Warning: SPOILERS for X-Men #7
It’s official: Scarlet Witch is the Devil on the X-Men‘s mutant island. Scarlet Witch has always had a troubled relationship with the mutant community. She was introduced as a member of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but she and her brother Quicksilver made the jump to become superheroes. They subsequently spent years on the fringes of the nascent mutant society.
Wanda possesses the ability to manipulate reality on a fundamental level, and that’s a tremendously dangerous powerset. ”Can you understand the delicate mindset of a woman, a person, who has control over reality” Doctor Strange asked the Avengers. “It means reality controls her. Imagination becomes the enemy. Structure disappears.” Unknown to Strange, a demonic being was also exerting an influence on Scarlet Witch’s psyche, tearing her mind apart. It all came to a head in 2005, in Marvel’s “House of M” event. There, Wanda issued a curse that rewrote reality: “No more mutants.” 98 percent of the mutant race lost their powers. Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men relaunch has retconned the number of mutants affected, but the horror of it all left an indelible mark on mutant culture.
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The world’s mutants are gathering on the living island of Krakoa, and they’ve formed an entire civilization. It appears Scarlet Witch is not only an enemy, but is viewed as a type of Devil figure, hated by children, her name never even to be mentioned.
This is the second time Scarlet Witch has been referenced as the “Pretender” in the Hickman era. This refers to the fact she was long thought to be a mutant, but that was revealed to be a deception perpetrated against her by a cosmic being called the High Evolutionary. Wanda has now been retconned as a real witch, manipulating “the energy of the Earth and womankind,” an ancient force that had been feared and suppressed by men. All this was a particularly personal blow for Magneto, who had previously believed Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver to be his children. It looks as though the residents of Krakoa all know Scarlet Witch should no longer be considered a mutant – and, in accordance with the hints of mutant supremacism that run through the Hickman X-Men era, they hate her for being a human who dared to pretend to be a mutant.
Of course, there’s one big difference between the burgeoning mutant religion of Krakoa and other faiths. Sooner or later, it’s entirely possible some of these children will cross paths with Scarlet Witch. Should that happen, their hatred may potentially result in violence – and it could even trigger another war between the X-Men and the Avengers.
X-Men #7 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.
