The Big Picture
- Wanda Maximoff, also known as the Scarlet Witch, is the most powerful character in the MCU.
- Throughout the series, Wanda’s powers have grown, and she has demonstrated the ability to change reality itself.
- In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda becomes a villain and wreaks havoc, but ultimately realizes her mistakes and takes control of her power.
If we stop to think about it, it feels pointless to squabble over who is the most powerful character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With such an expansive universe involving hundreds of writers and directors, the power scale of MCU’s villains and heroes has wildly varied over the years, and different movies and series can upgrade or downgrade specific characters so that they can better serve the story. Still, something keeps pushing us, MCU nerds, to spend hours on the internet discussing which fictional character would win in a fight. It’s just too much fun to scour the MCU for clues and argue in favor of Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thanos (Josh Brolin), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) or Captain Marvel (Brie Larson). You are all wrong, though. The most powerful character in the MCU is the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), and it’s not even a fair competition.
Wanda Maximoff Is the Most Powerful MCU Character
Since its inception, the MCU has frequently introduced heroes and villains weaker than their comic book counterparts. It’s an understandable creative choice, as giving your stories high stakes is easier when the heroes saving the world are vulnerable. And since the MCU was designed to please everyone, not only comic book readers, downgrading most characters’ powers helped to keep the movies grounded until people were addicted to Marvel Studios’ colorful universe. Wanda Maximoff suffered a similar fate. Her Avengers: Age of Ultron introduction gave her mind control, flight, and the ability to shoot generic energy beams from her hands. Wanda was still a formidable adversary, capable of tipping the scales in favor of Ultron (James Spader) or the Avengers, depending on who she was helping. Still, without her Chaos Magic from Marvel Comics, Wanda was not more powerful than Thor or Hulk. She just had different strengths.
Captain America: Civil War began to close the gap between the MCU Wanda and her comic book counterpart by increasing her powers. Wanda is visibly more powerful in Civil War, quickly subduing the Vision (Paul Bettany) to escape Avengers Compound before fighting by the side of Captain America (Chris Evans) during the airport battle. The Russo Brothers kept expanding Wanda’s powers in Avengers: Infinity War, when the Sokovian hero became an absolute powerhouse.
Infinity War is all about Thanos’ quest to collect the Infinity Stones. During his journey, Thanos defeats Thor and the Hulk while holding a single Infinity Stone. Later, when he already has four Infinity Stones, he singlehandedly defeats the Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and Doctor Strange. However, at the end of the third arc, when Thanos comes to Wakanda to retrieve the Mind Stone, Wanda manages to split her attention into breaking the artifact and holding down Thanos and his five Infinity Stones. So, with her powers at the time, Wanda could destroy an Infinity Stone and fight a superpowered Thanos at the same time. That sounds like everything we need to crown Wanda as the most powerful character in the MCU. However, in Phase 4, Marvel Studios gave Wanda another major upgrade.
The Scarlet Witch’s Power Is Unmatched in the MCU
In the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, Wanda is consumed by grief after losing Vision forever. Her inner turmoil leads to a power outburst that transports Wanda and all the citizens of Westview into a sitcom fabricated by the former hero’s mind. While she wasn’t fully aware of what she was doing, Wanda changed reality city-wide, trapping hundreds of people into a nightmarish dimension where they act to keep the fantasy alive. The Westview incident during the WandaVision series underlines how powerful Wanda is. Wanda can do more than move things with her mind; she can create life. Wanda resurrects the Vision and gives birth to two children, and she does that while not even controlling her powers.
WandaVision is vital to understanding how powerful Wanda truly is. In the series, we find out that Wanda’s powers don’t come from Hydra experiments. In fact, she was born the Scarlet Witch, wielder of Chaos Magic. While Wanda was unaware of her powers, she could always change reality, forcing the world to change shape according to her will. That’s how she manages to turn Westview into her personal paradise, where she has a fulfilling life by the side of her dead husband. In the years that preceded WandaVision, Wanda was unaware of her skills. However, after the series, she knows the Scarlet Witch has the power to break time-space. That is why the Scarlet Witch becomes unstoppable once she turns into a villain for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
In WandaVision, Wanda gets her hands on the Darkhold, a cursed magic book created by Chthon, the Elder God from whom Chaos Magic originates. Chthon wants to rule the Multiverse, and the Scarlet Witch is his main tool. So, once Wanda begins to read the Darkhold, the Elder God twists her mind, and she becomes determined to conquer the Multiverse to keep her children safe. In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we see Wanda kill multiple Variants of Doctor Strange, destroy Kamar-Taj, and eviscerate the Illuminati of Earth-383.
While each adversary who stands in Wanda’s way represents one of the strongest characters in the MCU, the Scarlet Witch doesn’t even break a sweat while mowing down her enemies. She’s so powerful that the audience wonders who might be capable of stopping her and saving the universe. And at the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the only thing that stops the Scarlet Witch is herself. Wanda realizes the errors of her ways, becomes aware of how the Darkhold has been corrupting her thoughts, and decides to destroy Chthon’s temple and every version of the Darkhold that exists in every timeline. Yes, just like that, Wanda reaches every corner of the Multiverse and changes its history so that Chthon can no longer threaten any timeline.
Wanda might not have started her journey as the most powerful character in the MCU. However, even as we continue on in Phase 5 of the MCU, there’s still no other character who exhibits so much raw power. Without the help of any magic item, such as an Infinity Stone, the Scarlet Witch can still make reality bend to her will. And when someone can change the laws of physics by just thinking about it, there’s really no competition when it comes to choosing the MCU’s most powerful character.
WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are available on Disney+.
