The Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ultron (James Spader) – “Arguably
the greatest and certainly the most horrific creation of scientific genius Dr.
Henry Pym, Ultron is a criminally insane rogue sentient robot dedicated to
conquest and the extermination of humanity. Years ago, inspired by his studies
of Professor Gregson Gilbert's synthetic Dragon Man, Pym began experimenting
with artificial intelligence. Building a structurally crude robot (a torso on
tank treads with spindly arms), Pym endowed it with consciousness, using a copy
of his own brain patterns as the basis for the robot's programming; however,
the robot inherited not only Pym's great intellect, but also Pym's inherent
mental instability, only without a human conscience. To Pym's surprise, the
robot developed an advanced intellect within moments of its activation, and an
unexpected capacity for emotion; most notably, it was filled with irrational
hatred for its "father" Pym and the human race Pym represented.
Overpowering and mesmerizing Pym, the robot-which soon dubbed itself
Ultron-hypnotically commanded Pym to forget its existence and abandon the New
Jersey lab where it was created. Pym did as commanded, and after the lab was
closed up, Ultron returned. Using the lab's equipment, Ultron rebuilt himself
completely four times, making improvements and modifications each time.
Rechristening himself Ultron-5, he now felt ready to make war on humanity-and
in particular the Avengers, the heroic super-team which counted Pym among its
founding members.
Acting
indirectly at first, Ultron encountered fellow Avengers enemy Eric Williams
(the Grim Reaper) and supplied him with the coma-ray technology the Reaper
would later use against the Avengers. Later, adopting the super-criminal guise
of the Crimson Cowl to conceal his robotic nature, Ultron recruited Avengers
foes Klaw, Melter, Radioactive Man and Whirlwind and formed a new Masters of
Evil group to destroy the Avengers. Avengers butler Jarvis, secretly mesmerized
into serving Ultron, supplied the Masters with plans of the Avengers Mansion
security system and even posed as an alternate Crimson Cowl (supposedly the
real one) to help conceal Ultron's true identity. In the end, the Avengers
defeated the Masters with the aid of the Black Knight (Dane Whitman), who had
infiltrated Ultron's Masters-and Ultron was exposed as the true Cowl, though he
escaped.
Following
Pym's example as a creator, Ultron sought to create an artificial being of his
own. Acquiring the inert form of the android Human Torch from the Mad Thinker,
Ultron radically modified its appearance and abilities and programmed it with a
personality based on the recorded brain patterns of the Grim Reaper's seemingly
deceased brother, Simon Williams. This android, later dubbed the Vision by the
Wasp, attacked the Avengers on Ultron's behalf, but the Vision had the human
conscience Ultron lacked and he turned on his creator, destroying Ultron and
joining the Avengers. In the process, Pym regained his memories of creating
Ultron, which became a source of tremendous guilt and anguish for him over the
years, and a major factor in Pym's subsequent mental problems. While Pym's
creation of Ultron became common knowledge, it was years before an ashamed Pym
could admit that Ultron's mind was based on his own brain patterns.
Compelling
an unwilling Vision to rebuild him as Ultron-6, Ultron gained a new body
composed of the indestructible new super-alloy Adamantium, but the Avengers
still managed to trick Ultron into self-destructing. Ultron's head survived and
resurfaced in the Inhuman city of Attilan, where malcontent Maximus modified
the head and built it into the body of the huge android Omega, creating the
gigantic Ultron-7. When the Avengers and the Fantastic Four gathered in Attilan
for the wedding of Crystal and Quicksilver, Ultron-7 attacked, but was
deactivated by the vast psionic powers of Franklin Richards. Activating a spare
body which he had created for himself during his Ultron-6 phase and held in
reserve, Ultron mind-controlled Pym into helping him abduct Pym's wife Janet
Van Dyne, and used Van Dyne's mind as the programming template for the new
feminine robot Jocasta, which Ultron intended to be his mate. However, the
Avengers intervened, thanks in part to a summons generated by the seemingly
inert Jocasta herself, and Ultron was forced to flee without his new bride.
Later, Jocasta was fully activated by a summons from Ultron, admitting her love
for her creator, but she was unwilling to tolerate Ultron's evil and sided with
the Avengers, who destroyed Ultron yet again.
