Maximoff-centric Marvel page

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The Racism of the M C U’s Scarlet Witch

60 Years Of The Scarlet Witch

Scarlet Witch reading guide

The Maximoffs’ ethnic and cultural background

my Wanda cosplay [x][x][x] || my Billy cosplay [x]

on wicca [x][x] || Wanda and paganism [x][x] 

writing magic [x][x] || writing Wanda for non-Roma [x][x]

The Maximoffs’ powers

On Roma visibility [x] || Is Wanda a person of color? [x] || Was Wanda originally a white character? [x] || Is it better to “neutralize” Wanda because her origins are problematic? [x] || On whitewashing [x] || Why does Wanda look like that? [x]

Are Billy and Tommy Roma? [x][x][x] || Are the Maximoffs Jewish? [x][x] or Muslim? [x] || The Maximoffs and mental health [x]

Victor von Doom’s Romani origin [x]

Meggan Puceanu, Amanda Sefton, and whiteness [x][x]

Wanda*Vision masterpost [x] || Wanda*Vision slideshow [x] || that one racist author [x]

Educate yourself [x][x][x][x][x] || RCAC Romani studies curriculum [x] || RomBase [x] || RomaUnraveled resource doc [x]

I'm gonna be honest... my answer's no.

Personally speaking, I don't get anything out of imagining characters as transgender if there isn't textual evidence or a clear thematic parallel. There's nothing wrong with it, per se, especially in fan works, but fandom is a little too quick to blur the lines between headcanons-- i.e., stuff you make up for fun-- and factual readings of the text. I often find that trans headcanons, in particular, are a bit disingenuous or unrealistic, and don't always account for the optics and implications of a character being trans-- especially when their canon gender is presented as their post-transition identity, as is often the case. If anything, I'm more interested in picking out characters who'd benefit from exploring their gender in the present. Either way, though, I just don't see it for Wanda or Pietro.

The Maximoffs had a very difficult childhood and adolescence, and I don't believe that their circumstances would have enabled them to transition early on. It's also important to note that a lot of Wanda's trauma, starting from infancy, is heavily gendered in ways that also overlap with race and class. Those stories aren't perfect, but I'm not interested in distorting this part of her history to insert a narrative that really doesn't need to be there. Her experience with pregnancy and motherhood was especially fraught, and modern writers often pathologize Wanda and make her out to be some sort of liar or manipulator during this era. Adding a trans element, particularly a transfeminine element, would be like throwing gasoline onto a fire.

As far as their culture or upbringing is concerned, this is the sort of topic I'm often wary of broaching with non-Romani audiences. To be clear, I don't believe that Romani culture is inherently sexist, homophobic or transphobic, and we do have feminist & LGBT movements and communities-- but social progress does not always move as fast as we would like it to in marginalized, disadvantaged communities. Oftentimes, the customs which seem restrictive or harmful were born from survival methods, and it's very difficult to untangle that in the modern era, especially without resources or education.

As far as we know, Marya and Django were extremely loving and supportive parents, but I have to imagine that it would be difficult to be trans in that time, place, and social context. I love that the Maximoff family is extremely diverse and accepting in the present day, and I do think it speaks to the values Wanda and Pietro were raised with. That's where I'd prefer to focus for now.

https://bsky.app/profile/thesteveorlando.bsky.social/post/3mhgxhwdlxc2z

First of all, the real problem here is less about Turin himself, and more about the fact that Wanda's relationship with a Black character was unceremoniously dispensed with so that Orlando could repeatedly tease romances with characters who either are white, or could easily be mistaken for white.

Turin's "heritage" is irrelevant, as he isn't from Earth. This is more a matter of racial coding-- the characteristics that inform how we, the reader, perceive the character's apparent race or ethnicity, regardless of whether or not they hold real-world identities. Some of that has to do with physical appearance, and some of it comes from cultural inspiration. If Turin is meant to be coded as East Asian, I don't think that's fully legible.

The problem with Chang's work, at least in this series, is that a lot of his characters have the same face, and his design choices are kind of one-note. This is a tricky subject, since Chang is an artist of Asian descent, but I feel his work on Sorcerer Supreme plays straight into the Orientalist tropes that have been embedded in Doctor Strange comics, and Marvel's magical world as a whole, for decades. You could argue that he is navigating those tropes from a place of authenticity, and I would buy that for some characters or settings, but the same motifs show up in other places where they really don't belong, and Wanda's civilian wardrobe is pulled directly from Orientalist and "boho" gypsy caricatures, leading me to question Chang's taste, choices, and research. When faced with polite feedback on Wanda's appearance, Chang himself has responded very poorly, at least to me. All told, I am disinclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

So, when Turin is introduced with the same features as many other characters, surrounded by the same cultural motifs that appear throughout the series regardless of authenticity, it's really hard for me, as the reader, to tell whether or not that's an intentional choice. And if he's really supposed to be based on Viktor Tsoi, then, I'm sorry, but Chang did a terrible job. They look nothing alike-- why does Turin have a blonde bowl cut if he was supposed to look like this guy?

