Talking about Scarlet Witch and Chaos Magic in the MCU

WandaVision

What is magic?

To talk about chaotic magic, it is necessary to clearly understand the core basic concept of "magic" in the MCU. Regarding this, the ancient master has shown it very vividly in "Doctor Strange". At that time, Doctor Strange, who was still a mortal body, was crippled with both hands. Under the guidance of Jonathan Pangborn, he came to Kama Taj to seek recovery. When he asked Gu Yi how to heal Pangborn, whose spinal cord was completely damaged, Master Gu Yi answered him like this:

I didn't treat him, he couldn't walk, I persuaded him to walk.

What if I told you that your body can convince itself to undergo various forms of recovery.

After that, Gu Yi used a spell to knock Doctor Strange's soul out of the body and let him travel through different dimensions and spaces in the universe and said:

At the source of reality, spirit is connected to matter, and thought sculpts reality.

From this, we can infer that in the MCU, the so-called "magic" means that there is an extremely strong desire in the heart, and then it becomes a reality without obeying the laws of physics and causality. Dreams come true", using powerful spiritual power to influence the real world, this view is similar to idealism, and it can even be said that "magic" is the product of idealism.

In the world of MCU, the first step for ordinary people to obtain magic is to have a very strong belief in "magic". In fact, not only MCU, but almost all stories related to "magic" will tell you that a person who does not believe in the existence of "magic" will never be able to learn any magic.

The Mage Branch on Earth and the Birth of the Scarlet Witch

So far, there are only two mage camps originating from the earth in the MCU for the time being, one of which is the Sorcerer led by the Supreme Mage, and the other is only in "Wanda Vision". Induced Wizard (Witch & Wizard). Here, I only make a simple comparison and distinction, and do not carry out tedious tracing back to the source.

Similarities and differences between Sorcerer and Witch & Wizard

What the two camps have in common is that they can both create simple substances and emit spell energy. The way to activate spells is to recite incantations, while for more powerful spell activation, multiple people are required to do it at the same time. This process can be called a "ceremony".

The difference between the two camps is that the threshold for becoming a Sorcerer is not high. Whether it is Pangborn, Mordo or the current Supreme Mage, they are ordinary people who do not know magic at all before coming to Kama Taj, even in the "Galaxy". In the end credits of Guardians 2 (the gathering of the marauder bosses), there is also an occult mage of alien origin. It can be seen that anyone has the possibility to become a Sorcerer, as long as they have absolute belief in "magic", but the degree of mastery of magic depends on their understanding or talent.

Since Sorcerer appeared earlier in the MCU, and Doctor Strange also plays a pivotal role in the Avengers, the organization of esoteric magicians has shown many of the spells they master in past movies, such as direct access to various locations in the universe. Local portals; open mirror space; astral projection; through incantation, draw magical energy into weapons of any form or form shields; cast protective spells on targets, etc. Therefore, for now, the magic of the occult mage looks more subtle and rich, and more positive, because it is subordinate to "white magic".

But even if they learned magic, and even mastered all kinds of magic like the Supreme Mage, the Sorcerer themselves, or in other words, their fleshly bodies, were still mortals. When they didn't recite or cast spells, they didn't have any magical energy in their bodies. Gu Yi mentioned in his first class to Doctor Strange:

We gather energy, draw it from the rest of the multiverse, cast spells, forge shields and weapons, and cast spells.

Sorcerer is a collector. These magical energy are obtained from other places and do not belong to them. Therefore, even the ancient one who is the supreme mage cannot avoid aging. He can only inject energy from Dormammu space. its own way to prolong life.

And Witch & Wizard only appeared after the end of the battle, in the entire "Infinity Saga" (from "Iron Man 1" to "Avengers 4" content, collectively referred to in the MCU as "Infinity Saga") in the story, only In Avengers 4, Frigga mentioned to Sol that she was raised by witches, and apart from that, there is no trace of them. Compared to Sorcerer's thriving branches, Witch & Wizard can be said to be thinly populated and more mysterious. In the West, whenever there are wizards in film and television dramas and their history is mentioned, it will correspond to the "witch hunt" that really happened in human history. In "Wanda Vision", Agatha Harkness said to Wanda:

The old days reappear, time has changed, and for people like us, there will always be only torches and pitchforks.

