Warning: SPOILERS forScarlet Witch #9TheScarlet Witchis nothing short of a god. Despite her mortal form, Wanda Maximoff is an avatar of the Cosmos, the living Darkhold, and the embodiment of chaotic potential. Few can oppose a witch who has felled so many gods. Yet, despite Wanda’s immeasurable magical power, Marvel Comics has just figured out which character can successfully rival the Scarlet Witch’s might. I’m shocked at how obvious this unlikely face-off is.
InScarlet Witch#9by Steve Orlando and Jacopo Camagni, the Scarlet Witch and her younganti-magical apprentice Amaranthinvestigate an intrusion into Wanda’s library of magical artifacts. Few would have the guile and skill to infiltrate a vault so volatile that the Scarlet Witch had to bury it in a sub-dimension. That said,there is no better thief than the Black Cat.
Felicia Hardy, Wanda, and Amaranth have a confrontation after Black Cat’s break-in, as the witches attempt to liberate Felicia’s stolen goods. But, when Wanda touches Felicia’s arm, their contradicting powers clash and destabilize Wanda’s magic entirely, proving that Black Cat may be Scarlet Witch’s greatest opponent.
Black Cat’s Probability Manipulation Beats Scarlet Witch’s Chaos Magic
Scarlet Witch#9 by Steve Orlando, Jacopo Camagni, Frank William, and Ariana Maher
I’ve been a fan of Marvel’s mystical characters and stories for decades. Paranormal powers like the Scarlet Witch’s command greater control of the worlds seen and unseen to weave tapestries of nonsensical-sounding spells that do cosmically powerful things. When faced with Marvel’s other magical characters likeDoctor Doom or Doctor Strange, Wanda comes out on top in every fight. I mean, she is literally the avatar of the sentient embodiment of the Fourth Cosmos. So it didn’t occur to me thatthe perfect foil for Wanda’s chaos powers is a character who manipulates probability.
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For those less familiar withBlack Cat’s abilities, Felicia Hardy is enhanced with a cybernetic “quantum probability pulsator” that allows her to affect the probability of her surrounding environment to cause the improbable. Simply put,her power subliminally causes bad luck to befall others.But, it’s the comic-book science behind Felicia’s ability that makes it such a potent opposite to Wanda’s chaos magic. Felicia may cause the improbable to happen, but it is done by manipulating probability to create certainty. When object certainty collides with infinite chaos, reality schisms, and chaos inevitably loses the battle.
Black Cat’s Possibility Powers Betray the Scarlet Witch
Wanda Can Be Rendered Powerless
Wanda Maximoff can harness a very specific form of chaos magic called the Primordial Chaos, which is the essence of open possibility. Not necessarily a power of creation or destruction alone, chaos magic is the foundation of existence. InScarlet Witch#2 by Orlando and Camagni,Wanda meets with the Queen of Nevers, the sentient embodiment of possibility and the Fourth Cosmos, who confirms that theScarlet Witch’s power is untetheredfrom the confines of cosmic rule and law.Wanda manipulates subjective uncertainty to create reality.But again, Felicia’s power of probable certainty and Wanda’s power of open possibility do not mesh.
Black Cat’s powers establish a single probability, overwriting Wanda’s access to infinite possibilities.
While the concept seems straightforward enough, what still plagues my brain is how Felicia’s powers win. When the two women make contact, their powers unleash an explosive blast that momentarily warps reality. But in the fallout of the schism, only Scarlet Witch’s powers are left destabilized. Her hexes and spells shatter beyond her control aspossibility betrays the Scarlet Witch.But I suppose that’s where it makes sense. Black Cat’s powers establish a single probability, overwriting Wanda’s access to infinite possibilities. There is only ever one possibility when facing Felicia Hardy:the Black Cat wins.
Black Cat’s Power Exposes Scarlet Witch’s Greatest Flaw
Anyone Could Wield This Technology
For the majority of her comic history, Black Cat was a successful D-List villain (turned entertaining anti-villain) for theFriendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. When thinking of Spidey’s foes, it’s hard to consider their talents outside the scope of Manhattan. But Felicia Hardy’s powers are far more powerful than she has traditionally used them. That said, the criminal caper has been expanding her portfolio of risky jobsfrom raiding Stark Unlimited to partnering with Kang the Conqueror.But now, Black Cat has successfully upped her game by besting a mortal god.
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When Felicia’s luck finally runs out, probability changes back into possibility, and Wanda regains control over her vault. While it may have been a temporary victory, Black Cat just exposed the biggest flaw in Wanda’s magical armor. Black Cat may be a nominal threat, but her power in the hands ofthe Scarlet Witch’s true enemieswould pose a genuine threat to the mystical hero. Wanda Maximoff is one of Marvel’s most powerful characters - frankly, she’s a little too powerful, in my opinion. But Felicia’s tychokinesis has proven that theScarlet Witch’s cosmic power isn’t infallible.
Scarlet Witch#9is available now from Marvel Comics.
Scarlet Witch
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Scarlet Witch debuted, along with her twin brother, Quicksilver in X-Men #4 (March 1964). Also known as Wanda Maximoff, she first appears as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, before she eventually became a member of the Avengers. In the comics, she is a mutant who uses chaos magic to alter reality.Scarlet Witch is played by Elizabeth Olsen in the MCU, having debuted in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
