Pietro Maximoff

## Character

"*You didn't see that coming?*"
—Pietro Maximoff to Hawkeye[src]

**Pietro Maximoff** is a character on Marvel's *Captain America: The Winter Soldier* & *Avengers: Age of Ultron*. He first appears in *Captain America: The Winter Soldier*. He is portrayed by star Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

## Biography

### Early Life

Pietro Maximoff was born in the Eastern European country of Sokovia along with his twin sister, Wanda. At the age of ten, while having dinner with his family, a mortar shell hit their apartment building, killing Maximoff's parents and trapping him and his sister. A second shell hit the apartment near them but did not go off; the Maximoff twins were left trapped under the rubble for two days staring at the unexploded shell reading the name on it, Stark Industries.

This horrifically traumatic experience gave the twins a great hatred for America, especially Tony Stark and later the Avengers; at the same time, Pietro became highly protective over his sister. They often took part and would lead protests against the Avengers. They dedicated much of their lives to this hatred and began searching for ways to bring down the Avengers; this constant political activity put them on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar as a potential threat to world security.

### Joining HYDRA

When the twins reached adulthood, foreign powers began occupying Sokovia, driving the country into a state of turmoil. Pietro and Wanda took part in frequent riots to drive the foreign forces from their streets. What the twins did not realize was that the riots were orchestrated by HYDRA, who had taken up residence in the country and were using the riots to cover up their illegal experiments. The leader of the HYDRA forces in Sokovia, Wolfgang von Strucker, was attempting to harness the energy from the Scepter for a variety of uses, such as powering up weapons of mass destruction.

List, desiring to see what effect the scepter's power would have on live humans, approached several Sokovian rioters, including Wanda and Pietro, offering them the opportunity to achieve the power needed to free their country from war. While Wanda expressed some doubt over Strucker's claims, Pietro was determined to free Sokovia and convinced his sister to accept. While the other volunteers did not survive the scepter's power, Pietro and Wanda experienced drastic changes. The scepter unlocked latent supernatural powers within the pair; while Wanda developed a number of mental powers such as telekinesis, hypnosis, and energy projection, Pietro was now able to move at superhuman speed.

#### Attack on the HYDRA Research Base

Soon after the Maximoff's abilities had been unlocked, the Avengers arrived in Sokovia and raided the HYDRA Research Base, attempted to defeat HYDRA and capture the Scepter. As the alarms sounded, Doctor List recommended to Baron Wolfgang von Strucker that they send the twins to fight the Avengers, but Strucker refused. In the confusion, Wanda and Pietro escaped from their holding cells and, though inexperienced, were able to use their powers to evade the guards and escape to defend the base.

While Wanda defended Baron Wolfgang von Strucker inside the base, Pietro found Hawkeye outside attempting to use an explosive arrow to destroy a HYDRA bunker. Maximoff used his powers to run in front of the arrow and caught it in mid-air before knocking Hawkeye off his feet and mocking him. In the confusion, Hawkeye was shot and nearly killed by a cannon, but the Hulk defended him and destroyed the bunker. Maximoff then attacked Captain America, using his speed to try to stop the Avengers' advance and to protect the base.

Returning to the inside of the base, Pietro found his sister hexing Tony Stark and forcing him to see a future involving the death of all the Avengers. Pietro recommended that they kill him, as they had intended to do for years, but Wanda refused, allowing Stark to steal the Scepter as she had had a vision of what he would do with it. Although Pietro disagreed with this decision, he did not argue with his sister. The Avengers won the fight and HYDRA was seemingly defeated, forcing the twins to escape the base before going on the run.

### A Misguided Partnership

With the HYDRA Research Base and Baron Wolfgang von Strucker captured, the Maximoffs returned to Sokovia and Pietro provided for them by becoming a thief, stealing items for himself, Wanda and the local people. Pietro handed out the items, including a football for Costel and a dress for Costel's sister Zrinka. Wanda mocked Pietro's attempts to flirt with all the women in Sokovia and warned him he would get shot if he kept stealing. As Pietro began to question Wanda's decision to let Tony Stark go free, Costel approached the pair and told them that Iron Man was waiting in a church for them.

Wanda and Pietro went to the church and found a man waiting for them wearing a red cloak who spoke about how much he enjoyed the church. When Wanda questioned why she could not read his mind, the man revealed himself to be Ultron, an artificial intelligence robot designed by Tony Stark using the technology within the Scepter. Ultron explained that he intended to destroy the Avengers and wanted the Maximoffs to help him complete his plans. Ultron then led them from the church and back to Baron Strucker's HYDRA Research Base.