I think that Witch & Wizard's body has its own magical energy, for one thing, because Wanda grew up in an ordinary family and never learned magic, but when he was ten years old, he used magic to rewrite the magic that fell into the family. The probability of the bomb going off, she and Pietro also survived; the other, is my inference, because Sorcerer, or most Sorcerers, are no different from ordinary people when they don't use magic, and Witch & Wizard is probably because of their They are born with magical talent, and have their own magical energy in their bodies. They cannot be skillfully controlled when they are young, and they are likely to explode and hurt others when they are emotionally broken, so they are massacred. So, I also think that the threshold for becoming a Witch & Wizard is higher than Sorcerer.

Because the debut time is not long, the types of spells displayed by Witch & Wizard are also less. Mind control, psychic control, transfiguration, Rune-forbidden spells, disappearing out of thin air, etc. Compared with Sorcerer who likes to cast magical energy into weapons and fight with the enemy, Witch & Wizard seems to be better at concentrating energy on their hands and throwing or Shooting it out, though, they can also cast energy into some items, such as Agatha who made her own magical energy into silk, which bound Wanda's two sons. Energy can also be used to form large or small barriers for defense.

This is just my inference. I think that the aging speed of Witch & Wizard is slow, and even if it is advanced to Scarlet Witch, it may be immortal. In the MCU, Agatha has lived for at least more than 300 years. From being executed more than 300 years ago to Xijing Town more than 300 years later, although Agatha has signs of aging, she is very human. From an angle, at most, he is only twenty years older. But this may also be because she uses black magic to continuously absorb other people's magic power to fill herself. As for why I think the Scarlet Witch may be immortal, I'll talk about it later.

How was the Scarlet Witch born?

In the earliest comics, "Scarlet Witch" was just the self-proclaimed codename when Wanda and Pietro joined Magneto's "Brotherhood of Mutants", but with the explosion of the MCU, the first-generation Avengers group of six retired one by one , and the broadcast of "Wanda Vision", whether it is Aomei or Wanda, the popularity is gradually rising, so the setting of Wanda in the comics has also been gradually changed, which is closer to Wanda in the MCU. First of all, the identity of "mutants" has been removed. Although the parents who raised her and Kuaiyin are still not their biological parents, the setting that her biological father is "Magneto" has been modified. In Wanda's single-player comics, Wanda traveled all over the world to explore her life experience. On the road of witches outside of time, she finally met her biological mother, Natalia Maximoff, and she, Also a "Scarlet Witch". However, I think it is unlikely that the MCU will continue to use this setting, because in "Wanda Vision", Agatha emphasized when talking about the description of the Scarlet Witch in "The Book of Darkness":

Scarlet Witch was not born, she was forged.

Looking at Wanda's growth path in MCU, it can indeed be called a "forging path". So, wouldn't it be too coincidental to continue using this setting, both mother and daughter have been "forged" to become Scarlet Witch? However, it is almost certain that Wanda must have the blood of a wizard.

So how was Wanda forged as Scarlet Witch in the MCU?

In my opinion, the conditions for the birth of the Scarlet Witch are actually very harsh, which can be summed up in three words:

Talent , destiny , infinity .

And Agatha's exploration of Wanda's memories also shows us three crucial moments in Wanda's journey to become the Scarlet Witch:

1. When I was young, I modified the probability of the bomb explosion only with a strong desire in my heart, and resumed the TV broadcast;

2. Touching the spiritual gem enhances the telepathic stress, and at the same time, it is also doomed to have a fate with vision;

