Scarlet Witch's Complete 8-Year MCU Timeline Explained

Though Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, wasn’t introduced in the MCU until Avengers: Age of Ultron, she’s had one of the most interesting character arcs in the franchise. In Marvel Comics, Wanda has bounced between hero and villain, though she’s usually a force for good with terrifyingly unstable abilities. Her involvement with chaos magic is unpredictable, and the MCU has captured that back and forth wonderfully.

The movies of the MCU first introduced Wanda as a villain, though her motivations were later fleshed out to explain her tragic past and how the awakening of her powers by HYDRA was simply an attempt to protect those she loves. The ensuing arc to hero and back to villain is equally tragic, and she’s been dead in the franchise since Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Wanda may find her way back into the MCU, but how, if, or when remains unclear.

The Creation Of Mount Wundagor And The Darkhold

Undefined Ancient Past

Wanda Maximoff obviously wasn’t alive in ancient times, but the story of the Scarlet Witch begins eons ago. In an undefined year of human prehistory, the demon Cthon emerges on Earth and carves his forbidden magic on the walls of a temple on Mount Wundagore. Also, there is a throne meant to sit empty until the time the Scarlet Witch emerges with the power to bend or destroy all of reality.

Nothing of note happens at Wundagore immediately, but sometime later (at an unspecified time in human prehistory), that changes. While there is still no Scarlet Witch, the forbidden magic carved into Wundagore is transcribed into a horrific book with the potential to corrupt anyone who reads it or uses the power within. The book is called The Darkhold and has an important role to play in Wanda’s eventual story.

War In Sokovia

March 1999

In Eastern Europe, war rips through the nation of Sokovia. Details of the war, who it’s between, and what it’s for are left unclear, but the important part is that the Maximoff family – Wanda, Pietro, and their parents – live a life of constant danger and uncertainty. To help distract their children, the Maximoffs watch American sitcoms from throughout the decades. While initially a source of comfort for Wanda, the situation takes a turn for the worst and sets up her future trajectory in the MCU.

It’s left unclear if the Stark Industries weapon simply misfires or if the lack of an explosion is an early expression of Wanda’s reality and probability manipulation.

One day in March of 1999, a missile strikes the Maximoff residence. While it somehow doesn’t explode on impact, the collision kills Wanda’s mother and father and leaves her and her brother alone with the constant threat of a fiery death. Clear to Wanda is a logo on the side of the missile – Stark Industries. She doesn’t know who Stark is at this point, but the experience radicalized the twins, who seek out a way to be stronger and protect their homes.

The Maximoff Twins Undergo HYDRA Experimentation

Spring 2014

Having grown up in a war zone and witnessing the death of their parents, a feeling of powerlessness leads Wanda and Pietro to seek out the power to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. Unfortunately, the two find modern HYDRA cells, who engage in cruel experimentation with the Space Stone to awaken latent powers in the twins.

The experiments are led by Baron Strucker, and the results are undeniable. Wanda slowly begins to gain powers associated with Chaos Magic, though it’s initially quite limited in scope and effect. Pietro, on the other hand, gains the ability to move at inhuman speeds. Wanda remembers her experience with a Stark bomb and holds resentment against the man who profited from so much pain.

The Maximoff Twins Face Off Against The Avengers & Join Ultron

Spring 2015

When the Avengers assault a HYRDA base in Sokovia, Scarlet Witc and Quicksilver face off against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for the first time. Scarlet Witch relies more on illusions and mental trickery than raw power and is able to psychologically manipulate several heroes. Among them is Stark, whose vision of future destruction plants the seed for his creation of Ultron.

After the Avengers destroy the Sakovian Hydra cell, Wanda and Piero find Ultron. The rogue AI hides his true intentions and convinces the twins to help him make a better world. The two work for the metal tyrant and help him obtain the Vibranium needed to make his full-powered body.

Wanda & Pietro Join The Avengers & Quicksilver Loses His Life

Spring 2015-2016

When work is completed on Ultron’s “final” body, he places the Mind Stone into it as the final touch. However, the Stone enables Wanda to finally read Ultron’s thoughts, and she discovers his intentions to eradicate humanity. She and her brother change sides and help the Avengers stop Ultron, who plans to turn part of Sokovia into a massive meteor. In the struggle, Quicksilver loses his life – a devastating death for Wanda, who has already lost so much.

The Lagos Tragedy & The Introduction Of The Sokovia Accords

Spring 2016

After defeating Ultron and having no surviving family, Wanda becomes an official Avenger. Soon after, the team corners Crossbones in Lagos, who reveals he’s wearing a bomb vest. Wanda uses magic to launch him away from Captain America, but he impacts a civilian building, and the explosion causes significant collateral damage.

While the Sokovia Accords do go into effect in
Captain America: Civil War
,
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
reveals that they’ve been repealed.

Largely in response to this, the Sokovia Accords are drafted, which require all superheroes to officially register with the government. Wanda, the face of the instigating incident, is held at the Avengers Compound, where she bonds deeply with Vision. However, she’s broken out of confinement by Team Captain America and joins his efforts against the accords, putting her in opposition to her closest friend and future lover.

