After initially appearing in the MCU with powers ranging from telekinesis to telepathy, Wanda Maximoff expanded and explored her origin story in WandaVision.
The heroine gained new powers in the series, finally adopting the title Scarlet Witch and beginning to conjure spells and use some magical range in her repertoire. For this reason, Darkhold defines the Scarlet Witch as more potent than the Sorcerer Supreme, having an unlimited scope of chaotic abilities.
But what are the character’s powers in the comics? If you want to know everything that the Scarlet Witch is capable of, come with me as I show you why she is one of Marvel’s most powerful heroines.
What are Scarlet Witch’s Powers and Abilities in Comics?
Chaos Magic
As soon as she was introduced in the comics, Scarlet Witch didn’t have a very well-established ability. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby only defined that she had a power called Hex, which altered the probability of things and could often be translated as a wave of bad luck that hit her opponents.
Explained in a practical way, she could do unexpected things that helped the comic’s script, even though she didn’t control the effects of her power and couldn’t use it in a specific way. As a result, everything was very random and erratic.
At this stage, despite using the name Witch, she didn’t practice magic, being just a mutant with probability powers.
As time went by, she mastered this ability, using the chance to blow up enemies’ weapons, malfunction their equipment, cause structures to be destroyed to hinder her enemies, or simply launch chaotic energy blasts at her opponents.
In other arcs, Wanda discovered that her lousy luck waves were actually consequences of Chaos Magic and that she could use this energy potential to do whatever she wanted, including manipulating reality.
Witchcraft
Later, the writers decided to do justice to Scarlet Witch’s name and interestingly developed Wanda’s powers. In Steve Englehart‘s stories, the young mutant discovered her magical potential, having a relationship with the dark deity Chthon.
From this point on, Wanda was trained by the witch Agatha Harkness to cast spells and control her chaos magic to do whatever she wished. Firing spells or invoking various effects, Wanda can use her magic to both attack and defend herself.
Once a victim of the High Evolutionary‘s experiments, Wanda ceased to be a mutant. This event amplified her magical ability, allowing her to manipulate more smoothly chaotic probability waves.
A few years ago, it was revealed that Wanda is descended from a magical lineage and that Scarlet Witch is a title that has been used by others, including her birth mother.
Being a sorceress, Wanda can create various magical effects, including:
Force Fields
Using her magic, Wanda can create powerful force shields, using this to protect herself. Her shields can also be used to contain magical items or people – even if against their will – being so powerful that they prevent the creature from escaping her spell.
Clairvoyance
Being able to gain important information about a person, an event, or an artifact, Wanda can also see into the future with her magic. Even though she can use this ability consciously, the Scarlet Witch often receives signs and messages through her dreams.
Connection with Mystical Forces
Wanda can connect with mystical forces – earthly or otherwise – very quickly, further amplifying her powers.
The Scarlet Witch had channeled magic from powerful entities such as Chthon and Cyttorak or from places charged with witchcraft, such as in New Salem – a moment in the comics when she used this power to become pregnant.
Climate Control
Scarlet Witch can manipulate and influence the weather, creating rain or weather effects as she wishes, though she doesn’t often use this ability.
Energy Constructs
Because of her expertise in magic, Wanda can transform this magical energy into physical objects, creating energetic constructs that can take the form of items or weapons, such as shields, swords, or tools that she needs at the time.
Elemental Control
Nature is influenced and affected by Wanda’s magic, ensuring that she has almost complete elemental control. Thus, the Scarlet Witch can control air, plants, ice, electricity, metal, earth, water, fire, light, and shadows. Gravity can also be affected by Wanda.
Time Control
Time also bends before the Scarlet Witch’s powers, and she can slow down or speed up time as she sees fit. This ability can also be used offensively, causing a person or creature to age several centuries at once.
Healing
Wanda can use her powers to heal people, manipulating the life force of her targets to fight disease or injury.
Empathy
In addition to knowing what other people are feeling, Wanda can affect other people’s emotions by manipulating what her targets feel and inducing sensations (such as fear, for example).
Illusion
Wanda can create illusions so realistic that they are capable of fooling even influential magic users.
Immobilization
Using her spells, Wanda can immobilize her enemies, regardless of their physical strength. The Scarlet Witch can also pin her targets to one place, preventing them from leaving a territory.
Invisibility
With her spells, Wanda can become invisible, and she can extend this effect to her allies or items she wishes to hide from view.
Energy Manipulation
The Scarlet Witch can absorb and channel various types of energy and can use this as an energy source for powerful spells.
She can also simply fire this stored energy, causing devastating damage against her targets.
In some stories, Wanda could transfer energies, draining a target and sharing that among other creatures – like when she gave back all the powers that Rogue had picked up.
Power Manipulation
In some stories, Wanda has shown that she can manipulate the powers of others and can either control or steal them.
For example, the Scarlet Witch can cancel or deny the effects of others’ abilities by redirecting and reflecting shots at her. On a more “beneficial” side, she can increase the powers of her allies.
Multiplication
In some stories, Wanda was able to multiply to accomplish a specific feat. She was also able to reproduce viruses and germs in his targets, making them sick because of it.
Necromancy
Wanda has been able to control souls, using this talent to summon spirits of the afterlife into a conversation or exorcise people and creatures of evil spirits. Her powers can also resurrect people, bringing them back to life as zombies that she can control.
Astral Projection
Wanda can access the astral plane or spirit world, projecting her spirit out of her body, still using her powers in this astral form.
Tracking
With her powers, Wanda can find and track anyone, regardless of the distance or condition of her target. Furthermore, her power is so vast that she can locate people under a specific condition, such as people who have already interacted with a particular magic item, for example.
Transmutation
Using her magic, Wanda can transform one thing into another, using this ability both to affect the natural world – such as one element into another – and transform attacks into something harmless.
Technomagic
Machines, technological or otherwise, can be affected by Wanda’s magic. This allows her to control them, even if she does not know how they work.
Telekinesis
Like her MCU counterpart, Wanda is also capable of telekinesis, moving objects – or people – with her mind.
Telepathy
Another ability we’ve seen in the MCU. Wanda can enter and manipulate the minds of others. In addition to reading thoughts and sending telepathic messages, she can mentally manipulate them, controlling their actions in this way.
Wanda can also attack someone’s mind, causing intense pain or incapacitating her target.
Teleportation
The Scarlet Witch can teleport across long distances, including other dimensions, and take other people along with herself.
Even against the will of her targets, Wanda can summon (or banish) a person or object to wherever she wishes.
Flight
A classic power among heroes, through her magic Wanda can fly and grant this ability to other people.
Manipulating Reality
But beyond this massive list of powers, perhaps the Scarlet Witch’s best-known ability is the ability to Manipulate Reality.
Considered the Nexus Creature of Earth-616, the being who is the anchor that connects the entire reality of the universe, Wanda possesses staggering potential.
Scarlet Witch altered all reality as she wished – causing major arcs such as Avengers: Disassembled and House of M.
Her power was so great that powerful heroes like Xavier, Magneto, and Doctor Strange fell victim to her intent, and the entire planet was affected by her magic, being molded into the reality she desired.
What are Scarlet Witch’s Powers and Abilities in the MCU?
Throughout the MCU movies, Wanda Maximoff can manipulate minds, launch bursts of energy, use telekinesis, disintegrate her targets, create force fields, fly, control emotions, and read minds.
In WandaVision, we discover that she possesses Chaos magic, despite not having refined her magical talents.
Thus, Wanda could manipulate reality, conjure items, create life, manipulate time, teleport, transmute things, affect the weather, control the elements, absorb energy, perform astral projection, and cast spells.