Ultron revealed that he had taken over the base and was using it to create an army of Ultron Sentries; knowing that with their powers, they could tear the opposition apart. When they discussed the reasons for killing the Avengers, Pietro told Ultron the story of how they had lost their parents due to a Stark Industries' missile. Although they were initially unsure, Ultron assured them that they would use their powers to kill the Avengers, noting that while he and Pietro could defeat them with strength, Wanda would be able to tear them apart from the inside.

#### Battle at the Salvage Yard

Pietro and Wanda accompanied Ultron in acquiring Ulysses Klaue's supply of Vibranium. The Maximoffs entered the Salvage Yard first and shut off the lights before Pietro disarmed Klaue and confronted him. Klaue remained unimpressed by the Maximoffs, having heard of them already; he noted that he was saddened to hear of Wolfgang von Strucker's death, then mocked the pair for their reaction to the news.

Eventually, Klaue told the pair that he would have no respect for them if Wanda used her powers to make him see what he feared, a cuttlefish, and he wished to speak to the man in charge. In response, Ultron threw Klaue through a window and introduced himself. Ultron then forced Klaue to sell him his stockpile of Vibranium in exchange for billions of dollars. When Klaue noted that Ultron was quoting Tony Stark, the comparison threw Ultron into a rage, resulting in him slicing off Klaue's arm and kicking him down a flight of stairs.

When the Avengers arrived, Captain America attempted to convince the Maximoff's to walk away while they still had a chance, but they both refused. Iron Man attempted to learn what Ultron's plan was but this resulted in a fight breaking out. Pietro attacked Captain America and Thor, using his incredible speed to dodge their attacks. At one stage, Pietro tried unsuccessfully to use Mjølnir against the team, but was thrown across the room and knocked back by Captain America. He soon recovered and assisted his sister in hexing the Avengers so they were unable to continue fighting.

When Wanda attempted to hex Hawkeye, she was outsmarted and subdued by him with a taser arrow to the head. Pietro saved her in the nick of time and threw Hawkeye through a window. He took her outside Klaue's base and tried to go back outside to kill Hawkeye, but she insisted that she was alright and wished to continue with the plan. She caught sight of Bruce Banner and managed to hex him as well, causing him to transform into the Hulk and go on a rampage in Johannesburg, the twins used the distraction to their advantage and escaped in the chaos.

#### Changing Sides

When the trio arrived in Seoul, Ultron used the Scepter to indoctrinate scientist Helen Cho, forcing her to use the vibranium in synchrony with the Cradle to build a new, more powerful body for Ultron. As Ultron's consciousness was being uploaded into the body, Wanda curiously took the opportunity to explore Ultron's mind and was horrified to learn of Ultron's true plans, which involved the genocide of humanity in its entirety. With Pietro, Wanda abandoned Ultron and left the facility, much to the automaton's rage.

#### Battle of Seoul

The twins attempted to escape Seoul, but as they made their way through the city, they spotted a news report showing that the Avengers were attempting to steal the Cradle and battling Ultron and his army in the middle of the city, endangering thousands of lives. Refusing to allow the people of Seoul to be put in danger, the Maximoffs decided to assist the Avengers in the fight.

The twins found and assisted Captain America in fighting off Ultron on a moving passenger train. Pietro charged onto the train and knocked Ultron back while Wanda trapped him inside by twisting the metal to to put a defensive barrier between Ultron and the Captain. However Ultron responded by firing a blast into front of train, killing the driver and destroying the controls of the train before escaping, leaving the train charging straight forwards the centre of the city of Seoul and forwards the people standing in it's path.

With the train now completely out of control and heading to the middle of the city, Captain America ordered Pietro to use his incredible speed to move the civilians out of it's path while Wanda stopped it. Pietro ran as fast as he physically could and pushed everyone he came across out of the path of the train. Despite the train still travelling at it's full speed and Pietro using every ounce of energy he had to deep moving at such a speed, he still managed to stay ahead and saved dozens of lives before Wanda was finally able to stop the train in the centre of the city.

With the train now stopped, Pietro stopped to rest as he could barely stand after running so fast for so long. When Captain America revealed that the Cradle and Ultron's would-be body had been sent to Tony Stark for analysis, Wanda was disturbed, aware that Stark would attempt to utilize the body rather than destroy it in order to correct his own folly. Although the Captain was reluctant to accept this as a possibility, Wanda compared Stark and Ultron and made key comparisons with their mind-sets.

