We are only a few short weeks away from the release of Captain Marvel. This film is one of the most highly anticipated and most talked about Marvel films among fans, because Carol Danvers is going to be the new face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we move into the next phase. Captain Marvel hits theaters on March 8, which is also International Women’s Day.
While this is the first film in the MCU to have a female lead, there have been many badass women in the Marvel Universe over the years. We have already talked about Peggy Carter, Princess Shuri, and Natasha Romanoff, and we will continue to highlight a few more of them over the next few weeks leading up to the premiere.
The next hero we want to spotlight is Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a Scarlet Witch, portrayed by Elizabeth Olsen. Originally an antagonist in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda made the choice with her brother Pietro to fight alongside the Avengers instead of Ultron, and she would later go on to join the team and become an Avenger herself.
Here our some of our favorite Wanda moments:
1. “We should have stayed in bed.”
In one of the first major fight scenes in Avengers: Infinity War, Wanda and Vision are still on the run, together in Edinburgh when The Black Order arrives in search of the Mind Stone. Vision is badly wounded, leaving Wanda to hold off their attackers and tend to Vision. She manages to hold her own against them until Steve, Natasha, and Sam arrive.
2. “If you step out that door, you’re an Avenger.”
In this scene from Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda and Hawkeye have been pinned down in an abandoned building while Ultron and his army are ravaging her home town of Sokovia. Clint tells a clearly frightened Wanda in a powerful turning point moment “it doesn’t matter what you did, or what you were. If you go out there, you fight. And you fight to kill. Staying here you’re good. I’ll send your brother to come find you. But if you step out that door, you’re an Avenger.” Moments later, Wanda exits the building and rejoins the fight.
3. “I can’t control their fear, only my own.”
After making a mistake that caused casualties during a mission in Captain America: Civil War, citizens became even more afraid of the Avengers. Because of this, nations around the world came together and signed the Sokovia Accords, and this prompted the divide within the team that was much of the focus of the film. Wanda struggled with her role in what happened in the attack; so because she was blamed and because of her guilt, she had been on lockdown at the Avengers’ compound. As the team divided to follow either Steve or Tony, Wanda sided with Steve and tried to leave. Vision had been charged with keeping an eye on her, and tried to stop her from leaving with Hawkeye. As she subdues Vision so she can leave, he tells her that if she does this, the public will never stop being afraid of her. She responds with “I can’t control their fear. Only my own” and leaves.
4. “Why was she up there all this time?”
During the battle of Wakanda in Infinity War, Wanda spent most of it by Vision’s side as Shuri tried to remove the Mind Stone to destroy it. Eventually she would have to make her way to the battlefield, because those already fighting were starting to get overwhelmed. She lands on the field and quickly takes out several of the enemy vehicles, throwing them into groups of oncoming Outriders. Seeing how powerful she is and what Wanda can do, Okoye asks, “Why was she up there all this time?”
5. “I just feel you.”
Shuri was unable to remove the Mind Stone from Vision, and Thanos was on his way to Wakanda to retrieve it. Out of time, Wanda is left with the only choice to keep him from the Stone, and that is to destroy it and kill her beloved Vision in the process. She unleashes her powers onto the Stone as Thanos arrives. This scene shows just how truly powerful Wanda is, because even in a clearly distraught state, she was able to focus her power to not only destroy an Infinity Stone, but to hold back the Mad Titan as he bore down on her while powered up by the other five stones.
Stay tuned for the remainder of our series highlighting more of the amazing Marvel women as we countdown to the arrival of Captain Marvel!