3. The energy surges in Xijing Town, and the reality is distorted in a single thought;

I said in the first part that if ordinary people want to use "magic", they must rely on firm beliefs and incantations, rituals, etc., then this will involve knowledge and learning. But I also said that magic is a product of idealism. I think that "magic" and "knowledge" are essentially contradictory. The essence of knowledge is limited by cause and effect and the laws of the objective world, but the essence of magic refers to thought. The infinity of thinking focuses on infinity, which is to transform the impossible into the possible from the objective material world. Is knowledge materialistic or spiritual? This is not yet conclusive, but using knowledge and learning to practice magic will be faster, but at the same time it will also tie the mind. For example, I tell you, pointing at an object and chanting "Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa" can make that object levitate. Under my teaching, you will probably master the magic of levitating objects very quickly, but from now on, you will rely on this spell, and you will not be able to levitate objects without chanting the spell, or reciting other spells. Cultivating magic through knowledge and learning can quickly master a variety of magic, but it will also limit the cultivator's thinking to the causal relationship between magic spells (ceremonies) and spellcasting effects. The essence of Agatha is like Agatha, who has practiced for three hundred years, and even captured the magic power of many people, but her mind control and transformation spell can only be realized in a small number of individuals, so it can also be explained that when she sees prosperous Da's "work" was amazed and puzzled, because it was beyond every magic book she'd ever studied.

It can be seen that talent is the foundation, including Doctor Strange, Kama Taj mages are unable to cultivate chaos magic, because their magic power is borrowed, they have no talent, and their cognition of magic depends on knowledge . Agatha can't cultivate chaos magic either. Although she has talent, her cognition of magic still relies on knowledge, which limits her thinking and cannot achieve "infinity".

And Wanda has all these three points. She has talent , but she has no constraints. Her driving force for using magic is not spells or learning, but the strong feelings and desires in her heart that are constantly stimulated by suffering. Contact with the Mind Stone is also crucial. Some people say that the Mind Stone stimulates the magic in her body. I don't think this description is accurate enough. I think the Mind Stone strengthens her telepathy.

It not only strengthened her perception of the hearts and minds of others, but also her perception of her own talent and strength. It was also destined to love her and Vision, and it was also destined that Vision brought her great after death. pain. In every battle after that, stop the fast train; control the toxic substances in the air; hold up the collapsed signal building; resist the space gem in Thanos' hands with one hand, and crush the soul gem with the other. Every battle is to feel and expand one's own strength under the pressure of crisis. At the same time, her parents and brother died, and she was in a foreign country. The negative effects of these tragic circumstances also surrounded her for a long time, just like her confession to Vision:

It's like the waves hit me over and over again and it knocks me down and when I try to get up it knocks me down again and I'm going to drown.

Originally, Vision's love gave her comfort, but Vision eventually died. Losing is painful, but it is more painful than losing. It is lost and then lost again. What's more, after losing Vision, Wanda can be said to have lost everything, naked. , come and go without worry. In Xijing Town, after seeing the little home that I imagined as the love she bought, Wanda's heart was stimulated by tremendous pain, and once again felt the magic in her body, and sensed her unbearable sadness and incomparable longing. After the wish, the power exploded in an instant, the house rose from the ground, the illusion was created out of thin air, and the people and things in Xijing Town were transformed into her favorite situation comedy appearance, all of which were realized in a single thought. In this way, she was born with talent , and fate pushed her to combine her mind with magic, transforming into chaos magic with infinite possibilities, and she also became the scarlet witch who should have lived in the legend .

What superpowers does the MCU's Scarlet Witch have?

Distorting (rewriting) reality (personal speculation)

In the comics, the Scarlet Witch and her chaos magic are probably most famous for her ability to distort reality. In "House Of M", Wanda's sentence "No more mutants." Almost wiped out all mutants. . So does the MCU's Scarlet Witch have the horror prowess of the comics?

What is "reality"?

Before talking about distorted reality, we need to understand what is "reality"? Reality is a very broad concept, with connotations and extensions defined by philosophy, and even formulas to express it. So, we need to be a little more precise, is to understand what "reality" in the MCU refers to?

So, is turning an apple into a banana a reality change? How about turning a handful of soil into a puddle of water? Or conjure food out of thin air.

I don't think the above actions can be called rewriting or distorting reality, although they are magical effects that also change the material in the real world.

But if so, what about Uncle Ben who resurrected Spider-Man? What about Resurrection Vision?

