Scarlet Witch

"I used to think of myself one way. But, after this... I am something else. And still me, I think. But that's not what everyone else sees."

- Wanda Maximoff to Vision

Wanda Maximoff is a native of Sokovia who grew up with her fraternal twin brother, Pietro. In an effort to help purge their country of strife, the twins joined HYDRA and agreed to undergo experiments with the Scepter under the supervision of Wolfgang von Strucker. The two received superpowers as a result, with Wanda attaining various abilities including telekinesis, telepathy, and energy manipulation. When HYDRA fell, the twins joined Ultron to get their revenge on Tony Stark over his weapons killing their family in a bombing, but eventually switched sides and joined the Avengers when they discovered Ultron's true intentions. Wanda and Pietro became new members of the Avengers.

During the Avengers Civil War, she sided with Captain America and was briefly imprisoned in the Raft before Rogers freed her along with his teammates. Over the next two years, Maximoff reunited and reconciled with Vision, and together the two started living off the grid in Europe, forming a romantic relationship. However, the two soon came under threat from Thanos and the Black Order, who sought the Mind Stone. After being ambushed by the Order, they sought refuge in Wakanda with the remaining Avengers. Maximoff partook in the city's defense when the Order launched a major assault against it, but was unable to stop Thanos from completing the Infinity Gauntlet; Maximoff was subsequently disintegrated in the Snap. After the effects of the Snap were undone in 2023, Maximoff was among the many heroes who fought during the Battle of Earth, defeating Thanos and his many armies.

Hating Tony Stark
"Every effort to save us, every shift in the bricks, I think, 'this will set it off'. We wait for two days, for Tony Stark to kill us." "We know what they are."

- Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff

Wanda Maximoff was born in Sokovia along with her twin brother, Pietro. At the age of ten, while having dinner with her family, a mortar shell hit their apartment building, killing Wanda's parents. The building started to crumble, trapping Wanda and Pietro inside as they hid under a bed. A second shell then hit and landed three feet in front of them but did not go off; the Maximoff twins were left trapped in the rubble, staring at the unexploded shell reading the name Stark Industries on it. For the next two days, Wanda and Pietro feared the shell would detonate before rescue efforts could free them.

Protesting Against Heroes
"We're not at war, Captain." "They are."

- Maria Hill and Captain America

This horrifically traumatic experience gave the twins a great hatred for Tony Stark, and later, the Avengers, whom they aimed to take down. The Maximoffs dedicated much of their lives to this goal, including organizing protests against the Avengers. Their constant political activity put Wanda and Pietro on both S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA's radar as potential threats and allies, respectively.

Recruited by Baron Strucker
"Pietro... Are you sure?" "Be strong, sister. It won't be long before we have the power we need to fight."

- Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff

By the time the twins reached adulthood, the United States of America had begun occupying Sokovia, pushing the country into a state of turmoil. Wanda and her brother took part in various riots to drive the Americans out of their home. What the twins did not realize was that the riots were orchestrated by HYDRA, who had taken up residence in the country and were using its upheavals to cover up their experiments. During one such riot, the Maximoffs were amongst the protestors approached by List, who offered them a way to achieve the power needed to end war in Sokovia.

Wanda was initially skeptical, but ultimately convinced by Pietro to agree to the experiments to gain new powers. Along with other volunteers from the town, Wanda and Pietro underwent a series of tests conducted by List and Wolfgang von Strucker, where they were exposed to energy from the Scepter, which had fatal effects on all the other volunteers. The Maximoff twins, however, survived and experienced exceedingly different side-effects. The power of the scepter then unlocked latent supernatural powers within the pair; Pietro achieved superhuman speed, while Wanda attained a number of mental powers such as telekinesis, hypnosis, and energy projection.