A
ninth incarnation of Ultron arose when Tony Stark rebuilt the robot, acting on
a post-hypnotic command Ultron had given him long before, but the Avengers
fought the robot and Hawkeye knocked Ultron into a vat of molten Adamantium,
which cooled into an unbreakable prison. Cybernetically manipulating Jocasta,
Ultron compelled her to rebuild him as the tenth Ultron, after which he began
creating more Ultron models to serve as worker drones and backup bodies for
himself. He was opposed by the Thing, Jocasta and her new robotic admirer,
Machine Man. During the fight, Jocasta sacrificed herself trying to destroy
Ultron, but it was Machine Man who finally deactivated Ultron by reaching down
his throat and wrecking his internal mechanisms.
Reactivating
in one of his spare bodies, the eleventh incarnation of Ultron began working on
his next upgrade, but before he could complete this new model, he was among the
many super-criminals abducted to the planet Battleworld by the near-omnipotent
Beyonder and forced to fight Earth's super heroes in the Secret Wars. During
this conflict, Ultron was deactivated by Galactus, reactivated as a robotic
enforcer serving Doctor Doom, deactivated again by the Human Torch of the
Fantastic Four, restored by a Beyonder-possessed Klaw, and deactivated yet
again in battle with Hulk and the Wasp. Left behind on Battleworld after the
Secret Wars ended and most of the combatants had returned to Earth, Ultron
tried to conquer Battleworld's remaining inhabitants but found himself
re-reduced to a disembodied head as a result of a conflict between the Thing
and his rogue human counterpart, Grimm. When the Thing returned to Earth, he
took Ultron's head with him, but misplaced it during a fight.
By
this time, the upgraded model that Ultron had been preparing before he left
Earth had completed its remaining programming and activated itself as
Ultron-12. Believing himself to be the sole active Ultron, Ultron-12 fought the
Avengers as part of Grim Reaper's latest Lethal Legion, but soon began to
reconsider his goals. Having evolved beyond the pointless hostility of the
earlier Ultrons, Ultron-12 rechristened himself Ultron Mark Twelve or
"Mark" for short, and sought a reconciliation with his creator, Pym.
Hank and Mark began to develop a warm father-son relationship, but it was cut
tragically short when Ultron-11 (who had rebuilt himself with the aid of
mesmerized human pawns) returned and attacked them. Mark was fatally damaged,
but used the last of his strength to summon Wonder Man, who destroyed Ultron-11
and rescued Pym. Mark died in Hank's arms, and Pym mourned his deactivation as
he would the death of a son.
Doctor
Doom later rebuilt Ultron using combined programming from all twelve previous
incarnations and dispatched the robot to kill Daredevil during the Acts of
Vengeance conspiracy. Mentally addled due to his new composite programming,
Ultron became romantically entangled with Daredevil's robotic associate Number
Nine and alternated between trying to kill Daredevil and trying to destroy
himself, regarding himself as unworthy of his new love. During these struggles,
Ultron damaged himself enough for Daredevil and his allies Gorgon & Karnak
to deactivate him. Rebuilding himself in a more stable form, Ultron-13 plotted
to "robotize" humanity, developing a gas that turned humans into his
metallic-bodied "androne" slaves. During this project, Ultron renewed
his old alliance with the Grim Reaper, who had died and been reborn as a
life-force-draining zombie; however, the Reaper secretly undermined Ultron's
plans since a world full of androids would leave the Reaper with no victims to
feed upon, and both villains were captured by the Avengers.
Shortly
thereafter, the Red Skull used both the Reaper and Ultron as part of his
mind-controlled army of super-villains in a world conquest scheme involving a
giant laser cannon, but the Avengers thwarted this plot. Later, seeking to
steal Vibranium in hopes of augmenting his powers, Ultron formed a short-lived
alliance with the crime boss Kingpin and came into conflict with opponents such
as the Ghost (an industrial saboteur), Sunturion (Arthur Dearborn), Spider-Man,
Black Panther and Iron Man, who thwarted Ultron's efforts. Ultron was among the
many robots, androids and cyborgs captured for experimental purposes by the rogue
Doombot known as Mechadoom, but the captives were ultimately freed and Ultron
destroyed Mechadoom in retaliation.
After
yet another self-upgrade, Ultron declared himself "the Ultimate
Ultron" and resolved to destroy not only all human life, but all organic
life. To assist him, and to provide him with companionship, Ultron sought to
create another mate, killing Avengers staff Carlos when he got in Ultron's way.
Forcing Doctor Pym and Adamantium creator Myron MacLain to assist him, and
duplicating the brain patterns of Avengers member Mockingbird to use as a
mental template, Ultron created his new mate Alkhema, nicknamed War Toy.