If it is the above behavior, I think it can be regarded as distorting reality. Let's turn our perspective to "What If," in the fourth episode, Dark Doctor Strange destroys the entire universe in order to save his dead girlfriend Christine. One of the old one came up with the concept of "absolute time" when he stopped the Doctor , in that universe, the reason why Stephen Strange would become the Supreme Mage and defeat Dormammu was because of Christine's death, prompting He went to Kama Taj to find answers in the secret art and the ancient one, so Christine's death became one of the absolute time points in that universe. In the end, the doctor was obsessed with saving Christine and absorbed many dark magic creatures. Although his strength increased greatly, he still did not have the ability to rewrite reality. In the end, he forcibly returned to the past and successfully resurrected Christine, but let the universe The time paradox that eventually led to the fragmentation of the entire universe.

If Christine's death is one of the absolute time points in that dimensional universe. Then for the main universe, the death of Uncle Ben and Vision is also an irreversible absolute time point, because the death of Uncle Ben is the indispensable reason for Peter to become Spider-Man, and the death of Vision also determines the extinction, Endgame, and whether events like Wanda becoming the Scarlet Witch happen. So I think that to successfully distort reality, to rewrite reality, is to rewrite all the absolute points in time and cause and effect on a whole timeline and make it logical and function on its own. And Wanda in "House Of M" did it. She distorted reality for the first time and created a utopia belonging to superpowers. In this rewritten reality, Spider-Man has an almost perfect life. Ben His uncle is alive, his first girlfriend Gwen is alive, they are married and have children, and there is a listed technology company in his name. Apart from these, he still retains the super powers of Spider-Man. Not only Spider-Man, but even Magneto fulfilled his long-cherished wish, and all mutants became the ruling class of society. Wanda rewrote all this in one thought, but time did not create a paradox, and the entire universe was still functioning normally, which shows the power of chaos magic.

Did Wanda distort reality in WandaVision? Why can't the vision and the child leave the hexagon?

In the video clip of "Wanda Vision", I saw viewers wondering why the things Wanda created in Westview had to be enshrouded in magic or they would disappear? As far as comics are concerned, Scarlet Witch's rewriting of reality should be permanent and irreversible.

Actually, before I say whether Wanda distorted reality in Westview, I want to talk about what the hexagon in the show is. Let's first turn our perspective to another MCU drama "Rocky". The core theme of this drama is about the relationship between time and the universe in the MCU. Through this drama, I came to a conclusion: the generation of time branches , correspondingly, a parallel universe will be born, and the birth and death of all matter and all things in the universe will repeat themselves within the corresponding time period. In the mid-season episode of "Rocky", time was also given a specific pictogram: the circle.

So I think that the hexagonal magic hood of Xijing Town is actually a space that Wanda recreated by encircling the entire Xijing Town with hexagons, and re-created a reality in this space, just like a void The time circle outside the land is the same, the hexagon is the time pictogram of Xijing Town. In this new real space, there is a completely different time flow and a real reality scene that exists in the outside world. So why is this new reality space only the size of a small town? I think either Wanda isn't strong enough to really control the "reality" within a dimensional universe. Either Chaos Magic senses Wanda's inner imagination of a happy life, all of which come from sitcoms whose space background is a small American town, so it only creates a real space as big as a small town for it. However, in "Wanda" In the sixth episode of The Vision, Wanda has shown us that the hexagonal barrier can be expanded, and combined with the idea that the essence of magic is what you want, I prefer the latter. In "What If", Doctor Strange caused the universe to shatter and disintegrate because of the paradox of time, which can also explain why when Wanda removes the hexagon, the vision and the children will disappear, they are all this time The product of the line, the disappearance of the timeline, also means that they will cease to exist.

Under this hexagonal barrier, Wanda has changed reality more than once, whether it is the Tianjian Bureau agent who suddenly appeared on the street at the end of the second episode (he was turned into a beekeeper when he passed the barrier), At the ninth minute of the third episode, Vision's disturbing discussions about Xijing Town. The appearance of these people or events should have affected the development of events in this real space, but they were all rewritten by Wanda in a single thought. On the screen, it was as if a large segment of the video had been cut off.