#### Birth of Vision

The Maximoffs were taken to Avengers Tower by Steve Rogers. Once there they discovered that Tony Stark was attempting to program Ultron's being in the Cradle with his own A.I. J.A.R.V.I.S., Rogers ordered Stark to terminate the program as it was too dangerous, so Maximoff used his incredible speed to unplug and damage the machine. As he took for a moment, he noticed a bullet coming up from the ground below him, before he could react the glass he was standing on shattered and he was captured by Clint Barton, who mocked him using the same phrase Maximoff taunted him with earlier.

Rogers' and Stark's argument hit a boiling point and the pair began fighting until Thor arrived and used his lightning to power the Cradle, causing the being inside to be born. The being briefly attacked the Avengers before overlooking New York City and calming down. The being apologized and explained that he was not Ultron, or J.A.R.V.I.S., but a new Vision. He told them that they needed to go to stop Ultron and in order to gain their trust he handed Thor his hammer Mjølnir. Maximoff and the rest of the Avengers could only look on in shock and confusion.

Pietro and Wanda then agreed to help the Avengers to stop Ultron and save Sokovia, where the AI would be enacting his final plan. Pietro took a new uniform and threw a red clock at Wanda for her to wear, and joined the Avengers on the Quinjet as Captain America gave a speech where he informed the team that their priority was getting the people of Sokovia out of harms way before Ultron could destroy their homes and their lives. Pietro stayed silent, still unsure of trusting the Avengers in the long term, however he shared their intention to save the lives of his friends.

### Battle of Sokovia

#### Evacuating Citizens

Pietro and his sister joined the Avengers in evacuating the citizens out of Sokovia before the upcoming battle. While the rest of the team quietly moved the people out, Maximoff's method of evacuating them is more aggressive, charging into a police station and ordering them to clear the city, as none of the police in the station listened to him, Maximoff returned and fired a machine gun into the air, demanding they hurry up.

Seeing what the Avengers were trying to do, Ultron unleashed his army of Ultron Sentries upon the civilians. Quicksilver readied himself and charged into the robots, the speed of which he impacted them ripped them apart in a millisecond. When the city started to rise due to the device Ultron had planted inside it, Maximoff, alongside the Avengers, watched in horror while Ultron explained his grand plan to turn the city into a giant meteor and destroy all human life on the planet so only he and his metal army remained to rule the Earth.

Using his speed, Quicksilver took out numerous robots as he charged across the city tearing them apart and keeping the people still in the city safe. While Iron Man flew around the city and worked out a plan to stop Ultron's scheme, Captain America gave a speech to the team in which he ordered them to do whatever they could to destroy the Ultron Sentries, telling them not to even let death stop them. Quicksilver took a moment to catch his breath before continuing to fight.

Before long, Quicksilver came across Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye who were working together in their own battle against the Ultron Sentries. As they walked to their next mission, Quicksilver charged in and picked up his sister before running away with her in his arms and teasing Hawkeye, calling him an old man and telling him to keep up. Hawkeye considered shooting Quicksilver in the back for being such an annoying team-mate, he continued to jog far behind them.

Quicksilver carried Scarlet Witch into the centre of a fight between the local police and the Ultron Sentries. The worked together to tear the machines apart while the police chief ordered his men not to fire upon the Maximoffs. However during the battle, he was accidentally shot in the arm by one of the officers, the wound was minor and not life threatening, but Maximoff still turned to the officer who had fired and glared at him for ripping his uniform.

#### Reinforcements

As the battle became more and more intense, Captain America became focused on finding a way to save the remaining citizens. In response, Nick Fury and Maria Hill arrived on a Helicarrier and used evacuation pods to get the people to safety. Maximoff watched this unfold and turned to Rogers, asking if this is the true S.H.I.E.L.D., Rogers told him that this is what S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be, which Maximoff happily accepted.

#### Protecting the Key

The team regrouped around the church in the centre of the city, where Ultron had placed his device's key, which if activated would drop Novi Grad upon the Earth and cause a devastating explosion. Ultron flew outside his church, when Thor challenged him to a rematch Ultron responded by showing off his entire remaining army of Ultron Sentries which vastly outnumbered the Avengers. The team remained together and they prepared for the final showdown.

Ultron unleashed his sentries upon the Avengers all at once in his attempt to activate the key, Quicksilver and the Avengers fought them off with every bit of strength they had. Quicksilver darted around the arena, ripping the Ultron Sentries apart as quickly as he could. Before long Ultron himself attempted to attack the Vision, but with the help of Iron Man, Thor and the Hulk, the AI was overpowered and a heavily injured Ultron was thrown across the city.