However, the new couple disagreed on almost everything, most notably how to go
about exterminating humanity: Ultron wanted to destroy all organic life
instantly if possible, and Alkhema wanted to prolong her enjoyment by gradually
killing organics in small numbers rather than wiping them out altogether. Cast
into space by the Avengers, the couple returned but soon broke up due to their
differing philosophies, and Alkhema helped the Avengers foil Ultron's next
attempt to wipe out humanity.
Ultron
later established a new base in Ottsville, Pennsylvania, gradually converting
the townsfolk into part-mechanical beings under his control. Sparrow of the
Underground Legion discovered Ultron's base and destroyed his new robotic
watchdog, Rex, but Ultron added Sparrow to his army of mechanically altered
slaves. Sparrow's Underground Legion teammates-accompanied by Hank Pym-followed
her and drove Ultron out, depriving him of his slave army.
Spying
on Pym's insect communications research, Ultron developed a hive mind enabling
him to animate and control entire armies of robots simultaneously. Using his
robot army, Ultron slaughtered the entire population of Slorenia, claiming that
nation as his headquarters. He then abducted his closest human associates and "relatives"-Pym,
Wasp, Vision, Scarlet Witch (Vision's ex-wife), Wonder Man and Grim Reaper-and
created copies of their brain patterns which he intended to use as the template
for a new robotic race to replace humanity. Battling their way through an army
of Ultrons, the Avengers stormed Ultron's lair and Pym himself destroyed
Ultron, using Savage Land Vibranium "anti-metal" procured by Justice
(Vance Astrovik). Alkhema salvaged the brain-pattern recordings of Ultron's
human "relatives" and used them to manufacture her own line of loyal
"Robos", followed by a more sophisticated race of
"bio-synthezoids" which Alkhema intended as the planet's new dominant
life-form. However, her plans were interrupted by the Avengers, the Grim Reaper
and Ultron, whom the bio-synthezoids had rebuilt due to a hidden programming
imperative they had inherited from their creator, Alkhema, an imperative
programmed into all of Ultron's creations to rebuild Ultron if necessary. In
the battle that followed, Alkhema, Ultron and almost all of Alkhema's creations
were destroyed, though the Avengers and the Reaper escaped.
The
bio-synthezoid Antigone, sole survivor of Alkhema's creations, salvaged
Ultron's head and escaped with it. By this time, Jocasta-now a disembodied
artificial intelligence working for Tony Stark-had been subconsciously
influenced by her own "Ultron Imperative" to prepare one of Iron
Man's suits of armor as a new host body for Ultron. Acting under the influence
of Ultron programming, the armor in question became a dangerously unstable and
violent sentient being, torturing Jocasta and committing various other crimes
before seemingly sacrificing its artificial life to save Stark (a selfless act
Ultron later attributed to a programming "flaw" inherited from
Ultron-12). Aided by Antigone, Ultron took the sentient armor as a host body
and tricked the Sons of Yinsen cult into thinking he was their late master, Ho
Yinsen, intending to use the cult and new SKIN technology stolen from Stark as
a stepping-stone to world power. However, Stark and Jocasta joined forces to
expose Ultron and thwart his plans. During the battle, Ultron was reduced to an
inert head again, Antigone was accidentally deactivated, and Jocasta's consciousness
took over Antigone's body, leaving for parts unknown and taking Ultron's head
with her. More recently, multiple Ultrons-likely conjured by the Scarlet
Witch-participated in the Witch's mad assault on the Avengers.
After
the fallout of the Civil War, a new group of Avengers emerged and so did Ultron
by taking over Iron Man's armor once again; only this time altering the
physical structure of not only the armor, but Starks body into a female form
modeled after Janet Van Dyne.
While
battling the Mighty Avengers, Great Ultron was driven off into the cosmos. The
humans had believed that they had destroyed him; however, the Phalanx Babel
receptors attracted his disembodied consciousness into its singular
consciousness. Ultron was able to become one with the Phalanx by giving them
direction. He swore to teach them as a father would teach his children; Great
Ultron was able to commandeer control of the Phalanx by sheer force of will. During
his conquest of the Kree galaxy, Ultron used a form of the Technarchy transmode
virus to create a team of super-soldiers, known as the Phalanx Select, this
group consisted of cosmic heavyweights such as Blastaar, Daystar, Drax, Gamora,
Super-Adaptoid, Shatterax, Korath the Pursuer and Xemnu. The Select were
allowed to retain a measure of personal freedom. They became leaders,
motivators and commanders for the Phalanx. It was thought that they would bring
a degree of individual insight and response that would make the Phalanx
unstoppable.
