Scarlet Witch Has Two Weaknesses Stopping Her Being the Strongest Avenger

The Scarlet Witch may be one of the earliest and most powerful recruits the Avengers have ever seen, but two key weaknesses hold the famous mutant back from being the mightiest among Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Wanda Maximoff, also known as the Scarlet Witch, has had a long and storied comics history. From being part of Magneto’s first Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to saving the universe alongside the Avengers, Wanda has seen and done a lot more than most of her heroic peers. From time to time, Wanda even served as an antagonist, such as in the House of M event, which ended with Wanda depowering millions of mutants worldwide. Her vast reality warping/chaos magic abilities make her a valuable ally and a frightening foe, but Scarlet Witch’s powers have clear limits that stop short of making her a god.

Throughout her heroic career, Wanda has faced many obstacles, such as repeated attempts at manipulation by Magneto (whose parentage of Wanda has since been disproved), as well as bouts of instability that have harmed her friends. Wanda has been able to overcome these through strength of will and support from her friends, even as each has explored her ability to manipulate reality itself. However, while these powers theoretically make Scarlet Witch the most powerful person alive, she does two major weaknesses that prevent her from being the Avengers’ strongest member. The first is mental – she needs to concentrate on her spells, and casting them takes time. This was seen in Uncanny Avengers #4 by Rick Remender and John Cassaday, where her battle with a brainwashed Thor goes awry as he is aware of this limitation and uses it against her. Thor points out that since Scarlet Witch needs to cast spells and summon her power – rather than it being inherent as with Thor and Captain Marvel – she can be overcome by constantly pressing the attack. Wanda admits she can’t win, though she does manage to remove Thor from the battlefield.

The second limitation is inherent in her magic. Wanda, unlike most Marvel sorcerers, is fueled by Chaos Magic, a powerful but destructive force most lesser magic users would be too intimidated to try and wield. Chaos Magic, for all its power, is impossible to tame, and the more complex and multifaceted the spell Wanda tries to cast, the more likely it is part of it will fail or even cancel another aspect out. This has been witnessed many times as Scarlet Witch’s spells expand out of control (her House of M spell created a terrifying new being made of every lost mutant power), but was explicitly stated in Avengers: Rage of Ultronby Rick Remender, Jerome Opeña and Pepe Larraz, where Wanda and the Avengers fought against the Mad Android. In the comic, she uses her powers to create a giant metal fist as a weapon, but using them to fly while maintaining the fist destabilizes the construct’s integrity. Scarlet Witch can do many impossible things, but by their very nature as Chaos Magic, her spells exist in conflict rather than in harmony.

Despite these limitations, Scarlet Witchwas already godlike before her recent power upgrade after absorbing the Darkhold, and is one of the most powerful heroes on the Avengers’ roster, able to enact worldwide change on a staggering scale. However, the nature of Chaos Magic means that Scarlet Witch needs time and focus to use her powers in a way that other heroes don’t, and that she’s generally forced to focus on one use of her powers at a time. For this reason, while Scarlet Witch is clearly one of the most powerful Avengers, she misses out on the true top spot – good news for Wanda, whose commitment to using her powers responsibly eclipses any desire to lord her might over her fellow heroes.