There is a lot of confusion about the Scarlet Witch from Marvel Comics with many fans only remembering the original origin of the character and not keeping up with the changing times.
Spoilers follow for WandaVision.
One scene in WandaVision this week caused a lot of speculation that the show might not line up with the current continuity.
The scene took place in the Hydra lab where Wanda volunteered to face the Infinity Stone. She reached out, and at the moment where every other volunteer died, the Infinity Stone flashed brightly and a figure floated toward Wanda that was the exact outline of the Scarlet Witch.
Wanda lived and had magical powers from this point on.
While many fans thought this was Wanda seeing a future version of herself, there is a more likely explanation.
It was her mother.
Her real mother.
WandaVision: Wanda’s real origin in Marvel Comics
When Wanda Maximoff and her brother Pietro first appeared in X-Men #4 (1964), they were members of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. There was no mention at this time of a relationship with Magneto.
Nineteen years later, Marvel had the twins learn they were Magneto’s children (Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4, 1983). The story was that they were born on Wundagore Mountain and were placed with the Maximoff family to raise them.
They believed these were their parents until that moment and then everything changed.
However, it was all a lie.
In Avengers & X-Men: Axis #7 (2014), Wanda lashed out at Magneto and wanted to kill him and cast a spell to kill those in her bloodline. Quicksilver immediately fell, but Magneto was unaffected. It was then that Wanda learned her entire life was a lie and Magneto was never her father.
She also wasn’t a mutant. She was an actual witch.
Wanda and Pietro set out for Wundagore Mountain to finally learn the truth. It was here that the High Evolutionary revealed their powers were given to them through his experimentation before returning them to the Maximoff’s (Uncanny Avengers #3, 2015).
This wasn’t the end, though.
Who is the Scarlet Witch?
In James Robinson’s iconic 2015 Scarlet Witch series, Wanda finally learned the truth about her parentage.
While she still has no idea who her father is, Wanda finally got to the truth. She ended up learning that the woman who raised her, Marya Maximoff, did not die years before and was still alive, although badly burned from an attack years before by villagers who thought they were witches.
Wanda also found out who her real mother was.
Natalya Maximoff, Marya’s sister, was the Scarlet Witch before Wanda. Natalya’s father was the Scarlet Warlock before her. Wanda is the Scarlet Witch not due to genetic testing, but due to being part of her bloodline.
Wanda finally met her mother on Witches’ Road thanks to the guidance of Agatha Harkness and the two had a short time together before Natalya gave her existence up to save her daughter’s life.
If the MCU goes with the same storyline as Robinson’s comic, that figure coming out of the light could have been Natalya Maximoff saving her daughter from the “other side” and passing on the powers that rightfully belonged to her.
The final episode of WandaVision airs on Friday night, March 5, on Disney+.