Thursday, August 15, 2013

Lady AVENGERS Week: the Scarlet Witch

I told you yesterday that it should have been Scarlet Witch who should have been in the Avengers film if there could only be one she-venger, now I shall tell you why.

Power 

Wanda was born with a mutant ability, the power to alter probabilities. This was usually called her "hex." I guess this was sometimes tough for writers to explain or use, so she embarked on the study of witchcraft with Agatha Harkness. Pretty awesome, huh?

Unlike, say, Wasp, who wanted super-powers to be with her boyfriend more, so he gave them to her. He designed her stingers, he upgraded her powers to her internally manifested "bio sting." Hank Pym this, Hank Pym that. She even took advantage of him while he had amnesia to tie the knot! Eesh, take a hint already.

Male-fluenced

I read an article that claimed that Wanda was too defined by the males in her life. Seriously? In the face of She-Hulk (cousin of Hulk), Ms. Marvel (girlfriend of Captain Marvel), Spider-Woman (linked to the popular world of '70s Spidey by a marketing department), She-Thing (looks just like the Thing), seriously? And didn't I just explain Wasp?

So her brother is "Quicksilver." Big deal! They're related but he didn't give her her mutant powers. Her father, Magneto, did, I guess, by banging her mother, but what about the learned witchcraft? All Wanda. She didn't learn Magneto was her father until decades after her first appearance, so he didn't define her character until much, much later in her history. And, it's not like she started out She-Quicksilver and later changed her name to Magneta.

Sure, Hawkeye longed for her passionately. Sure, Wonder-Man longed for her passionately. But it was the android the Vision that won her heart. Yes, she married a robot. Then she used her mutant powers to get preggo by the robot sperm. And yet she's defined by her father and brother? Did we read the same comics at all?

Public consciousness

Marvel women didn't really seep their way into public consciousness like DC's heroines did. In the '60s and '70s there was an animated Invisible Girl, and she was the only she-Marvelite to be a Mego action figure. Invisible Girl, Wasp, and Scarlet Witch made it onto the 1977 "Marvel Super-Heroes" lunchbox, followed by Invisible Girl and Scarlet Witch featured in 1978's "Marvel Super-Hero Card Game." Not until the Spider-Woman cartoon was there as much public awareness as there was for Scarlet Witch.

Yeah, I get it, I'm basing this entire line of argument on everything pre-1980. But you can say what you want on your blog.

Tomorrow: Captain Marvel is a rank demotion for Ms. Marvel 

4 comments:

Javier said...

You do know that Scarlet Witch appeared in the 60's Captain America cartoon.

http://youtu.be/UeCqlfv9EOY

Tim Fish said...

haha...awful. I'm pretty sure Black Widow was in the Iron Man cartoon, as a villain, with Hawkeye.

but, awesome, more fuel for my fire.

Tim Fish said...

Oh, bummer...Wasp was also in the Cap cartoon, as well. Officially my argument went from weak to gone! :-)

Bianca C said...

Yeah, I agree sadly....they weren't allowed to use any mutants that are "X-men" in the Avengers movie....cause FOX owns all the rights to X-men and X-women (womp, womp). (Also Hence Black Widow - just about the only Marvel lady who was an Avenger, but never a mutant X-person.)

Hopefully, they can work out some cross promotions for the future....