Magneto Not Being Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver’s Father Was A Mistake

“Strike my household down!” With these 4 phrases, Marvel enforced one among its most controversial retcons, revoking Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’s status as Magneto’s biological children, and altering the Avengers heroes’ trajectories over the subsequent decade. Like most of Marvel’s most divisive lore adjustments, it continues to go away followers asking “who advantages from this?”

Avengers & X-Males: AXIS #7 was written by Rick Remender, with artwork by Andy Kubert. It was launched in 2014. On the time, many readers have been essential of the problem’s huge reveal: that Pietro and Wanda Maximoff usually are not Magneto’s organic youngsters.

On reflection, it has grow to be much more suspect, on condition that the retcon hasn’t added something beneficial to the heroes’ respective arcs.

“Strike My Household Down”: Marvel’s Controversial Magneto Household Retcon Hasn’t Aged Effectively In 10+ Years

Avengers & X-Males: AXIS #7, Written By Rick Remender; Artwork By Andy Kubert; Printed In 2014

Avengers & X-Males: AXIS was among the many greatest crossovers of its period, and never all of its contributions to Marvel lore are seemed again on poorly. Sadly, the sequence’ popularity is marred its use to enact the almost-universally disliked retcon of Magneto’s relationship along with his youngsters, the dual Avengers Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

On the dramatic apex of AXIS #7, Wanda uttered the notorious mystical command, “strike down my household,” and whereas her brother instantly pitched ahead, subdued by her magic, Magneto was left standing. This served as affirmation that he was not, in actual fact, their bio-father. This inventive resolution rubbed followers the incorrect method for a number of causes.

There are the implications for all three characters, after all, that are simpler to chart now, over a decade after AXIS was launched. Even on the time, although, it bothered readers as a transparent instance of storytelling by editorial fiat. This wasn’t one thing the story organically constructed to, however relatively was imposed on the story from above.

Marvel Did not Have A Good Cause For Altering Magneto’s Relationship With Quicksilver And Scarlet Witch

Over A Decade Later, It is Clear There Was No Better Plan

Marvel’s editors like to take care of that they do not impose retcons and plots on their authors, however there may be a substantial amount of proof to say in any other case from all through Marvel Comics’ historical past. The erasure of Spider-Man and Mary Jane’s marriage from canon is maybe essentially the most infamous instance, but the Magneto family debacle is nearly equally reviled by readers.

The generally held perception amongst followers is that Marvel retconned Magneto’s organic relationship to Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver due to a dispute with Fox, which nonetheless owned the rights to the X-Males franchise on the time. AXIS was revealed while Avengers: Age of Ultron, which launched Wanda and Pietro to the MCU, was in manufacturing.

Nonetheless, even this appears nebulous, and so a few years later, it’s successfully a moot level. If there was a bigger gameplan for the characters that the choice is a part of, it by no means totally materialized. As an alternative, what the reveal did was recontextualize Magneto’s parentage of Wanda and Quicksilver in a method that wasn’t narratively satisfying for any of them.

Marvel Has By no means Absolutely Adopted By On The Potential Of Its Magneto/Scarlet Witch/Quicksilver Retcon

Too A lot Drama Left Untapped

Magneto being Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’s father was, in itself, a retcon. This piece of Marvel canon was a product of the early Nineteen Eighties; at that time, Wanda and Pietro had already lengthy since made the transition to heroes as members of the Avengers, however Magneto was nonetheless a transparent villain, including a dramatic complication to their present dynamic.

So, the retcon of the retcon in AXIS #7 modified how readers interpreted the earlier thirty years of the characters’ household historical past, however did not erase it. Magneto remained the twins’ adoptive father, for higher or worse. If Marvel had subsequently made essentially the most of this variation within the characters’ notion of one another, this retcon may not be held in such low regard.

That’s, Marvel has never reaped the full story potential of the change. It has tried, at occasions, actually, however plenty of drama that might have been derived from this gamechanging second in AXIS #7 has been left on the desk for over ten years. Which has led followers to query whether or not the change was crucial, or if it may be undone.

Scarlet Witch And Magneto Weren’t Negatively Impacted By Their Worst Retcon, However Quicksilver Is A Completely different Story

Quicksilver Has Light Down The Stretch Since 2014

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are a curious pair in the case of their Marvel historical past. They have been launched as villains early in X-Males historical past, however shortly made the leap to the Avengers, and have largely been stalwart heroes since. Nonetheless, as soon as Magneto’s paternal connection to the twins was established, it arguably grew to become their defining trait.

In 2015, their introduction in Avengers: Age of Ultron elevated Scarlet Witch to renewed A-list standing, whereas Quicksilver’s dying within the movie seemingly prefigured his fall from prominence in Marvel Comics lore. Which means that of the three, Quicksilver has suffered essentially the most adverse results from shedding his organic relationship to Magneto.

Once more, the discourse round this challenge tends to place an overdue emphasis on organic parenthood, however the true level of concern is the thought of Marvel making arbitrary inventive choices that do not serve the pursuits of its characters. Magneto and the twins might, in concept, completely have a significant non-biological parental dynamic.

And Marvel has confirmed it might ship this when it makes the trouble, however the lack of constant effort over time is what makes the retcon most troubling to followers. It’s as if, in in search of to renegotiate the ties that bind Magneto, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch, Marvel inadvertantly lower them, leading to one of many worst retcons in Avengers and X-Males historical past.

Alias

Magnus, Max Eisenhardt, Erik Lehnsherr

Race

Human mutant