Marvel has always made beautiful strides towards humanizing its superhuman characters. Gone are the days of overly glorifying power. From 'WandaVision' discussing grief with a powerful woman at its helm to 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' explicitly hosting conversations about race, masculinity, and mental health, these shows are continuing the narrative that a superhero's world isn't perfect either - that their personal battles aren't any easier.
Wanda Maximoff is not a bad person. Despite the world’s distrust and the cost to herself of protecting it, she does her part. And although she makes some grave mistakes along the way, she also makes some of the greatest sacrifices for the greater good.
The first is her freedom. With everyone terrified of her capabilities and the casualties they cause, world governments seek to primarily control her alongside the other Avengers. Team Cap’s disappearance is not a chance for them to seek normalcy. Too recognizable, the fugitives would have to live out their lives in the shadows. While Wanda and Vision are ready to run away and leave this life behind, they are ultimately faced with the reality that they are not normal people. Their purpose is much greater than that of an ordinary human being, and they would never be able to stop making sacrifices as long as there is something to lose.
Thus, her next sacrifice is Vision. Hayward makes clear by referring to ‘the Vision’ that the world views him as an emotionless robot and weapon. But Wanda knows Vision as a friend. She is the kind young woman who treats him with humanity, and he meets her love with compassion and heart, as someone who wants to protect her when the world seeks to protect itself from her. In many ways, they empathize with one another, both being deeply feared, immensely powerful, and misunderstood heroes.
While a select few fans criticize her for not destroying the Mind Stone in 'Infinity War' sooner, they forget that Wanda is being asked to put an end to Vision as well. Vision acknowledges how unfair it is that, for the greater good, she has to make the ultimate sacrifice. For Vision, it is essentially like powering off, but she will remain to feel his loss: “It shouldn’t be you, but it is.”
Consumed by grief and torn by trauma, post-’Endgame’ set ‘WandaVision’ shows what fans claim to be Wanda selfishly taking Westview hostage. After many years of loss, being on the run, and continuously fighting costly battles, Wanda is finally given a moment to process all of her pain. Overwhelmed by grief, her powers become unchecked and uncontainable, and she simply gives into them.
(A parallel to ‘Age of Ultron’ when she drops to her knees, coincidentally and perhaps unintentionally destroying the nearby Ultron Sentries after sensing Pietro’s passing.)
Not fully aware of the extent to which her powers are damaging the town, she is in constant denial of all that she is putting them through. This is symbolic of the denial that Wanda is experiencing - that this is not reality and that the pain they feel is what she herself is going through.
There’s a moment in WandaVision when the Westview residents reveal that they see her nightmares, feel her pain, and are being poisoned by her grief. This level of pain is insufferable to them.
But for Wanda, this feeling is perpetual. Familiar.
No one truly knows how she feels, and this moment of helplessness that Westview feels is a reflection of how sorrow is actually poisoning her own mind. Vision understands that she doesn't want to be hurting anyone, that she simply found a way to bring him and Pietro back and is refusing to let go. He encourages Wanda's moment of acceptance that she has done something wrong and that their time isn't meant to last by sensibly reassuring her that, “I know you’ll set everything right, just not for us.”
Monica Rambeau also sympathizes with Wanda, saying that “they will never know what you sacrificed for them,” and that despite knowing it was wrong, she would probably do the same given the chance and Wanda’s powers to bring her own mother back.
Fans weren’t happy with this, but it honestly makes sense. Wanda didn't initially know the extent of her hold on the townspeople, and she was tempted by the opportunity to reconcile all that she had lost. She herself fell into a spell-binding bout of denial. Given Wanda’s powers, this lack of self-awareness, and all that she has been through, would we not do the same? It is impossible to say.
Yes, Wanda’s actions are inexcusable and incriminating. She commits a heinous act of terror against this community to bring herself some idyllic semblance of normalcy: a single lifetime in just 9 days. But this normalcy is a privilege to Westview and every other person that doesn’t become a hero in their lifetime. It is a moment in which we as an audience truly understand the toll that heroism takes and removes the glory that comes with it. It is a moment in which every fan that dreams of being a superhero should feel grounded by the reality that superhumans experience grief too, and that the temptation to give into it is a perfectly human tendency we all share. Marvel does a phenomenal job of embodying this realism. As we all know, “with great power comes great responsibility.” But the truth is, sometimes superheroes just want to be free.
Wanda takes accountability for her actions against the people of Westview, but she recognizes that she can’t turn herself in. As a powerful force formerly sought to be controlled and weaponized, she could end up in a straight-jacket for life. At the expense of legal justice for Westview, Wanda chooses to free them from her control and leave. A way of symbolically showing that she herself will never let anyone try to make decisions for her or control her again.
On the basis of her studying the Darkhold and Agatha Harkness’s explanation of the prophecy, we can reasonably infer that Wanda’s grief will take her through a period of great villainy in Phase Four. But I feel more heartbroken for her than disappointed. Wanda was once an innocent girl who wanted to make a change in the world but was manipulated by people seeking to take advantage of her grief-driven vendetta. When she turned to heroism, her great potential was restrained out of fear of her capabilities. She was failed at every turn.
Nevertheless, she persisted, and I’m excited to see where Marvel takes her next. I don't want the MCU to demonize her like in the comics, but this truthfully makes for a solid villain origin story. If our speculations are correct, it would be sad to say goodbye to our hero after all her growth as she succumbs to the prophesied fate of the Scarlet Witch. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of Billy, Tommy, Monica, Darcy, Jimmy Woo, and White Vision as Phase Four progresses. But I’m especially eager to see Wanda take on a bigger role in the MCU.
“We’ve said goodbye before, so it stands to reason…”
“We’ll say hello again.”
See you soon, Wanda Maximoff :)
(Images: Marvel Entertainment)
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Thank you for reading!
In case you're looking for a similar article or blog post to read, here is a letter to Marvel that I absolutely LOVE and fully agree with about their handling of Wanda's character in the MCU. It is so beautifully written, and I highly recommend checking it out: https://www.themarysue.com/marvel-wandavision-avoid-trope-in-cinematic-universe/
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