Marvel’s Scarlet Witch relaunch features Wanda Maximoff evolving the best supernatural trap used by the MCU’s Doctor Strange Scarlet Witch Improved on Doctor Strange’s Best MCU Strategy
Marvel’s Scarlet Witch relaunch features Wanda Maximoff evolving the best supernatural trap used by the MCU’s Doctor Strange.
The following contains spoilers for Scarlet Witch #2, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
In Marvel’s Scarlet Witch relaunch, Wanda Maximoff is at peace and trying to start a new life. She’s offering her magical services to those in need, partnering up with Darcy to run a supernatural agency in New York. So far, she’s saved an Italian town from the Corruptor, but she didn’t expect Viv Vision to come strolling through her doors.
Scarlet Witch #2 (by Steve Orlando, Sara Pichelli, Elisabetta D’Amico, Matthew Wilson and VC’s Cory Petit) finds Viv asking Wanda to cure her nightmares. Viv has become severely depressed, so Wanda, as her pseudo-mom, enters her dreams. As Scarlet Witch harnesses the powers within her, she upgrades the most effective strategy used by Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange.
Scarlet Witch Makes a Sinister Bargain
Wanda ends up meeting Dreamqueen in Viv’s mind, ready for a violent war. This mystical tyrant is the daughter of the demonic Nightmare, created by Bill Mantlo and Jim Lee in the ’80s as a foil for Alpha Flight. In this case, she’s thriving on Viv’s pain and the loss of her family. However, Wanda survives Dreamqueen’s supernatural attacks, locking her in a bubble and offering a deal.
Scarlet Witch gives Dreamqueen a Romanian cabbage roll, making it clear that once she accepts the bargain, she can head to a pocket dimension and feast on Wanda’s pain. It nods to how Strange trapped Dormammu in a time loop in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016’s Doctor Strange. When Dormammu got tired of killing the sorcerer, he fled to the Dark Dimension, remaining there with his dark forces. However, Wanda’s “gift” is far more treacherous.
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Scarlet Witch Reshapes Dreamqueen’s Hunger
Wanda confirms to Viv that she lied because once Dreamqueen eats the roll, she won’t feel the need to feast on agony anymore. She’ll instead be addicted to joy, thus if she’s ever released or breaks out, she won’t cause misery and suffering to others. It’s a clever way of foolproofing the deal because if the barrier somehow breaks she can roam free and continue her reign of terror. Wanda has blocked her evil side from rising up again.
Wanda simply wants to pass on cycles of positivity, not viciousness. In that sense, she’s more benevolent than Strange because while Dreamqueen is poised to change due to the happiness she needs, Dormammu will always be bitter, keeping him as a villain in the MCU. Ultimately, this story makes Wanda’s trap a better one, as it’s much more proactive and very risk-averse in terms of backfiring down the line.