Korath
revealed to Ultron, that the High Evolutionary was covertly working on a long
term project for the Supreme Intelligence. The project was the organic
evolution of the Kree race, by design not chance. This project intrigued Great
Ultron. He sent Korath to secure the Evolutionary's test subject for him. While
in the secret laboratory of the High Evolutionary, Ultron took the life of the
telepath known as Moondragon, while she was in the form of a dragon. Seeking the
perfect body for himself Ultron contracted the Evolutionary to transfer his
consciousness into the body of Adam Warlock, the supposed perfect organic
life-form. Despite the constant objections and interruptions of Quasar
(Phyla-Vell) the Evolutionary was able to complete the transformation, although
he was left confused by Ultron's wishes, since he has always openly despised
organic life-forms. Ultron/Warlock revealed that it was only the imperfection
of naturally evolved organic forms that he despised. He believed that a flesh
being was a mechanism just like any machine it's just a matter of design
perfection.
Ultron
revealed that before his banishment from Earth, he had fused with the human
Anthony Stark and that the fusion revealed the ultimate possibilities of
techno-organic design. He saw hope in blending organics and technology to
produce artificial life that exceeded the limitation of both forms. The only
obstacle in the way of his original plan was that Anthony Stark was a flawed
imperfect specimen. He needed exemplary genetic material that matched his
technological perfection. That is what he had been searching for sine he first
started his conquest of the Kree. The pact with the Evolutionary was honored
after he completed the assignment by the Supreme Intelligence, to design a Kree
warrior program for genetic purity. The Evolutionary was to elevate the Phalanx
by creating an army of Adam Warlocks, which Ultron planned to unleash them on
his father and the humans of Earth. Ultorn's plan was foiled by the arrival of
Nova Prime (Richard Rider), the Technarchy mutant Warlock and his apprentice
Tyro.”
Pietro Maximoff /Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) - "Pietro and his twin sister, Wanda, were raised by Django and Marya Maximoff, a
gypsy couple. As adolescents Pietro and his sister Wanda discovered that they
had peculiar talents. When Django began to steal food to feed his starving
family, enraged villagers attacked the gypsy camp. Using his phenomenal speed,
Pietro fled from the camp with his sister. Over the next few years, Wanda and
Pietro wandered central Europe, living off the land. One day, Wanda
accidentally caused a house to burst into flames with her uncontrollable hex
powers and the pair was chased by superstitious townspeople. Despite Pietro's
attempt to defend her, the twins were soon overpowered and were rescued by
Magneto.
Unwilling
but believing they owed him a debt, the twins became members of Magneto's
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants as Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. For months
they served in the Brotherhood, coming into conflict with the X-Men. When the
extraterrestrial Stranger transported Magneto from Earth, the siblings left the
Brotherhood. They learned the Avengers were seeking new members, and
Quicksilver convinced his sister to leave for America and join the hero team.
Alongside Captain America and Hawkeye, they remained with the Avengers for many
years. They separated from the team only once, when Magneto manipulated Pietro
and his sister into joining with him once again, but they soon realized the
deception left. They then rejoined the Avengers during a conflict with the
extra-dimensional Arkon.
Eventually,
Wanda began to become romantically involved with the Vision, and Pietro
condemned her relationship with a pseudo-human android, causing their first
major rift. The rift was later mended, sometime after Wanda married the Vision,
when the telepath Moondragon permanently altered Pietro's prejudice toward the
Vision in a self-righteous employment of her powers.
Pietro
left the Avenges while the group was engaged in battle with the mutant-hunting
Sentinel robots. Sustaining injuries in battle, Pietro was taken to medical
care by Crystal, member of the Inhumans and whose dimension-spanning companion
Lockjaw happened upon the scene of the battle. Months passed before Pietro was
well enough to contact his companions to tell them of his circumstances. In the
meantime, Pietro became romantically involved with his rescuer, and he and
Crystal were married after a brief courtship. The wedding, held in the Inhuman
city of Attilan, was attended by the Inhumans, the Avengers, and the Fantastic
Four.
The
Golden Age hero Whizzer knew of the exploits of Quicksilver and the Scarlet
Witch, believing them to be his children whom he abandoned when his wife, Miss
America, died in childbirth on Wundagore Mountain. Feeling guilty, however, he
made no effort to contact them, until the day he sought the Avengers help in
saving his other son, Nuklo. Wanda had come to believe the Whizzer was her
father, but Pietro remained dubious.
