Scarlet Witch is a 2023 comic from Marvel Comics, a solo series starring Wanda Maximoff, the titular Scarlet Witch. It's written by Steve Orlando.
Over the years, Wanda's made painful mistakes and been manipulated by dark forces. But now she's broken free of all that, and is forging a new life. She's helping people as a superhero, but she's also helping people by running an occult shop where those with mystical problems can seek help.
The series ended with issue #10, and was followed by the limited series Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver, by the same creative team.
The first issue was released on January 4, 2023.
Scarlet Witch contains examples of the following tropes:
- All Myths Are True: Mardj seeks Wanda's help to recover the fabled Sword in the Star, which may unite the people of Tryfa to fight the Nillan invaders. It's subverted when they finally open the carrion gate, reach the dead sentry's heart and find a dusty altar but no sword. Either it never existed or it's long gone. So Wanda and Polaris make the myth true by combining their powers to create it.
- Almost Kiss: During their duel of truths, Wanda notes that she and Loki have much more in common than either of them initially thought, during which she leans closer towards his face for a kiss... only for her to abruptly pull away.
- Always a Bigger Fish: During their battle across many dimensions, Wanda and Agatha fight on the shoulder of the Living Tribunal in the Megaverse, who is themself resting on the shoulder of an even larger giant. Presumably this is Marvel's half of The Brothers
. - Anti-Magic: The very first person Wanda helps in issue one has a stone on a necklace that repels magic in a way she's never seen before. She asks to borrow it for study because of the mystery, as it's so powerful it numbs her hand just holding it.
- Back from the Dead: Magneto, previously killed in X-Men Red, seemingly makes a sudden reappearance in this series. It's later revealed "Magneto" is actually Joseph, his clone, but this still counts as Joseph was also seemingly dead.
- Canon Immigrant: Darcy Lewis was created as a Canon Foreigner supporting character for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, first appearing in the 2011 film Thor. The Scarlet Witch series is her first appearance in the Marvel Universe comics.
- Continuity Nod: The first annual follows up on Wanda having sealed Chthon within herself back in Darkhold. Since then many demons and sorcerers have been trying to kill her and seize Chthon's power for themselves, and Agatha says the Powers that Be aren't exactly comfortable with her being the sole obstacle to Chthon's release either.
- Breath Weapon: Caeceleon, an amphibious Kaiju created by Dr. Hydro, has some sort of breath weapon, portrayed as a bolt of blue-white energy. It's exact nature isn't clear, as the Scarlet Witch teleports the creature away before it can do any more damage.
- The Bus Came Back: The first issue sees the Scarlet Witch clash with Dr. Hydro, a Sub-Mariner villain making his first appearance since the 1980s.
- Doing in the Scientist: The Corrupter, Jackson Day, got his powers from a chemical spill at a pharmaceutical plant. Because a stone with Anti-Magic properties provides protection against his control, Wanda theorizes that his powers have a magical basis.
- Entitled Bastard: Nelson Gruber, Sleepwalker's old enemy the Bookworm, comes through the Last Door in issue 7. He had brought Oz to life and tried to rule over it, and is upset at being overthrown by the Wicked Witch of the West, least of all because she cut off his hand to do it. While Wanda is willing to offer her aid freely, he's very pushy and entitled about it.
- Fighting Across Time and Space: In the first annual Wanda ends up in a fight with Agatha Harkness shortly after reuniting with her that takes them across many parallel dimensions, their clothes shifting to match their surroundings. When they're done they return to where they left in Wanda's Shop as if no time at all has passed.
- Forced into Evil: In #9, Joseph is implied to be this when he sadly admits that he wishes he didn't have to betray Wanda and enjoyed his time as her pseudo-brother but has to obey Hexfinder, presumably because of whatever she did to bring him back to life.
- Idle Rich: The people Wanda rescues in the first issue are a cult comprised of rich people whose religious beliefs drive them to get as close to "the Primordial" like Kaiju as possible. Wanda says that's a very dangerous pastime but their only response is that they're bored and very rich.
- Kaiju: In the first issue, Dr. Hydro introduces his latest creation - Caeceleon, a huge reptilian monster with some sort of Breath Weapon. Caeceleon is apparently amphibious, and is large and strong enough to lift and break a cruise liner in his hands.
- Kansas City Shuffle: Agatha spends her visit to Wanda seemingly testing her magical abilities and personal focus, when in reality she slipped a piece of herself past Wanda's defences while Wanda was responding to the more obvious threat so that Agatha could claim a piece of Chthon for herself.
- Magnetic Plot Device: To facilitate her work, Wanda created a seeking spell slash Portal Door called The Last Door. Whenever someone in the world has nowhere else to go for help, the next door they go through will open in her shop.
- The Mole: Joseph is this for Hexfinder. How willing he is in her schemes is uncertain.
- My Nayme Is: Tryfa's champion, introduced in #3, is Mardj. Whether or not it's actually pronounced 'Marge' is unclear.
- On Patrol Montage: In #3, Wanda and Polaris help Mardj liberate Tryfa and defeat the invading Nillans. The quest is presented as a montage of ten Splash Panels, each one showing a key event.
- Passive-Aggressive Kombat: In #8, Wanda tries to convince Loki to let the exiled Mountain Giants a place back in Jotunheim. Loki, who's been preemptively hit with a truth hex by Wanda, decides to settle things with a "battle of honesty" where reveal to each other their darkest secrets, with the winner being the one whose truth cuts deepest. After some verbal sparring, Loki concedes defeat when Wanda notes that he will never be able to confront his "true self".
- Post-Modern Magik: In #2, Viv Vision, the synthezoid, arrives through the Last Door for help with her reoccurring nightmares. Wanda magically enters her dreamscape to discover Nightmare Weaver Dreamqueen feeding on her grief and trauma.
- Refugee from TV Land: Issue 7 has the Wicked Witch of the West reveal that the Bookworm doesn't bring the fictional characters he reads about to life, he actually transports them against their will from the Ideaverse. That he then tries to rule over them is a big part of why she overthrew him.
- Scars Are Forever: Joseph still bears a scar on his neck from Psylocke decapitating him.
- Splash Panel: Issue #3 has ten pages of splash panels, an On Patrol Montage showing Wanda and Polaris aiding Mardj in her quest.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: In the first annual Agatha Harkness snuck Brood eggs into Wanda's tea as an object lesson of the risk she took on containing Chthon within herself. After settling the dispute from that, it turns out this was a feint to cover her slipping in a piece of her own soul so Agatha could get to Chthon within and steal his heart.
- Trojan Horse: Wanda bargains with the Dreamqueen to leave Viv Vision alone by offering up her concentrated grief over the loss of her children in the form of a morsel of food. What Dreamqueen doesn't realize until after, was that this morsel had a transformation spell hidden inside. This spell makes it so that from then on she can only derive sustenance from feeding on bliss instead of grief, but it will still taste as unappetizing to her as it normally would. Wanda basically cursed the Dreamqueen to have to eat what is crap to her to survive, while also making her give people sweet dreams to do so.
- Variant Cover: The first issue has thirteen different variant covers (as well as the 'standard' one). The cover images range all the way from a horrific bat-winged, Belly Mouthed 'Demonized' version of Wanda to a blank red cover.
