Was AoU's Wanda just Disney's answer to the superior Jean Grey?

[Mr. Brightside]

So I watched AoU again and I couldn't help shake off how much Wanda was Jean Grey. Hell, the power explanation was almost like Hill was reading Jean's profile. Sure, it's Wanda's backstory, but all of Jeans power, female mystery/presence (Black Widow is too Avenger to confuse with the better X-characters). Discuss

[Grey]

Agreed. I have to admit I was pretty bothered by it.

They described her powers as "telekinesis" and "brain manipulation". Uh what? I thought Wanda was a sorceress? (I'm not too familiar with her stuff to be honest).

[Bl00dwerK]

They described her powers as "telekinesis" and "brain manipulation". Uh what? I thought Wanda was a sorceress? (I'm not too familiar with her stuff to be honest).

I wonder if that's because they don't understand that magic exists in the world, and that's something that will be revealed in Doctor Strange?

[AcesX1X]

really irritated the deviated from the source material so much.

[Narasinha]

I wonder if that's because they don't understand that magic exists in the world, and that's something that will be revealed in Doctor Strange?

You mean with Loki and the Enchantress ? Nope, not a chance...

(And yes, they obviously wanted their own little Jean)

[CraigTheCylon]

Why bother with an 'answer' to a character that's long dead in the source material and barely relevant to the movies?

MCU Wanda is a TP/TKer for 3 reasons:

1) Way easier to explain than her hex bolts/chaos magicks/whatever.

2) Telekinesis and telepathy, although dirt-common in the X-verse, are still new additions to the MCU, where the only previous mention of suchlike has been Agents of SHIELD's repeated mantra that such psychic gifts have never been proven to exist (until AoU, anyways).

3) Stops the Doctor Strange movie feeling redundant - "This one's about a magic guy? But we already got a magic girl, why do we need 2...?"

But, y'know, complex away, silly people.

[MindofShadow]

Seriously? Is this a real thing?

[William300]

We need to keep something in mind. Comic Scarlet Witch's power were kind of confusing and convoluted. In one story it's stated to be magic, in another it's mutant reality altering powers. Theres never been a solid explanation as to what her power actually are. There was even a point where Dr. Strange claims that the magic that Wanda claims to use doesn't exist, but it was never explained how that could be and what magic she was actually using. So they gave her a version of telepathy/telekinesis, but I could see them have her power evolve into something more over time.

[ariwl1]

They described her powers as "telekinesis" and "brain manipulation". Uh what? I thought Wanda was a sorceress? (I'm not too familiar with her stuff to be honest).

Wanda's powers at their base (leaving out any additional magic whosawhatsit) are pretty hard to define even in printed stories and it often ends up looking like telekinesis even if it's explained to be something else. In a primarily visual media such as film it's got to be even more challenging.

I don't know where the brain whammy stuff came from. Jean didn't do that in any of the films or even very often in the comics (and not to that level of intrusiveness that I can ever recall with the regular version). I don't know enough of Wanda's history but I don't recall her ever doing anything like that.

I suppose you could say for Wanda in the film she manipulates energy and "bad stuff happens." If she happens to manipulate the energy in your brain you have nightmares.

[useridgoeshere]

Yes, it's clearly an admission that Wanda is a fundamentally terrible character with a half-decent name and a brother who runs fast, so they changed literally everything else about her. Same way they're changing everything about Inhumans. It's kind of funny to see long-time fans celebrate these MCU versions when really it's a huge insult and indictment on the comic book characters.

[Grey]

Why bother with an 'answer' to a character that's long dead in the source material and barely relevant to the movies?

But, y'know, complex away, silly people.

Sounds like you're the one wth a complex. A delusional one at that. (Hint: Jean has been in (at least) half of the x-films).

[Mr. Brightside]

Sounds like you're the one wth a complex. A delusional one at that. (Hint: Jean has been in (at least) half of the x-films).

Not to mention since the scepter that gave her her powers is magic, used by a magician, and given to a character who can then just say "I use magic to do stuff", saying they needed TP to replace her magic (both of which are not easy to explain since they don't exist) is silly. No one questioned how Hawkeye was controlled in Avengers, no one would question Wanda's magic.

Strange is a whole realm of magic. Wanda could have been a single user of basic magic instead of Jean-lite. I doubt someone is going to go "Well, I saw Wanda shoot some red stuff, let me skip the whole Ouija/Mystic movie where I can see more of it in a more detailed way".

[Star_Jammer]

Not to mention since the scepter that gave her her powers is magic, used by a magician, and given to a character who can then just say "I use magic to do stuff", saying they needed TP to replace her magic (both of which are not easy to explain since they don't exist) is silly. No one questioned how Hawkeye was controlled in Avengers, no one would question Wanda's magic.

The Infinity stones are magic based?

Von Strucker is a magician?

[Mr. Brightside]

The Infinity stones are magic based?

Von Strucker is a magician?

Loki is.

As for the gems, I don't think they're tech, so magic sounds better to me. I could be wrong.

[Narasinha]

Why bother with an 'answer' to a character that's long dead in the source material and barely relevant to the movies?

Sounds like you're the one wth a complex. A delusional one at that. (Hint: Jean has been in (at least) half of the x-films).

Wasn't he speaking of Wanda? lol