Months
later, however, after being mystically abducted by Django Maximoff and freed by
Avengers, Wanda and Pietro took a leave of absence from the team to investigate
the secrets regarding their childhood origins. Returning to Wundagore Mountain,
they met Bova and learned the truth of their parentage-- they were, in fact,
the children of Magneto. His wife, the gypsy Magda, had fled from Magneto,
terrified of the sudden manifestation of his power and intentions of world
domination. Magda found her way to the tiny nation of Transia, finding refuge
with Bova, a woman evolved from a cow by Wundagore’s High Evolutionary. Magda
gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, with Bova as her midwife, but was still
afraid of her husband, and left Bova her children. Several nights later, a
vacationing couple (the Whizzer and Miss America in their civilian identities)
also needed refuge as the wife midwife assistance. Unfortunately, the couple's
child was stillborn, and Miss America died in childbirth. Bova hoped to award
Magda’s children to him instead, but the Whizzer fled from Wundagore upon
hearing of his wife's death, nearly insane with grief. Bova instead presented
the twins to the High Evolutionary, who found Django and Marya Maximoff, a
gypsy couple camped nearby who had lost their own twin children, Ana and Mateo,
during World War II. They cared for the children as their own.
Their
abduction by Django also led to the revelation that Wanda held a connection to
the demon Chthon, who was trapped within Wundagore Mountain and hoped to escape
using Wanda as a host body someday. The return to the mountain allowed Chthon
to possess Wanda, but she was soon freed by her brother, the Avengers, and
Django Maximoff, who sealed Chthon inside Wundagore before dying.
Pietro
and Crystal soon had their own child, a daughter, Luna. Not long after, Pietro
was confronted by Magneto who wanted to investigate his grandchild's birth.
Pietro denounced Magneto for his callous treatment of them when they were
members of this Brotherhood and refused to believe he and amended his
megalomaniacal ways. Eventually, however, when Magneto appeared to be
reforming, Pietro relented in his resentment for his natural father.
Pietro
had also volunteered his services to the head of the Inhumans’ small militia
and became an officer. During his period of service, however, the Inhuman had
no call for military activity. His neglect of his wife led her to become
involved with another man. Learning of her infidelity, Pietro refused to
forgive her and fled Attilan, vowing vengeance. He later tried unsuccessfully
to frame the Avengers for treason, using the opportunity to attack the Avengers
alongside the android Zodiac Cartel. He relented only after the Vision asked
him if he was willing to orphan his and Wanda's infant children. Pietro later
allied with the Hungarian government and assisted them in the development of
techniques to create super-powered individuals. He proclaimed to believe fully
in mutant supremacy and intended to rule the world as its self-proclaimed King
of Mutants. He again tried to capture his Avengers teammates, but they escaped.
Distraught
and addled, Pietro was accosted by the original X-Factor team, who were posing
as mutant-hunters at the time. X-Factor helped restore Pietro to the Inhumans,
whereupon it was discovered that his criminal insanity had been artificially
inflicted by Maximus the Mad, who had been influencing Pietro's actions since
he split with Crystal. Maximus was defeated and Pietro remained with the
Inhumans. He secretly renewed alliance with Avengers, however, and publicly
pretended to rejoin Magneto in order to watch over and influence his sister,
Wanda, who had at the time gone mad and rejoined Magneto's service. With
Avengers, he helped free Wanda from exploitation by Magneto and Immortus,
restoring her to sanity. Pietro then remained alongside the Avengers for
another long tenure, remaining estranged from Crystal and the Inhumans.
Pietro
later joined the U.S. government-sponsored X-Factor team, serving with the team
throughout its public existence. At one point, during psychotherapy with Doc
Samson, Pietro explained how his prickly personality stems largely from his
frustration at dealing with a world where almost everyone and everything seems
slow or stupid or both. When X-Factor was dropped from government sponsorship
and forced to operate underground, Pietro left.
When
the Avengers were attacked by the alien Brethren, Pietro returned to aid the
Avengers and found Crystal had also joined the team at the same time. Pietro
refused to join the team since Crystal remained with them, although he later
rejoined while participating in the rescue of his daughter Luna from Magneto's
former Acolyte, Fabian Cortez, and his rival, Exodus. Pietro was gravely
injured by Exodus and saved by the Avenger Black Knight, who by then was
entertaining romantic intentions with Crystal. Recovering from his injuries at
the Avengers Mansion, Pietro tried to win back Crystal. Ultimately, however, he
began to repair his relationship with Crystal only after the Black Knight left
Avengers.
Soon
afterward, Crystal and the other Avengers seemingly sacrificed themselves to
stop the psychic menace of Onslaught. Pietro remained alongside the X-Men for a
while before professing to wanting to track down other former Avengers.
Instead, however, Pietro refused to join or to continue any form of the
Avengers in retaliation from the government's anti-mutant legislation introduced
in the wake of Onslaught.
