Pietro Maximoff: Quicksilver Appreciation 2020

[ARkadelphia]

It just seems that when Disney (and Fox) cast for Pietro, at no point was his heritage considered in casting him. Instead, they automatically went with white actors as the default, never considering actors of color for him. I think that’s a shame.

Are you sure no consideration was given or are you making an assumption?

[teapartyofthedead]

Joss Whedon specifically sought Aaron Taylor Johnson to play Pietro, and considered Saoirse Ronan before ultimately going with Elizabeth Olsen for Wanda.

[GenericUsername]

Joss Whedon specifically sought Aaron Taylor Johnson to play Pietro, and considered Saoirse Ronan before ultimately going with Elizabeth Olsen for Wanda.

I remember this. It's very true.

[GenericUsername]

If you oppose the retcon, the twins are of Jewish descent through Magneto and Romani through Magda. If you don’t, they are still of Romani descent through Natalya Maximoff. They don’t acknowledge that Wanda is a practicing Wiccan, and put a Christian cross in her bedroom in Civil War. Pietro has been shown in the comics to believe in and pray to a God. I don’t believe he was raised Christian, and it is even possible he was raised Muslim if he was raised in places like Serbia. Either way, that heritage was erased in the MCU and it shouldn’t have been. If they had planned to keep the Hydra experiments as their origin and had someone like Alina Serben play Wanda, and had Bálint Jaskó play Pietro, while acknowledging that they were of Romani descent, I would be satisfied. As it is, they may change the twins origin to reflect their more traditional 616 mutant characterization, including them being of Jewish descent, while having a white woman playing a Romani woman of Jewish heritage and will possibly replace a Jewish actor with a non Jewish actor to play a character with Jewish descent.

Disney can’t have it both ways. Either they are Romani and should be played by Romani actors, or they are Romani with Jewish heritage and should be played by actors of Romani and/or Jewish descent.

It also has another complication that in order for Romani actors to want to even play these characters, likely they'd have to forgo the dark magic thing in Wanda. Or at least make it so it's not inherited by her family.

I honestly hope at some point there is a Romani writer that creates characters in comics. So there can be a reference point for what is healthy and what is bad or stereotypical.

[teapartyofthedead]

It also has another complication that in order for Romani actors to want to even play these characters, likely they'd have to forgo the dark magic thing in Wanda. Or at least make it so it's not inherited by her family.

I honestly hope at some point there is a Romani writer that creates characters in comics. So there can be a reference point for what is healthy and what is bad or stereotypical.

Agreed. The twins would also greatly benefit from having Romani writers, and consultants advising non-Romani writers.

[Witchfan]

Was it ever confirmed that was the reason they decided to kill off ATJ’s Quicksilver? I was under the assumption it was Joss Whedon being Joss Whedon, like he did in Serenity. In the context of confusing audiences, I would have to say Spider-verse changed the rules of what audiences can follow. Alternate universes, alternate holders of the same super hero title, and multiples of the same character interacting with each other are no longer something that leaves people confused, but excited.

As far as I know, there is technically nothing that would preclude the use of Quicksilver in WandaVision or the MCU, except interest by Kevin Feige and ATJ to do so.




Pietro briefly showed up in the Empyre tie-in by Jim Zub, as far away from his sister and nephews as he can possibly be and still be on the same planet. As far as I know, there are no current plans for his use. He may not even show up in Ewing’s planned Magneto/Wanda/Billy story.

If there is some way for Pietro to finally return to the X-Men fold, I can only hope it is implemented soon. Ever since Duggan left Uncanny Avengers, Pietro hasn’t had much to do.

Kevin Feige decided in 2011 that Quicksilver would die in the Avengers sequel. His death was in the script when ATJ read it. Joss Whedon made an alternative ending in which Pietro survived, but couldn't convince Feige to use it.

[Albert1981]

Kevin Feige decided in 2011 that Quicksilver would die in the Avengers sequel. His death was in the script when ATJ read it. Joss Whedon made an alternative ending in which Pietro survived, but couldn't convince Feige to use it.

I hate to say this because I'm a big Pietro fan, but I think by Avengers 2, the MCU needed a superhero to die. It was getting to the point that the superheroes in the MCU were becoming invincible and none of the battles had any stakes or consequences for them. So I understand why Feige made the tough decision to finally kill off a superhero. It's just unfortunate that Quicksilver was the first hero to bite the bullet in the MCU.