Losing Vision

Spring 2018

As Thanos progresses on his quest to attain all six Infinity Stones, the Avengers fall back to make a final stand in Wakanda. With the Mind Stone inside of Vision, Shuri, with help from Banner and Stark, tries to safely separate Vision from the Stone to destroy it before Thanos can take the powerful artifact. However, his eventual fall is truly tragic.

First, Vision convinces Wanda that separating him will take too long, and Wanda does the unthinkable, killing the one she loves to save the universe. However, Thanos simply uses the Time Stone to rewind his sacrifice, instead ripping the Stone out of his forehead in front of Wanda. Vision dies a much more painful death, and Wanda has to endure the same tragedy twice. Thanos snaps, and Wanda is among those turned to dust by his efforts.

Revival And Facing Off With Thanos

Fall 2023

After the Avengers travel through time and re-collect the Infinity Stones, Bruce Banner performs a second snap, and the seemingly dead heroes return to fight Thanos one final time at the Avengers Complex. Among them is Wanda, so is desperate for revenge. she confronts the Mad Titan on the battlefield, telling him that he’s taken everything from her, and his lack of familiarity enrages her. She almost defeats Thanos, showing signs of her big power upgrade to come.

Thanos doesn’t recognize Wanda because this version is the one who traveled to the present from 2016. However, Wanda didn’t know this and thought he was simply belittling her loss.

The Westview Incident & The Birth Of The Scarlet Witch

2023

Though finding light reprieve in the defeat of Thanos, Wanda is left feeling more alone than ever and in the thralls of incredible grief. She travels to Westview, New Jersey, where she and Vision had previously purchased land to build a home and start a new life. By this point, Wanda has lost her parents, her brother, and her lover (twice), and her emotions lead her to capture the entire town in a powerful hex.

Westview turns entirely into a rotating set of sitcoms in which real people are mentally compelled to participate but internally aware of their helplessness. Though the action comes from a place of relatable sadness, it is undoubtedly a horrendous event with tragic effects on those around Wanda. She also creates a fictional version of Vision and two children with her magic, who are lost when her Hex is eventually stopped.

In overcoming the antagonistic witch Agatha Harkness, Wanda reaches an entirely new level of power, finally becoming the prophesied Scarlet Witch with power beyond anything she’s previously known. Thrown deeper into despair by the loss of her magically created husband and kids, Wanda turns to the Darkhold, the book of Cthon’s dark magic. Determined to find her children despite them not being real in this reality, it latches onto her emotional vulnerability.

Darkhold Corruption And Terrorizing The Multiverse

Fall 2024

Studying the Darkhold leads Wanda to formulate a new plan to find her children, Billy and Tommy. Though they don’t exist on Earth-616, they exist in other realities, and she attempts to capture the timeline-hopping America Chavez to travel to other worlds and take them. Doctor Strange approaches Wanda for help not knowing it’s her placing Chavez in danger in the first place. What follows is a bloody path of destruction through several realities.

The Scarlet Witch proves more powerful than even Doctor Strange, who is forced to run with Chavez instead of simply defeating Wanda. The Scarlet Witch causes immense destruction of Kamar-Taj and kills the Illuminati of Earth-838. Though the Darkhold is partially to blame, Wanda has fully returned to villainy on an unprecedented scale.

Death At Mount Wundagore

Fall 2024

Eventually, America Chavez and Strange realize that the only one who can stop Wanda is herself. Chavez opens a portal between Scarlet Witch at her most evil and a version of her children, and her kids’ absolute terror at what another version of their mother has become snaps her back to reality. Wanda uses her Chaos magic to destroy Mount Wundagor and the Darkhold, collapsing the towering stone castle on top of herself and taking her own life in the process.

How Scarlet Witch Could Return To The MCU

Billy Could Be The Key

When Agatha All Along premiered, many fans speculated that the events of the series would be responsible for Scarlet Witch returning. Utlimately, she remained dead through the end of Agatha All Along, leaving the question about her return up in the air. Kevin Feige has seemingly confirmed that she will return at some point, and Elizabeth Olsen would gladly reprise her role as Wanda if they can figure out how to bring her back.

Even though Agatha All Along didn’t bring Scarlet Witch back, the show re-introduced a character that could finally be the key to doing it. In the series, one of Wanda’s sons, Billy, is essentially reincarnated into William Kaplan, who is searching for his twin brother, Tommy. By the end of Agatha All Along, Billy can bring Tommy’s soul back into the body of someone else and his journey to find his brother is just beginning. Billy can do the same for Wanda’s soul, but the nature of what he can do would mean that it would have to be a recast.

Another way Scarlet Witch could return to the MCU, while also keeping Elizabeth Olsen as the character, is through Aubrey Plaza’s character, Death. Her resurrection powers were hinted at during Agatha All Along. It is possible that she will bring Scarlet Witch back to life as a way to get back at Agatha and Billy for defying her while they try to find Tommy.

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