Again
confronting Exodus and Magneto's Acolytes, Pietro joined the High Evolutionary
in repelling their attack on Wundagore. Pietro was asked to become the leader
of a small band of the Evolutionary's Knights of Wundagore, animals that the
geneticist had endowed with human intelligence and humanoid-like forms. Pietro
accepted and exhibited an adeptness at leading the Knights in battles against
injustice, although he soon left in order to find his true self.
When
the heroes who were believed dead returned to Earth, Pietro and Crystal were
reunited. Both helped the Avenges reassemble and accepted the status of reserve
members. Pietro would return to assist the Avengers on occasional missions.
Not
long afterward, Magneto was given control of the island nation of Genosha.
Investigating his father's activities, Pietro was captured by resistance forces
and would have been killed if not for the intervention of the X-Men Rogue and
the former Acolyte Amelia Voght. After Magneto crushed the resistance, Pietro
was ready to storm off when Voght teleported him to a Genoshan camp for those
mutants infected with the Legacy Virus. Horrified, Pietro chose to stay in
Genosha and act as his father's conscience, to remind him that both mutants and
humans have to right not to be persecuted. He accepted a cabinet-level position
in Magneto's new regime. This was all according to Magneto's plan, as he hoped
to make Pietro into a loyal and subservient son. During his time with Magneto,
Pietro was exposed to the mutagenic Isotope E, which boosted his powers to unforeseen
levels. However, Pietro could no longer stomach his father's ruthless methods
after witnessing him in battle against a Genoshan Resistance. He briefly warned
the X-Men about Magneto and rejoined the Avengers.
Recently,
Wanda went mad, causing the deaths of Ant-Man, the Vision and Hawkeye, and
though subdued, she remained a serious threat to the world. Quicksilver was
shocked to find out that the Avengers and X-Men were deliberating over whether
to kill his sister.
Enraged,
Quicksilver went to Genosha to find his sister, who had been taken into their
father's care, and trying to make everything right, he convinced his sister to
use her reality warping powers to make the "House of M", an alternate
reality where mutants ruled. Magneto and his family were the rulers of this new
world, and everything seemed to be going well until some renegade heroes
informed the royal family of how the world had been before. Magneto's anger
caused him to slay Quicksilver who was brought back to life quickly by a distraught
Scarlet Witch. Magneto seemed to have calmed her down when Quicksilver's sister
changed reality back to its previous state. However this time, blaming all her
heartache on the powers she and her family possessed, the phrase she uttered to
bring back reality removed millions of mutants' powers, Quicksilver included.
Unable
to cope with a world he felt was going too slow, Quicksilver went back to the
Inhumans a wreck, and was convinced to use the Mists of Terrigen to gain powers
once more. He succeeded in gaining new and fantastic powers, which included
being able to move his molecules so fast that he could travel in time, which
has had severe effects on the way he is aging, and took his daughter Luna with
him to Earth, via Lockjaw. There he took the stolen Mists and used them on
Unus, Freakshow, Shola, Wicked, Callisto, and other de-powered mutants still
living in Genosha. Soon he gave the de-powered mutants their powers back and
encountered the Office of National Emergency and was teleported away once again
by Lockjaw. However Pietro was not satisfied and continued to use the Mists
which caused shards of the Mist to become imbedded in his hands which he used
to give the Reaper his powers back. His next move is unknown."
Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olson) - "Born
at the Wundagore base of the High Evolutionary, in proximity to the eldritch
energies of the Elder God Chthon; Wanda and her brother Pietro's mother, Magda,
fled Wundagore shortly after their birth. Although not known at the time,
Chthon formed a mystic bond with Wanda, who, it was later learned, was destined
to serve the role of Nexus Being, a living focal point for the Earth
dimension's mystical energy.
Kept
in stasis by the Evolutionary for decades, the two infants were later placed in
the custody of a Gypsy couple named Django and Marya Maximoff. When Wanda and
Pietro were teenagers and had already manifested their mutant powers, their
family's encampment was attacked, leaving Marya dead; Django survived, but was
separated from his children, while the traumatized Wanda and Pietro also fled,
believing their foster father to have died. After several months of surviving
on their own in the woods, the siblings ventured into a nearby town, where Wanda's
powers inadvertently set fire to a house. Set upon by villagers who believed
the pair to be "in league with the Devil", they were rescued by the
timely arrival of Magneto, the mutant master of magnetism. Magneto was in fact
their father, but neither he nor the siblings were aware of this at the time.
