When it comes to family ties, comic books are like soap operas. Nearly everyone has a convoluted backstory. But perhaps none quite like Scarlet Witch and her twin brother Quicksilver.
Some brief background. When Wanda and Pietro Maximoff first arrived on the scene back in 1964, they were villainous mutants. Part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (because 1960s supervillains were very forthright in their organizational names), they fought against the X-Men before eventually defecting to the side of good.
Their parents were originally Django and Marya Maximoff, part of a group of traveling Romani people. Later on, the twins history was retconned to make Magneto their father and Magda (Magneto”s ex-wife) their mother. In that version of the tale, Magda fled while pregnant, giving birth to her children at the base of the High Evolutionary. The High Evolutionary was a mad scientist/geneticist involved in a fight with the Elder God, Chthon. Chthon accidentally infused Scarlet Witch with magical powers on top of her mutant abilities and the children were placed in the care of foster parents Django and Marya Maximoff.
With me so far? Good. Now forget it all because it doesn”t matter anymore. UNCANNY AVENGERS #4 just changed the game again.
According to this preview, Magneto is out of the picture once more. Instead, Marvel returns Django and Marya Maximoff as the rightful birth parents of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. However, the High Evolutionary now lays claim to all their superpowers, rendering them genetically manipulated humans…and not mutants at all.
In one fell swoop, this lines Wanda and Pietro”s story up nicely with the direction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and yanks them out of the mutant pool for good. Or at least until the next origin story.
You can read the entire preview for UNCANNY AVENGERS #4 over at ComicVine.com!