Tsoi had very distinct features, and Chang mimics absolutely none of them. He gave Turin kind of a distinct nose, but it's not the same shape as Tsoi's. The eyes, eyebrows, hair texture/color/style are all different. I just don't see it at all. The fact that Turin has blonde hair and blue eyes, while Tsoi's coloring was very dark, feels weird to me. And here's a comparison to a couple other faces in the series--

Sorcerer Supreme #8 preview

I don't know how soon I'm gonna have time to sit down and write out a proper answer to this question, but I just want to shout out this anon because

Realmguard is a new series on Marvel Unlimited, set in an alternate fantasy world inspired by tabletop RPGs. The story seems to be centered on Spider-Man and Mary Jane, who appear as a pair of costumed bards known as the Silk-Tongued Spider and Lady Jackpot-- but it looks like there's going to be a decently sized ensemble. Marvel's announcement post includes several character designs by series artist Lorenzo Tammetta, as well as a few that were designed by Peach Momoko-- including the "Scarlet Sorceress", who is clearly a version of Wanda. Here are a few of my other favorites--

The series is written by Preeti Chhibber (House of Harkness), drawn by Lorenzo Tammetta (Scarlet Witch), and colored by Rod Fernandes, who did #4 of Sorcerer Supreme and is also working on Captain Marvel: Dark Past. She might not be the main character, but this creative team feels a bit like a Scarlet Witch reunion, so I hope she gets some special attention. I do like the design-- the gold medallions are definitely based on racialized Romani character tropes, but they've been a recurring motif with Wanda for a long time, and I think there is a way to include them without playing straight into stereotypical imagery. Compared to Morgan's fantasy world from Avengers (1998), Wanda doesn't look like the stock "gypsy witch", at all, and I do think it makes a big difference. I just don't understand why artists don't swap the medallions out for rings and hoops-- it would be such a fun way to mimic her hex power effects.

Well, that still feels like you're leaving him on the sidelines. If Tommy's going to be a part of this, I want him to actually be included, not just the also-ran.

Overall, I do really enjoy how Wiccan: Witches' Road re-imagines Billy's role as the Demiurge. It's more balanced and sustainable than previous versions, it's grounded in established history, and it's a clever way to focus the character on magic and witchcraft without directly copying Wanda. I just think the execution was sloppy. The Demiurge-child character felt kinda-half baked, and the final issue raises a lot of unnecessary questions as to how or why Billy became its host/steward/reincarnation-- the exact nature of their relationship is frustratingly unclear. I don't need everything spelled out for me, but Kennedy struggles to even find a consistent thematic note, which is troubling.

Compare this to Oliveira's M'Kraan saga-- we know how and why the twins come into contact with the crystal, it fits neatly into their established timeline, and they're both equally involved. We don't know exactly what their role as the Demiurge will entail, but we're given the general gist. As a retcon, it's well-integrated and satisfying to read. I can't say the same for W:WR-- the premise is great, but the execution is not as thorough, and Kennedy doesn't seem to have much interest in Billy's history or family ties, even though they are an important part of his magical origins.

There's an easy solution to this problem, but it would require Kennedy to read up on Wanda and accurately represent her role in the twins' origin story. He and Oliveira both approach this topic in bad faith. It makes Wanda look much worse than necessary, and it causes Kennedy to overlook what I believe is vital lore that could tie everything together.

In Children's Crusade, we learn that Wanda attempted to resurrect Billy and Tommy by using her Nexus powers to channel the planet's "life force," which is also described as a part of "Earth's mystical energies". This is not an established concept in the Marvel world, at least not one that comes up very often. The closest thing is actually Earth's Demiurge, which is the personification of the planet's native life force, and its source of natural magic, which is something Kennedy expands upon in W:WR. Wanda was overwhelmed by this power, leading to her catastrophic breakdown in Disassembled, but given that the twins do turn up alive, we're meant to infer that her spell worked, just not how she expected. Reuniting with Billy and Tommy allows Wanda to regain control, and later, she works with Billy to harness, and eventually banish the "life force."

But that also means that Billy and Tommy were born after 9/11. Luna was born in the 2010s.

None of this means anything. But when I first read Young Avengers, I was about the same age as Billy. My grandmother was a teenager during WW2, so, to me, the idea of Magneto being Billy's grandfather and Wanda his mom made sense, because it lined up with my family perfectly. Eventually I figured out the sliding timescale, and the weirdness with Billy + Tommy's reincarnation, but for a long time I thought of Wanda as being my mom's age. I used to relate really heavily to Billy because I was a gay kid growing up in the same time and place. Now that character is part of a very different generation, and would have realistically had a very different experience.

Lots of images and video clips have been circulating online recently, but they're most coming from leakers on social media, so you should take all of it with a grain of salt. Regardless, here are Wanda and Pietro--