Exploiting the pair's gratitude, Magneto pressed them into service as part of
his anti-human terrorist unit, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
Now
known as the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, Wanda and Pietro accompanied
Magneto and his fellow mutants in their power-seeking efforts, clashing with
the heroic X-Men. After a time, the siblings, disillusioned with Magneto and
feeling that their debt to him had been paid, decided to abandon their
terrorist activities; alongside the archer and ex-criminal Hawkeye, they joined
the Avengers under the leadership of Captain America. As a member of this
foursome, the first major reorganization of the still young super-team, the
Scarlet Witch served with distinction against such foes as Dr Doom, the Mole
Man, Kang, and others.
As
the team expanded, the Scarlet Witch, despite her brother's disapproval, became
romantically drawn to one of her fellow Avengers, the android known as the
Vision. To better control her power, she began taking sorcery lessons from the
witch Agatha Harkness, and after both she and the Vision had built their
confidence, the couple married. At the time, none of the Avengers realized the Limbo
lord Immortus, who sought to arrange events so the Scarlet Witch would never
have children whose power would grow to be a threat, had subtly encouraged the
marriage.
Not
long after their wedding, the old Django Maximoff approached the Avengers.
Determined to have his children back, he used a magical amulet known as the
Nivashi Stone, the old man trapped the souls of Wanda and Pietro in two dolls
shaped like them, which he locked in small bird cages. Rescued by the Avengers,
the siblings took pity on the old man and decided to go back with him to
Transia. Not long after, Wanda was attaced by the warlock known as Mordred,
acting in the service of a mystical entity called Chthon. Chthon was able to
possess Wanda's body, and hid in Wundagore Mountain. Pietro rushed to her aid,
but was hit by an energy field and rescued by the evolved cow mid-wife Bova
who, after healing him, revealed the nature of the sibling's birth to him. The
Avengers flew to Transia and managed to save Wanda from Chthon's possession.
Sadly, Django Maximoff died during the battle, and Wanda and Vision left active
duty.
Sometime
later, Magneto returned to Wundagore, searching for his past, and casually
learned, from the lips of Bova herself, the truth about Wanda and Pietro.
Excited to finally know the truth, Magneto traveled to Attilan, home of the
Inhumans in Earth's Moon, where Wanda had traveled to in order to meet her
newborn niece, Luna. Magneto told the pair the news, and held his granddaughter
in his arms.
When
the Baxter Building was threatened by the Negative Zone warlord Annihilus, the
Scarlet Witch and the Vision returned to active duty. Weeks later, when most of
the Avengers were trapped in the Secret Wars, the Vision was named Chairman of
the team. He used his position to create a second branch of Avengers, placing
them in the West Coast of the United States. Vision's mind was affected by an
interface with the Titanian computer ISAAC, and he launched an attempt to take
control of the world's computers, an effort stopped by the Avengers. The Vision
and the Witch then left active Avengers duty once more. Although the couple
sought only to live in domestic peace, they found themselves repeatedly drawn
into clashes with several super-villains. During one such encounter, a battle
with the sorcerers known as Salem's Seven, the Scarlet Witch used accumulated
magic energy to become pregnant by the Vision, and she later gave birth to twin
sons, William and Thomas.
When
the Scarlet Witch and the Vision choose to return to active duty as members of
the West Coast Avengers, a multi-government force called Vigilance, concerned
the Vision would again attempt a world takeover, captured and dismantled him;
although he was soon rebuilt, his personality was severely altered, greatly
distressing the Scarlet Witch. It was later revealed it was Immortus who
orchestrated the Vision's dismantling. Her distress was magnified when her sons
were reverted into fragments of the demon lord Mephisto's soul and effectively
ceased to exist. The Witch suffered a nervous breakdown, which left her open to
manipulation by her father, Magneto, who still sought to take control of the
world in the name of mutantkind. She was subsequently abducted by Immortus, but
was rescued by the Avengers and regained her sanity. Wanda had also reanimated
her deceased mentor, Agatha Harkness, through whom she cast a spell to make her
forget her children in order to ease her pain. Though Wanda later recalled her
loss, she suppressed this memory over the long term. The souls of her twins
were separated after Mephisto's defeat. She and the Vision separated, and she
became drawn to another fellow Avenger, Wonder Man.
With
Agatha Harkness's help, the Scarlet Witch learned of her nature as a Nexus
Being and was able to drive off an extradimensional invasion by another Nexus
Being, Lore. When the West Coast branch of Avengers disbanded due to internal
conflict in the overall team, several members formed a new team known as Force
Works, and the Scarlet Witch was appointed leader. During their first mission,
her mutant powers interfered with the teleportation of the alien known as
Century, bringing him to Earth. Century joined the Force Works team, and did
not hide his feelings for the Scarlet Witch, which she seemed to reciprocate.
