Moms and Dads

I’m Not A Monster, I’m a Mother: Scarlet Witch As A Grieving Mother

by Kevyn Gohu
May 24, 2022

Behind the dark terrifying force of the Scarlet Witch is a grieving mother named Wanda Maximoff.

Taking away the terrifying chaotic sorcery, the dark red aura, and her ability to wield magic, Scarlet Witch (AKA Wanda Maximoff) is a mother just like us. However, she is a grieving mother. When left unchecked, grief can consume our daily lives and leave us to make questionable decisions. It’s just that, unlike the Scarlet Witch, we don’t have reality-warping powers.

There will be spoilers beyond this point. Read at your own risk!

Wanda Maximoff: The Traumatized Mother

Wanda’s gone through a lot. From her parents dying in a war, losing her brother to Ultron, killing Vision only to realize it did nothing, and removing the hex over Westview (effectively killing Tommy and Billy), she’s lost a lot and had to deal with the reality alone. With no single support group, she’s more vulnerable to negative thoughts.

Upon creating Tommy and Billy, she finds people to live for. Even with Dr. Strange pointing out that she just created them through magic. She simply replies, “That’s what every mother does.”

“It won’t be Wanda coming after her. It’ll be the Scarlet Witch.”

Any mother who loses their children would always want one more chance with them. To hold them, to kiss them, to live that idyllic life of comfort, peace, and quiet with them. Wanda’s no different save the reality-warping powers as the Scarlet Witch. We would have done the same in trying to reverse the clock. To redo everything or find a world where we can do right by our children. It’ll be a relentless and ruthless affair, except maybe killing people will be over the top.

“I’m not a monster… I’m…”

While we wish most acceptances are smooth, it’s not. Acceptance can be in the form of another loss, a slap to the face, or someone being gravely hurt. In Wanda’s case, it was the blatant rejection of Tommy and Billy from the other universe. The look of fear told her enough; in her pursuit of being a mother, she became a monster and hurt their mother instead.

Grief is Never Easy

Processing our grief takes time and sometimes, moms are not given enough to do so. Let alone any support. But the one thing we need to remind ourselves is that we acted based on the amount of information we were given. And at times, there isn’t much to work with. Just like how Wanda couldn’t have possibly known just how terrifying the Darkhold was when Agatha passed it to her. But in the end, it’s what we do with that grief that gets judged. Not our feelings of grief and reasons why but what we do with it.