by Joshua H. Stulman

WandaVision, an 9 part TV series on Disney Plus, concludes today (March 5, 2021).

The series has been a whirlwind mystery of how Wanda Maximoff, known as the Avenger’s Scarlett Witch, came to be… at least in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The series also hints at the reincarnation of The Vision after his death in Avengers: Infinity War.

The TV Series features both Scarlett Witch and Vision from the Avengers series of movies and takes place after Avengers: Endgame and the infamous Thanos “Snap.”

But as we all know, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is only “based” on the Marvel Comics. And that’s “based” in the loosest sense of the word.

HERE ARE 10 FACTS ABOUT WANDAVISION THAT THE MCU GETS WRONG

10. Vision Never Had The Infinity Stone!

It’s hard to believe that such a major part of the MCU’s version of Vision being tied to the Infinity Stones is completely false! The Mind Stone, first appeared in Captain Marvel # 41 (1975) being called the “Mind Gem.” The Mind Stone was originally used to manipulate the minds of individuals.

The writers of Marvel Movies wanted a more personal connection for the Infinity Stones to the Avengers team, so they simply re-wrote the stone to be part of the origin story of the Vision. That’s all well in good except the Vision makes his first appearance in Avengers # 57 (1968) almost ten years prior with absolutely no relation to the “Mind Gem.”

9. S.W.O.R.D Who?

In the MCU its often easy to overlook that S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel’s US government spy agency doesn’t exist anymore thanks to the successful Hydra infiltration from Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie. So because of this, the MCU just dropped in a new acronym agency, S.W.O.R.D.

So what’s S.W.O.R.D? Sentient World Observation and Response Department. S.W.O.R.D. was S.H.I.E.L.D.’s counterpart to protect the Earth from alien invasions or at least that’s what it was supposed to be when it was introduced in Astonishing X-Men # 6 (2004).

However in the MCU’s WandaVision, S.W.O.R.D. was completely changed to the Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division, and so far has nothing in common with the Marvel Comics’ space agency.

8. The Truth About Wanda and Vision’s Kids

Ever wonder how a robot and a human have children? So did John Byrne who wrote the source material that much of WandaVision is inspired by, namely Avengers: West Coast # 42-57 (1989). Here, Wanda and Vision’s twin children are revealed to be constructs devised by the Devil inspired villain, Mephisto!

The revelation of Wanda’s twins being figments of imagination, drove Wanda insane and caused her to turn on her Avenger team-mates. (We’re yet to see if this will indeed happen in the WandaVision finale!)

7. Captain Marvel Re-Deux

One of the greatest and solemn Marvel stories is the “Death Of Captain Marvel” of cancer. The story is a slow march to the inevitable end and builds in seriousness as it reaches its conclusion. It was one of the first times that a “real life” medical condition impacted a super-hero.

Unfortunately, the MCU re-writes Marvel’s comic book history by gender swaping Captain Marvel to a female, and then has her die as she gives her power to Carol Danvers who becomes Captain Marvel in the MCU. But wait!

In the Marvel Comics, Carol Danvers becomes “Ms. Marvel” NOT Captain Marvel because the male Captain Marvel is still living. After his death from cancer, Marvel Comics introduced the second Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, in Amazing Spider-Man Annual # 16 (1982). Monica Rambeau’s Captain Marvel is the first female to hold the title, and soon after joins the Avengers.

During this time, Carol Danvers transitions from “Ms. Marvel” to “Binary” for much of the 1980’s. In fact, Carol Danvers doesn’t become “Captain Marvel” until 2012. Unfortunately, Monica Rambeau’s entire comic history was overwritten by the MCU in WandaVision.

6. A Tale of Two Quicksilvers

Well here’s the short end of it! Whether its the MCU or the Fox X-Men movies, both get Quicksilver wrong! MCU’s non mutant version of Quicksilver is killed off so early that the character never carries any of his meaningful comic book storylines. Fox’s X-Men mutant version is an emo kid growing up in suburban United States.

At this point, it would require some serious reality bending to continue either versions’ story in the MCU however seriously flawed they are (Keep on reading for more details)

5. Vision’s Body is re-used from The Human Torch

One of the great Avengers stories is the secret origin of The Vision. Originally thought to be created by Ultron, it is revealed in Avengers # 134 that the Vision is tied to the very first Marvel Comics super-hero from 1939, the robot Human Torch!

The Human Torch robot was briefly shown in the MCU during the World’s Fair scene in Captain America: The First Avenger. Unfortunately, all of the World War II Marvel Comics super-heroes never existed in the MCU, so the story of the Vision being based on the Original Human Torch was scrapped.

4. Wonder Man?

The MCU and WandaVision are severely lacking when it comes to comic accuracy. In Marvel Comics, The Vision was created re-using a copy of the Original Human Torch that was modified by Ultron.

It is later explained that the Vision’s humanity and emotions were based on the previously deceased Avenger villain, Wonder-Man, whose mind had been electronically preserved. Wonder-Man is eventually revived and forms a kinship with the Vision.

3. Wanda Maximoff’s Origin Story

In WandaVision’s version of Wanda Maximoff’s origin, she and her brother are shown to become orphans after a Stark Industries bomb wipes out her parents in Sokovia. The two then join Hydra’s genetic experimentations under Baron Von Strucker’s watchful eye (yes, that’s a pun).

The Marvel Comic version is very different. Revealed in Avengers # 185- 187, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were twin mutants that were cared for by a mutate human-cow hybrid named Bova. Bova was instruced by her master, The High Evolutionary, to offer the twins to the gypsy couple Django and Marya Maximoff to raise as their own. So who was Wand and Pietro’s real parents?

2. Who’s Your Daddy?

In the Scarlet Witch and the Vision mini-series it is finally confirmed that Wanda and Pietro Maximoff’s real father is the mutant super-villain, Magneto. Magneto had long been tied to the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver dating back to their first appearance in X-Men # 4 (1964) where they work under Magneto as part of his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

In the MCU’s WandaVision, this entire aspect of the Scarlet Witch has been sidelined because Marvel Studio’s has yet to figure out how to incorporate Fox’s X-Men properties into the MCU story.

1 “Scarlet Witch”

That’s here name isn’t it? Well up until WandaVision, Wanda Maximoff has been going by…well.. Wanda Maximoff. Why? Because MCU has this bizarre need to continually de-emphasize that the characters are comic book super-heroes. So everytime a Marvel super-hero is shown in a comic book accurate costume, it has to be made into a joke. This happens during the USO show in Captain America: The First Avenger, in all the NetFlix shows like Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones; and most recently with both Wanda Maximoff and Vision in the Halloween scene in WandaVision.

It is funny, that while the MCU is constantly trying to downplay Super-Hero names and costumes, they finally had to justify the “Scarlet Witch” name in WandaVision in order for Wanda Maximoff to finally have her super-hero name canonized on screen in the MCU, nearly 8 years after her initial debut.

Joshua H. Stulman

Owner, Brooklyn Comic Shop