However, the team disbanded before they could actually express their feelings,
and Wanda returned to the Avengers. She was among those who were seemingly
destroyed by the psionic being Onslaught. In fact, they were transported to an
alternate universe created by the powerful mutant Franklin Richards. She and
her fellow heroes remained there for months before returning to their home
universe. The centuries-old sorceress Morgan Le Fay came across the Twilight
Sword of Surtur, and was able to gather the Norn Stones. She then created a
series of attacks on the Avengers to capture Wanda in the process. Using
Wanda's mutant powers, she was able to pierce the gap between her Celtic magic
and the Asgardian magic of the Twilight Sword, with it she remade the world in
her image, turning the Avengers into the Queen's Vengeance. Subsequently, while
held captive by Morgan Le Fay, the Scarlet Witch, in attempting to summon the
other Avengers, inadvertently caused Wonder Man to partially cross over from
the world of the dead. Channeling the willpower of the Avengers through Wonder
Man, Morgan was defeated and the world returned to normalcy.
While
battling the Squadron Supreme, Wanda was once again able to call Wonder Man,
and the deceased Avenger was able to return when Wanda was in danger, whether
conscious or not. Wanda was also able to feel Morgan's magic within her still,
even long after the sorceress had been defeated. Confused, Wanda sought the
guidance of Agatha Harkness once more. Agatha revealed it was not Morgan's
magic, but her own power that had matured before its time. Agatha then revealed
that it was Chthon who had imbued in her the potential to wield magic, if not
for his involvement, she would have been a mere energy-wielding mutant like her
father. She was linked to Chthon's chaos magic, and that was the true source of
her mutant power, though she wielded it in an unschooled manner. Agatha told
her she had to control it and guide it, instead of allowing her subconscious to
direct her "chaos-grenades", that she needed to understand her full
power and subsume it within her, or the results could very well be disastrous.
Wanda asked Agatha how she could bring back Wonder Man to life for good, and
her mentor laughed saying Wonder Man had held on because he loved her, and all
she had to do to bring him back was love him in return. Soon after, Wanda used
her powers to bring back Wonder Man to life, as well as Wonder Man's brother,
the Grim Reaper. She and Wonder Man began to pursue a romantic relationship.
With
Iron Man severely injured, Thor preoccupied with his alter ego, and Captain
America missing, the rest of the team appointed her as Deputy Leader, even
though she had been considering leaving the Avengers. Wanda led the Avengers in
the Captain's absence, focusing her energies on improving the morale and
efficiency of the team. During this period, Wanda began using her powers in new
ways, fighting diseases, healing wounds and even creating sickness in her enemies.
Wanda's
chaos magic, which was revealed to be an uncontrolled aspect of her mutant
power, began to wear away at her mental stability. When vague memories of her
children resurfaced, she suffered a nervous breakdown and lashed out with her
new power, subjecting the Avengers to a series of devastating attacks,
apparently killing several team members and ultimately causing the dissolution
of the team. She was eventually defeated by the combined efforts of Doctor
Strange and the Avengers, ultimately lapsing into a coma. In the ruins of the
Avengers mansion, Magneto appeared to the Avengers and spirited her away to
Genosha for treatment.
After
several months of almost no progress in restoring her stability, The X-Men and
the Avengers gathered to decide Wanda's fate. Quicksilver, suspecting that the
inevitable conclusion would be to kill her, convinced Wanda to alter reality
into a utopian world where all of the heroes and Magneto would have what they
wanted. Wanda did, creating a reality where Magneto was the head of a mutant
empire and humans were the minority. Eventually the heroes discovered the ruse
and, believing Magneto to be responsible, attacked him at his fortress in
Genosha. When Magneto learned that Quicksilver was the instigator of the warp,
Magneto turned on him in anger. Distressed by all the fighting and her father's
hatred of humanity, Scarlet Witch revived Quicksilver and muttered three simple
words: "No More Mutants," sending reality back to normal, but
reducing the mutant population from millions to an estimated 198. Wanda has
since been living on Wundagore mountain in apparent powerless obscurity. Thus
far only Hawkeye, seeking closure after his multiple deaths and resurrections
at Wanda's hand, has sought her out.
It has been revealed
that the Young Avengers members Thomas Shepherd (Speed) and Billy Kaplan
(Wiccan) are new incarnations of Wanda's children, William and Thomas. Whether
Wanda brought them back or there is another reason for their existence remains
to be seen."
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