The above is my preliminary judgment on whether the Scarlet Witch of the MCU has the ability to distort reality. This part is very subjective. As for the real situation, it depends on the subsequent development of Wanda in the MCU.

creator

Scarlet Witch has the ability of a creator, and can create not only simple substances, such as blankets, flames, food, houses, etc., but can create life, not a poor imitation of real life, but a feeling and intelligence. Intelligent life, and this kind of creation is out of thin air and against nature, because in the natural state, the birth and evolution of life should follow a causal relationship and process. But whether it's comparable to the original Vision, or the two sons who have grown to ten years old in one day, Wanda's creation of life feels more like "one-click generation."

Field expansion

Scarlet Witch can seal a part of the space with magic in a single thought, and creatures outside the space cannot enter at will. If you print your own rune around the space, then in this space, the Scarlet Witch will be an invincible existence.

Magic Capture

A kind of black magic, it robs and absorbs the magical energy contained in the body of the magical creature to fill itself, and finally can suck the other party to dryness and death.

Book of Darkness

After completing the awakening of power, Wanda also obtained the "Dark God Book" known as the Bible of Black Magic. This book is the work of Chthon, the god of the underworld in the original comics. It is the supreme existence of the black magic world. It records Among the many powerful evils of black magic, one of the most well-known spells found in the book is the so-called Montesi Formula, a powerful spell that kills all vampires at once. (The blade can retire the doge) but the effect is temporary, once the spell is broken, the slain vampire will be resurrected. However, the Book of the Dark God is not an invincible existence. The Book of Weishandi left by the god of white magic believed by the esoteric mage is called the perfect nemesis of the Book of the Dark God.

Runes

Just like the domain mark, in a special space, print your own rune, then in this space, only the spellcaster can use magic, and others cannot use any magic.

disappeared without a trace

In an instant, he turned into smoke and disappeared, and no one was found.

No spells and witches needed

Scarlet Witch doesn't need to recite spells when using magic, this is Agatha's ability to stamp with the Book of the Dark Gods. Regarding the statement that there is no need for the Coven, the following counts as my speculation, when casting some powerful magic that requires rituals to complete, such as the ritual of Casillas summoning Dormammu in "Doctor Strange", the occult mage and other The wizard needs multiple people to chant and cast spells at the same time to complete the ritual, and she can complete the entire ritual independently without any assistance.

deformation

Scarlet Witch can change anything into the form she wants, such as Monica's body armor, the rope tied to the waist of the agents of the Tianjian Bureau, Agatha's clothes and hairstyle. This transformation of ordinary matter is permanent. sexual, and still exists after leaving the hexagon.

telepathy

The Scarlet Witch can feel all the substances in the objective world, as subtle as toxins in the air. You can also feel other minds or spirits, feel what they are thinking, and can read memories. When you raise your hand, you can create a realistic illusion of the target of the spell, and you can do it in batches for a long time, even permanently. Mind Control.

mind control

Scarlet Witch has absolute control over the matter in the objective world. For the matter that can be felt, giant gears, collapsed signal towers, high-speed trains, Thanos' swords and armors, Ultron robots, and even objects in the air. Poison, or Infinity Stone, she can use her mind to make it move, stop, or smash and disintegrate it.

energy emission

The Scarlet Witch can fire the energy in her body through her hands, causing a powerful impact or explosion on the hit target. Energy can also be formed into a barrier to resist attacks.

astral projection

It can be explained that the soul is out of the body, and the body lives as usual, but the soul can do other things. For example, in the easter egg of "Wanda Vision", Wanda's body is boiling water, but the soul is practicing "Darkness" in the bedroom. Book of God.

flight

From the beginning, similar to Iron Man, he used his hands to launch columnar energy to hold his body in the air, and now he can freely levitate in the air and fly quickly.

Self-healing and immortality (personal speculation)

In "House Of M", Wanda was shot by Hawkeye with an arrow, but he easily used magic to erase the arrow on his back and the damage it caused.

In "Wanda Vision", Wanda quickly aged because of the rapid loss of mana, but then returned to himself before he could regain the mana that was sucked away. Combined with her perception and creation of matter, and the slow aging ability of Agatha, who is also a witch, I speculate that the Scarlet Witch may have the ability to heal herself and make herself immortal.

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