To begin this column, it seems fitting to begin with one of my personal favourite comic couples in terms of their romantic relationship, Scarlet Witch aka Wanda Maximoff and the Vision. The relationship between these two heroes is one of my favourites due to the interplay between the two of them, and the fact this couple contains a non-organic lifeform, something which was rather interestingly used as a plot device for several of the key events that this couple faced. While the current dynamic between these two heroes is still shaped by the relationship they once had, this column will focus on their original relationship that existed prior to the House of M event.
Wanda and Vision first met through their work as part of the Avengers team, both of them attempting to redeem themselves for past crimes against the team, their first meeting being in Avengers #75, which reintroduced Scarlet Witch to the team. During this period, both of these characters were only seen inside the pages of Avengers, something that impacted on the decision by the writers to bring these two characters together in a romantic pairing, as following it entirely within this one book would make the development of their relationship much easier on both the writers and the readers.
It was not until Avengers #108 that Vision and Wanda acknowledged their romantic feelings towards each other, prior to this both had existed more as mutual support towards each other rather than as partners. The relationship between Wanda and the Vision progressed strongly, as within two years the heroes married in Giant-Size Avengers #4, and following this both left the Avengers in order to be together, even featuring in their own comic book series entitled Vision and the Scarlet Witch, which looked at the married life of the two heroes
A large part of the relationship between the two characters was looking at Vision’s attempt to become more human, and his personality changed significantly over this period due to the influence of Scarlet Witch. However, the relationship was also largely defined by the fact they did not have a traditional physical relationship due to the fact that Vision was an android. This lack of a physical relationship was due to the influence of Immortus, one of the many forms that Kang the Conqueror, a time-travelling enemy of the Avengers, who had manufactured events leading to the pair becoming a couple in an attempt to prevent Scarlet Witch from having children, as these children would be incredibly powerful and Immortus was fearful of their potential.
However despite this attempt from Immortus, and the fact that Scarlet Witch and the Vision could not procreate by traditional means, the two did successfully have children. Wanda was able to give birth to twin boys, having conceived them through the use of magic, and for a while these were bought up as the direct children of the pair.
Unfortunately, this was a short lived period of happiness for the couple, as it was soon revealed that the twins were actually two fragments of the soul of Mephisto, and upon his return to the world both of the twins were killed. This event also led to the end of Vision and Scarlet Witch’s relationship, as the loss of her two children drove Wanda temporarily insane and the Vision had lost much of his humanity and emotions following being disassembled and reassembled without a copy Wonder Man’s brain patterns, and slowly the two fell apart from each other.
The unfortunate and abrupt end of the relationship between Scarlet Witch and the Vision is, in my opinion, one of the most tragic romantic storylines in comics. However, it is also seen to have been one of the best written and interesting romantic stories covered as well, and despite this post ending here, the relationship between the two did continue on and off, and will likely be returned to by this column in future.
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