Unearned Development and The Resurgence of the “Mad” Woman
By: Matthew Stiuso
Tags: Game of Thrones, Marvel, Wandavision

This article contains spoilers for the most recent episode of “Wandavision”, now streaming on Disney+.

“It’s Wanda. It’s all Wanda”.

The end of Episode 4 of Wandavision confirmed what many fans have been waiting to see. Wanda Maximoff has finally “snapped”. Aware of Wanda’s role in many comics, I also knew it was inevitable that we see the Avenger go full Scarlet Witch sooner than later. In her most iconic story-line, “House of M”, Wanda famously is driven to a psychotic break — and uses her reality warping powers to eliminate almost an entire population of mutants. Marvel’s desire to capitalize on this comic book precedent is especially clear, considering Wanda has been confirmed to appear, most likely as a threat, in the upcoming film “Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness”.

Scarlet Witch in “House of M”

It is extremely unlikely that you are watching the Wanda-centric, Disney+ original without knowing the history behind the character, and it seems that Marvel is relying on that. In a world where there is no context to Wanda’s mental deterioration, you may be wondering why the Avenger is now kidnapping a small town and blasting government agents through walls. You may even expect that a franchise the size of the MCU would have carefully set up this iconic story-line for the fan-favorite character. Fans of the series Game of Thrones, however, may tell you to drop those expectations.

The polarizing transformation of heroine Daenerys Targaryen is not unlike that of Wanda Maximoff. Both characters are extremely powerful women — arguably the most powerful in their respected franchise. And both delve into madness due to a combination of two things: the death of a loved one and a convenient character background.

Daenerys burns King’s Landing

Dany’s hereditary disposition to madness sets in after she loses one of her dragons and her closest friend Missandei, causing her to ultimately slaughter innocent civilians. Wanda’s comic book source material paves the way for her to go full villain after the death of her lover Vision. Both of these plot lines feel a bit unearned, and serve as more of a means to an end, with Jon Snow having to stop Dany and Dr. Strange most likely having to stop Wanda.

Although kitschy, Wandavision plans to show the first look at the classic Scarlet Witch costume.

I question not only the means, but also the ends. Why must powerful female characters become mad in the first place? The X-Men franchise recently tried, for the second time, to adapt the Dark Phoenix story-line where Jean Grey is inhabited by a force (Or was it there all along?? Seriously it’s unclear.) that causes her to go rogue and take lives. Buffy the Vampire Slayer took the once lovable Willow and saw her become a dark witch, intent on ending the Earth. And now, Wanda Maximoff is holding the citizens of Westview, New Jersey hostage in her delusional fantasy. Of the examples, only Buffy actually redeemed the character, rather than killing them off.

Parallel images from both adaptations of the classic “Dark Phoenix” story-line.

The re-emergence of this trope unfortunately will only serve to reinforce the negative stereotypes of the “hysterical” woman. Hysteria, itself is a condition that was specifically assigned to women; whether or not this is the intended effect, the implication is that women are incapable of handling power. Although this may sound like a stretch, it’s no coincidence that misogynistic critics feel that a female president would be driven to make rash decisions by emotions.

However, with the right amount of care, these story-lines can be intensely powerful. Whereas Dany’s turn and death occurred in a mere two episodes, over the course of six seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer we saw a careful development of Willow’s character that involved powerful messages of addiction, relapse, loss, and ultimately repentance. The series ended with Willow finding a new way to channel both her light and dark side, becoming more powerful than ever, but in a way that was healthy to her and those around her.

Willow’s gradual descent and ultimate redemption.

With Wanda Maximoff being set to appear in not only the remaining episodes of Wandavision, but also Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, let’s hope that this amount of airtime will give writers the necessary amount of time to Wanda’s development. Or else, I may very well go mad.