[Albert1981]

Regardless of Pietro's mutant status, I think writers at Marvel should take a chance by doing new stories about Quicksilver that are unexpected and different. Vision for a long time was a painfully "one-note" character and Marvel editors let him be totally reimagined a few years back. And the results have been stunning. Even a Disney Plus show is taking inspiration from that series. I think Pietro needs a writer to make him relevant again.

[GenericUsername]

I hate to say this because I'm a big Pietro fan, but I think by Avengers 2, the MCU needed a superhero to die. It was getting to the point that the superheroes in the MCU were becoming invincible and none of the battles had any stakes or consequences for them. So I understand why Feige made the tough decision to finally kill off a superhero. It's just unfortunate that Quicksilver was the first hero to bite the bullet in the MCU.

It's fine to have death. But it doesn't have to be cheapened or in Pietro's case not make any sense. Since he can go Mach-5 and catch bullets. Something built up and meaningful is fine. Pietro did not have nearly enough time in the universe for that kind of payoff. It was just cheap emotional manipulation. And one of the worst moments in the MCU, because it's so cheap.

[Albert1981]

It's fine to have death. But it doesn't have to be cheapened or in Pietro's case not make any sense. Since he can go Mach-5 and catch bullets. Something built up and meaningful is fine. Pietro did not have nearly enough time in the universe for that kind of payoff. It was just cheap emotional manipulation. And one of the worst moments in the MCU, because it's so cheap.

I agree his death was poorly done and had zero impact on the Avengers at all. The way he went out WAS pathetic and not particularly creative. And really cheap. But I do think it sort of grounded the MCU a little bit. Made the heroes a little bit less invincible. If Hawkeye, War Machine and Maria Hill were killed in that movie, it would have been meaningful. But it's obvious Feige and company had future plans for those characters and none for Quicksilver. But yeah, to kill a character introduced in his/her first movie is a pretty shitty thing to do. Especially if that character is a superhero.

From what I remember from the Week of Ultron, right after Pietro was killed, Tony, Steve, and Thor were cracking jokes about elevators being able to hold the Mjolnir. So yeah, no respect there to Quicksilver fans. I just think Disney didn't want to have a character that another studio was using. Having two Quicksilvers and having them being compared to each other constantly is just something I don't think Marvel Studios was interested in. And let's be honest, it was Wanda that they wanted. Feige and Whedon made that abundantly clear. It appears the two of them were pretty invested in the whole Vision/Wanda thing (surprisingly Markus and McFeely, the Russos, and Waititi were too). That's why I think WandaVision is the PERFECT time for Pietro to return. I don't think it would make sense for him to show up in the Multiverse of Madness. That movie's gonna probably have 5001 characters and I have no desire for a 5 second ATJ cameo. If Quicksilver shows up in WandaVision, he can even have an extensive cameo. Which I would welcome.

[GenericUsername]

I agree his death was poorly done and had zero impact on the Avengers at all. The way he went out WAS pathetic and not particularly creative. And really cheap. But I do think it sort of grounded the MCU a little bit. Made the heroes a little bit less invincible. If Hawkeye, War Machine and Maria Hill were killed in that movie, it would have been meaningful. But it's obvious Feige and company had future plans for those characters and none for Quicksilver. But yeah, to kill a character introduced in his/her first movie is a pretty shitty thing to do. Especially if that character is a superhero.

From what I remember from the Week of Ultron, right after Pietro was killed, Tony, Steve, and Thor were cracking jokes about elevators being able to hold the Mjolnir. So yeah, no respect there to Quicksilver fans. I just think Disney didn't want to have a character that another studio was using. Having two Quicksilvers and having them being compared to each other constantly is just something I don't think Marvel Studios was interested in. And let's be honest, it was Wanda that they wanted. Feige and Whedon made that abundantly clear. It appears the two of them were pretty invested in the whole Vision/Wanda thing (surprisingly Markus and McFeely, the Russos, and Waititi were too). That's why I think WandaVision is the PERFECT time for Pietro to return. I don't think it would make sense for him to show up in the Multiverse of Madness. That movie's gonna probably have 5001 characters and I have no desire for a 5 second ATJ cameo. If Quicksilver shows up in WandaVision, he can even have an extensive cameo. Which I would welcome.

There are other ways they could have done that. But I disagree it grounded them. Tony dying had that impact. Hardly anyone mentioned Pietro after. I think it's just something Whedon wanted to do. And he's the type to kill off characters like that.