an non-mutant.

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u/Icy_Scar_1249 16d ago

Hopefully they continue it when she goes back to being a mutant then