Heroes are almost always born out of tragedy. Peter Parker receives incredible abilities after being bitten by a radioactive spider, but it takes him losing Uncle Ben to understand that he has a responsibility to help people. Still, some iterations of Spider-Man see Peter give in to his dark side initially and try to get revenge on his uncle’s killer. The Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s Wanda Maximoff goes down a similar path after losing her parents in Sokovia at a young age. She and her brother, Pietro Maximoff, allow HYDRA to experiment on them, and the Mind Stone unlocks something in both of them.
By the time Earth’s Mightiest Heroes run into Wanda in Avengers: Age of Ultron, she’s all about knocking Tony Stark down a peg because his weapons killed her parents. Ultron gives her that opportunity, but his true plan isn’t something she can get behind. Wanda decides to help the Avengers, and together, they take down Ultron. Unfortunately, Wanda’s life after the Battle of Sokovia doesn’t get any easier.
Scarlet Witch Never Catches a Break in the MCU
After her brother’s death, Wanda turns over a new leaf and grows close to Vision. The Sokovia Accords tear them apart briefly because they end up on different sides of the argument, but after Captain America breaks Wanda out of the Raft, they get back on track. Wanda and Vision stick together throughout the events of Avengers: Infinity War, ending up in Wakanda when the Black Order comes looking for the Mind Stone. While the Avengers keep it out of their hands, Thanos comes knocking and, with five Infinity Stones in his back pocket, makes quick work of them. Wanda can only watch as Thanos rips the Mind Stone out of Vision’s head, and before she can even properly grieve, she’s turned to dust.
Wanda returns during the Battle of Earth in Avengers: Endgame and sets her sights on the Mad Titan. He escapes her wrath, but he doesn’t last much longer, being dusted along with the rest of his army. Wanda can’t handle all the pain, though, so she takes over Westview, New Jersey, creating a sitcom-like environment that all the residents can’t escape. Her mistakes catch up to her, and after embracing her identity as the Scarlet Witch, she says goodbye to the children she conjured. However, Wanda doesn’t think it’s fair that she keeps losing everyone she loves, which leads her to use the Darkhold’s power to search for her children across the multiverse in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The titular hero goes to great lengths to stop Wanda from sacrificing America Chavez, even dreamwalking into the body of a dead Stephen Strange. Fortunately, Wanda ultimately realizes the error of her ways and gives her life to destroy all the versions of the Darkhold. It’s a sad ending for a hero who has to go through so much, but at least she gets to say goodbye on her own terms.
Now, a decade later, the MCU is introducing a character who has it even worse than Scarlet Witch.
The Thing’s Life Could Be Full of Heartbreak After Fantastic Four: First Steps
Ben Grimm has it harder than all of his Fantastic Four teammates because his powers don’t require effort to manifest themselves. His body is always made up of rocks, which makes day-to-day tasks difficult. While the marketing for The Fantastic Four: First Steps shows that the Thing is in good spirits due to being beloved by children and adults alike, it’s only a matter of time before his appearance becomes an issue. However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg because Ben may have another curse that hurts his soul even more.
The final trailer for First Steps features a shot of the Thing with a beard, which is a relatively recent addition to the source material. Jonathan Hickman and Ron Garney’s Fantastic Four run sees the Future Foundation create a serum that allows Ben to turn human one day per year. The only downside is that he only ages in his human form, meaning he’s essentially immortal. Reed Richards visits the future in the comic and runs into Ben, who’s sporting a lengthy rock beard and a bad attitude. The Thing’s friends have been dead for centuries, and he just has to go on without them. The origin of Ben’s beard in First Steps is still a mystery, but if it has anything to do with time travel, it’s going to give the hero a taste of his lonely future.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters on July 25, 2025.
Do you think the Thing could be a more tragic character than Scarlet Witch in the MCU? Where do you think his rock beard comes from? Let us know in the comments below!
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