Marvel has long had a villain problem onscreen. Aside from a few notable exceptions like Loki, Thanos, and Killmonger, MCU villains tend to be rather forgettable mirror image versions of the heroes they fight to vanquish. But I'd argue Marvel has an even bigger villain problem that's far less talked about, yet continues even now in possibly the franchise's darkest outing so far.
Spinning out of What If…? season one, Marvel Zombies continues the story of a world ravaged by the undead where only a few heroes remain, including Spider-Man, Ms Marvel, and the Scarlet Witch… Except, Wanda's not acting like her usual self. Like most of the other Avengers, the Scarlet Witch has also succumbed to the zombie outbreak. But unlike the others, she's quickly positioned as the Big Bad of the story, who our faves need to fight and stop.
On the one hand, it makes sense that Wanda's reality-warping gifts might offer enough resistance for her to keep some autonomy as the newly crowned "Queen of the Dead." But the same could also be argued for other heroes like Thor, who possess god-like power of their own. Still, it should come as no surprise that Wanda, in particular, was the one chosen to become a villain again. Why break the habit of a lifetime?
Red alert
In the early days of Marvel, male heroes outnumbered their female counterparts, and the few women who did exist in this world were usually depicted as weaker too. The Invisible Girl, as she was patronisingly named back then, didn't possess the force field capabilities she does today, while Marvel Girl could barely lift a cardboard box without fainting. Ok, that's a slight exaggeration, but the fainting was not, as famously depicted (and later memed) in the 90s X-Men animated series.
When these women were eventually given their dues and allowed to manifest the full extent of their power, they would inevitably lose control, unable to get a handle on this newfound strength and descend into villainy. Jean Grey's downfall as the Dark Phoenix led to the destruction of an entire planet before her boyfriend, Cyclops, was forced to kill his "hysterical" girlfriend in order to save everyone, including Jean, from her own darkness.
Inspired by Chris Claremont's now iconic saga, Fantastic Four writer John Byrne followed suit and transformed Sue Storm into an evil, semi-naked dominatrix called Malice. Once again, it was the husband who had to save this 'Unstable Powered Woman' from herself.
Still, no other female character in Marvel has suffered as much from these tropes as Wanda Maximoff, whose entire journey has been defined for the most part by a legacy of darkness and her inability to control it. From her breakdown in West Coast Avengers to Cthon's influence and, of course, her infamous "No More Mutants" storyline in House of M, the Scarlet Witch has regularly been driven insane by power in ways that rarely, if ever, apply to her male counterparts.
Witching hour
Just as evil entities sought to control Wanda, the writers at Marvel also treated her as a puppet, one to be confronted and subdued. But after Elizabeth Olsen's version of the character gained popularity in the MCU, Jac Schaeffer's WandaVision series defied traditional notions of "good" and "evil" to explore far more complex feelings in relation to Wanda.
Did the Scarlet Witch lose control? To some degree, yes. Was her grief understandable and even relatable? Very much so. As such, fans who perceived Wanda's role in transforming Westview as just another villainous turn missed the point entirely.
During an interview with io9 at the time, Schaeffer acknowledged Wanda's comic book history and why it was important for her to move away from that in WandaVision: "There are a lot of really terrific comics and stories about Wanda. But I do think she is often used as a tool, and diving into what’s really happening inside of her was a real challenge because of the thinness of her characterization in so many storylines."
The result was a moving, poignant reconfiguration of Wanda's perception in the public eye, further cementing the Scarlet Witch as a character who's capable of far greater things than your average cookie-cutter hero. But then the Doctor Strange sequel Multiverse of Madness swooped in and undid all that hard work, taking away the control and agency she'd manifested for herself by the end of WandaVision.
Strange days
The idea was that Wanda had become corrupted by the dark magics she was entangled with in a bid to bring her sons back to life. Even within this, there might have been scope for more nuance without further propagating the sexist tropes this character has endured for decades by this point. But, no. The grief-stricken, morally complex Wanda we knew from WandaVision was instead transformed almost immediately into an unstoppable force of rage and evil who casually murdered heroes without a second thought.
Screenwriter Michael Waldron argued at the time that this interpretation was "true to who the comics’ version of the character is and what she does in the comics.” He's technically right, but that doesn't make it ok, especially now in this modern era when it would have been easy to build on the redemption that started in WandaVision.
What Multiverse of Madness did to Wanda is lazy, yes, and also a tired, reductive approach that fails to do one of Marvel's most popular characters justice. And now here we are again with Marvel Zombies where Wanda's first appearance since Multiverse of Madness continues to madden us.
There is no humanity to this zombie version of Wanda, which is fine, because you know... She is a zombie. But why pick her of all characters to be the Big Bad again? There's no comic book precedent for the Scarlet Witch taking centre stage in this alternate reality of the undead, so why make her their queen?
It's not like Marvel Zombies isn't afraid to switch things up or take some risks either. For example, this show's version of Blade has been amalgamated with Moon Knight for a fresh spin on the character, while Awkwafina's Shang-Chi sidekick Katy Chen is transformed into a hero who shares joint custody of the ten rings.
If such liberties can be taken so easily with other characters, whether they're new to the MCU or not, Marvel Zombies could have done the same and switched things up with a different villain.
Imagine how interesting it could have been to choose someone like Ms Marvel in that role, for example. Seeing her light warped in such a way would have been far more intriguing and even disturbing to watch, plus the show itself establishes that her powers are a force to be reckoned with by the end. Wouldn't it be nice to see Wanda fight as a hero again?
Wanda is the obvious choice to villainise yet again, so that's the one Marvel Zombies went for, demonising her to such a monstrous degree that she's now become a full-blown monster in every sense of the word.
And unfortunately, if the series does continue, it's more than likely that the Scarlet Witch will remain the Big Bad of this world, especially if the end of the final episode is anything to go by.
That's unfortunate, because in a world where all the rules are broken and nothing's off limits, Marvel Zombies could have taken real steps to rectify the franchise's biggest villain problem by redeeming Wanda instead of condemning her further.
Marvel Zombies is streaming now on Disney Plus. For more, check out our Marvel Zombies review, or if you've seen the streaming series and are still scratching your chin, our Marvel Zombies ending explained.
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