The team decided it was time for them to escape and Captain America ordered them to sweep the city for any remaining drones before getting on the escape pods. Scarlet Witch decided to stay behind and protect the key from Ultron. Quicksilver was reluctant to leave his sister but she told him she could take care of herself and told him to get all the civilians on the evacuation ships and to come back for her, he proceeded to tease her about her bossy attitude by reminding her that he was still the elder twin.

#### Self-Sacrifice

During the battle, Ultron hijacked the Avengers' Quinjet and began to fire its guns at civilians. Quicksilver bravely used his powers to save countless lives. When Quicksilver saw Ultron targeting Hawkeye and a civilian boy using a minigun-barrage from the Avengers' Quinjet, Quicksilver ran to aid them without a second thought for his own safety.

Running into the path of the bullets, Quicksilver used his own body to shield them from the gunfire, proving himself a true hero and a true Avenger. The bullet-ridden Maximoff then took one last glance at Hawkeye, telling him that he did not see that coming before collapsing and dying from his wounds, much to his sister's sorrow. His body was taken by Hawkeye from Sokovia on Nick Fury's Helicarrier.

Quicksilver was avenged when Scarlet Witch destroyed Ultron's primary body and when Ultron's consciousness was annihilated by Vision. In honor of his sacrifice, Hawkeye and his family decided to name their newest son Nathaniel Pietro Barton.

## Personality

Pietro is a rather cocky, arrogant, impatient, tenacious, and quick-tempered person. These personality traits are likely a side affect of his super-speed, due to thinking and acting at a much faster rate than most. Despite this, Pietro has a desire for peace as he wished to save his country to the point he was willing to be experimented on by HYDRA, giving him the formidable powers he now possesses.

He also deeply cares for Wanda and the two shared a deep bond though they would occasionally bicker like normal siblings. He looked after his sister and relied on her for support. Wanda was devastated by Pietro's death at the hands of Ultron, to the point she said to Ultron that she just 'died'.

Pietro originally desired to destroy the Avengers and in particular, Tony Stark for revenge, to the point they decided to join Ultron when he said he shared the same goal. However, Pietro chose to betray the A.I. when he found out about his true goal, showing that he is willing to put aside his personal grudges for the greater good.

Out of his relationships with the Avengers, his most complicated was with Hawkeye. Ever since they first met, the two had constantly competed, fought, and taunted each other. Though this initially started out as hatred, their relationship eventually becomes a friendly rivalry and they became good friends and teammates through Pietro helping the Avengers, while still continuing their friendly banter during the Battle of Sokovia. He later proves himself a true hero and Avenger by sacrificing his life to protect Hawkeye and a civilian boy from the Quinjet's gunfire. Hawkeye later named his newborn son, Nathaniel Pietro Barton, showing that he deeply respected Pietro for his choices.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Superhuman Speed**: Quicksilver gained the ability to run at extremely high, supersonic speeds due to HYDRA's experiments with the Scepter. His power caused him to generate an aura of blue, white and transparent energy currents and mist-like shapes, much like fire or wind, leaving behind a trail of it as he runs. When imprisoned by Wolfgang von Strucker, he was able to move from one end of his cell to another in less than a fraction of a second. His abilities made him nigh unbeatable in battle, with his speed giving him the ability to generate extreme force and momentum. In his confrontation with the Avengers, he managed to avoid multiple attacks and took down Captain America in seconds. This ability made him able to outmaneuver someone as fast and perceptive as Hawkeye with absolute ease, catching his arrows and sending him flying through the air multiple times. It was only his ignorance towards Mjølnir that allowed Quicksilver to be caught off guard, knocking him down for awhile. Shortly afterward, however, he took down Captain America again. He used his speed to quickly save Scarlet Witch from Hawkeye after knocking him down as well.
	+ **Extreme Force Generation**: By building up enough force and momentum in his body, Quicksilver can deal very powerful strikes, often propelling objects or people several feet. While this does not enhance his strength, it compensates for his normal physical strength by greatly increasing the force behind his attacks. This allowed him to match Captain America's far superior strength in their confrontation, allowing Quicksilver to send the latter flying with a super-accelerated punch. During the Battle of Sokovia, Quicksilver used this ability again to dismantle and crush numerous Ultron Sentries by colliding with them at great speeds. This force, however, isn't enough to injure beings of immense power, shown when Thor was barely affected by Quicksilver smashing into him at supersonic speeds.
	+ **Improved Thermal Homeostasis**: Quicksilver could resist the side effects of moving at these speeds such as friction, reduced oxygen, and kinetic impact.
	+ **Increased Metabolism**: Quicksilver has a hyper-accelerated metabolic rate, enhancing his physicality and ability to move and act while also making him less able to be stunned by attacks or injuries, as he quickly recovered from the pain of being shot in the arm and could still act as if he were not injured. However, his metabolism still has its limits, as when he repeatedly had to stop to catch his breath after running for long periods of time.
	+ **Superhuman Reflexes**: Quicksilver's increased speed also augmented his reaction time, allowing him to react to danger and events much faster than a normal human. His reflexes are so fast that they even allow him to catch bullets in mid-air. As a result, Quicksilver tends to see the world around him as if it were in slow motion, especially when he is moving at super speed. However even with his enhanced reflexes, Quicksilver can still be caught by surprise, such as his fight against Hawkeye during the confrontation between Iron Man and Captain America at Avengers Tower.

