The Vision and Scarlet Witch

***The Vision and Scarlet Witch*** is a 2014 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics characters of the same name. The film is the twentieth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the sixth film in Volume Three. *The Vision and Scarlet Witch* was directed by Lee Toland Krieger and written by Jac Schaeffer. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany star as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Vision, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange, Evan Peters as Mephisto, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Randall Park as Jimmy Woo, Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness, and William Hurt as Thunderbolt Ross.

The film was released on November 7, 2014.

## Plot

Following the events of *X-Men: Phoenix Saga*, Wanda Maximoff and Vision have moved to Leonia, New Jersey, having settled down in a suburban life. Wanda has created two children for her and Vision, which he has learned to accept as his own, named Billy and Tommy. The other residents of Leonia are worried of having Wanda in their town, and begin to suspect she is manipulating events around her. One resident, Agatha Harkness, has taken a liking to Wanda, who believes she is just there for support. As Vision grows increasingly uncomfortable with how often Wanda is using her reality-warping abilities, suddenly Wanda's brother Pietro shows up at their house. Believing Wanda to have resurrected him, Vision leaves in search of a way to help Wanda, who reunites with her brother, despite not knowing he is back to life.

General Thunderbolt Ross has moved to Leonia to keep watch on Wanda. Dr. Darcy Lewis and FBI Agent Jimmy Woo are helping him collect information on the situation. Meanwhile, Vision finds Stephen Strange, a magic user and the Sorcerer Supreme, who oversees all threats to reality. Vision informs him of Wanda, but Stephen appears to be unaware of her somehow. He agrees to accompany Vision back to Leonia. Agatha slowly becomes more invested in Billy and Tommy, which startles Wanda, but Pietro calms her down. On Halloween, Wanda loses track of her boys but finds them with Agatha. They are alright but appear to be somewhat scared after the event, which Pietro convinces Wanda is simply the trauma from being lost.

Darcy begins to see radiation that is off the charts and realizes that the residents of Leonia are being poisoned somehow. Ross suspects this is due to Wanda's powers and prepares to stop her. Vision and Stephen return to the town and the latter recognizes Agatha as a powerful witch. Wanda learns she is hundreds of years old and was nearly executed in the Salem Witch Trials, until she pledged her soul to the devil and grew even more powerful. Wanda, Agatha, and Stephen get into a fight, in which Agatha reveals Wanda is the Scarlet Witch and Stephen did not register her presence, because Wanda's potential is even greater than his. Pietro is discovered to be Mephisto, the demon that employed Agatha. Billy and Tommy are pieces of Mephisto's soul that they allowed Wanda to create life with, to determine how powerful she is. Wanda's denial prevents Stephen from using his magic, but Mephisto returns Billy and Tommy to his being, essentially killing them.

Wanda suffers a mental breakdown upon her children's death, allowing Ross and his unit to arrive. Darcy reveals that the radiation is actually coming from Mephisto and Wanda was not doing anything dangerous. Ross disregards this and attacks her anyway, forcing her to defend herself and killing several soldiers in her rage. Vision attacks Ross to protect her, while Wanda takes on Agatha, and Stephen fights Mephisto. The following battle results in Vision sacrificing himself to save Wanda from a blast, destroying his synthetic body. Agatha realizes Wanda is too powerful and escapes, while Mephisto returns to Hell to observe the following consequences. Ross sets a warrant for Wanda's arrest, but she flees the scene, and Darcy and Jimmy wish to help her.

In a post-credits scene, Wanda has wiped her mind of all memories of being a superhero and believes herself to be a normal woman until she is suddenly reminded of her family and snaps again.

## Cast

* Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
* Paul Bettany as Vision
* Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange
* Evan Peters as "Pietro Maximoff"/Mephisto
* Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis
* Randall Park as Jimmy Woo
* Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness
* William Hurt as Thunderbolt Ross

## Reception

### **Box office**

*The Vision and Scarlet Witch* grossed $402.5 million domestically and $735.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.138 billion. The film had a domestic opening weekend of $176.7 million, debuting at number one for the weekend. Calculating in all expenses, Deadline estimated that the film made a profit of $379.8 million.

### **Critical reception**

On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 91% approval rating based on 368 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Lee Toland Krieger's assured direction - combined with knockout performances from Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany - help *The Vision and Scarlet Witch* to transcend its clichés, and the result is deeply heartfelt and moving." On Metacritic it has a score of 86 out of 100, based on reviews from 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A" on scale of A to F.