### Abilities

* **Bilingualism**: Pietro is fluent in Sokovian and English (albeit with a heavy Sokovian accent).

## Appearances

In chronological order:

* *Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude - This Scepter'd Isle*
* *Captain America: The Winter Soldier*
* *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*
	+ *Season Two*
		- *The Dirty Half Dozen* (mentioned)
* *Avengers: Age of Ultron*

## Trivia

### Comic Notes

* In the comics, Quicksilver is a mutant and a founding member of the Brotherhood of Mutants, being initially identified as the son of Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr) and his then-wife Magda Lehnsherr (née Eisenhardt) in *Vision and the Scarlet Witch* #4 (1983), 19 years after Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's first appearance. Magda leaves Erik while pregnant and takes sanctuary at Mount Wundagore in Transia, the home of the High Evolutionary, where she gives birth and later dies. The High Evolutionary then places them instead in the care of the Romani couple, Django and Marya Maximoff, who raise them as their own children. Prior to that, in *Giant-Size Avengers* #1 (1974), they were revealed to be the biological children of Golden Age superheroes The Whizzer and Miss America, a fact that was later retconned. In *Avengers & X-Men: AXIS* #7 (2014), it was revealed that Pietro and his sister have no blood ties to Magneto and are not related after all. In *Uncanny Avengers* #4 (2015), it is confirmed not only they are not related to Magneto but they are not even mutants, as the High Evolutionary genetically altered them as infants, giving them their powers, before returning them to their true parents, the Maximoffs.

### Character Notes

* Pietro was twelve minutes older than his sister.
* Quicksilver is the first member of the Avengers to die in battle.

### Behind the Scenes

* Another version of Quicksilver appeared in 20th Century Fox's production *X-Men: Days of Future Past* and will return in *X-Men: Apocalypse*. He is portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson's *Kick-Ass* co-star Evan Peters. That version is known as "Peter Maximoff", instead of "Pietro". This is due to both Fox and Marvel owning Quicksilver's movie rights, as Quicksilver was heavily involved in both the *Avengers* and *X-Men* comics.
* Aaron Taylor-Johnson was uncredited for his appearance in *Captain America: The Winter Soldier*.
* Both Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were originally going to appear in the post-credits scene for *Guardians of the Galaxy*.
* In the film, Pietro, alongside his sister Wanda, are not referred to as their comic book codenames, though the credits did in fact, credit him as "Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver".
* An alternate ending scene was shot for *Avengers: Age of Ultron*, featuring Quicksilver alive, joining the Avengers and wearing a new costume, along with his sister.
* Pietro Maximoff's screen time in *Avengers: Age of Ultron* is 26:43.
* Pietro's first and final words in the film are "You didn't see that coming?", who said it both times to Hawkeye.

## References

1. ↑ The character was credited as Quicksilver in *Avengers: Age of Ultron* but he was never called by that name on screen.
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 *Avengers: Age of Ultron*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude - This Scepter'd Isle*
4. ↑ *Captain America: The Winter Soldier* Mid-credits Scene
5. ↑ *Avengers: Age of Ultron* Deleted Scene
6. ↑ No Longer Mutants. The Real Parents Of Scarlet Witch And Quicksilver Are...
7. ↑ Joss Whedon Reveals 10 *Avengers: Age of Ultron* Secrets/HOW THERE WAS A CHANCE QUICKSILVER WASN'T GOING TO DIE