If you know me and you’ve read my writings, you have a pretty good idea about which Marvel characters are my favorites! At the top of the list is Loki. Pick your Variant, it’s Loki. Directly under the God of Mischief, however, is Wanda Maximoff: The Scarlet Witch!
The first Hot Toys figure that I ever owned was Loki (from Thor: The Dark World) and the second was Wanda (from Avengers: Age of Ultron). In the time since, I’ve added several Loki’s to my collection, but it took me several years to add a new Scarlet Witch. Finally, here in 2024, I received my second Hot Toys Wanda Maximoff figure for Father’s Day from my wonderful family, and at long last, I have The Scarlet Witch displayed proudly on my shelf!
If you’re a longtime MCU fan, you know why I worded it like that! Beginning with her debut during the credits in Captain America: The Winter Soldier through her strong stand in Avengers; Endgame, Wanda Maximoff, within the MCU anyway, was simply Wanda Maximoff. Sure, Tony Stark called her a “little witch” in Age of Ultron, but she wasn’t really a witch. She was (seemingly) simply a Sokovian civilian that was upgraded after being exposed to the Mind Stone.
From there, she lost her Twin brother (Pietro), became an Avengers, and fell in love with The VISION. In time, she inadvertently caused an International Incident in Lagos, Nigeria and was then classified as a Weapon of Mass Destruction before aligning with “Team Captain America” in the superhero Civil War.
After she was broken out of custody by Cap and Natasha Romanoff, Wanda ultimately settled down into a quiet life off the grid, growing her relationship with The VISION until Thanos and his minions targeted Earth. Wanda stood as an Avenger during the Battle of Wakanda, defending her beloved VISION until she found it within herself to make the ultimate sacrifice. With Thanos closing in, Wanda, made the hard choice to destroy The VISION so that Thanos could not obtain the Mind Stone … only for Thanos to rewind time and rip the Mind Stone out of The VISION’s Vibranium cranium! Wanda Maximoff would never be the same.
A heart-broken Wanda was soon thereafter erased from existence, a victim of Thanos’ sinister purge, only to return 5-years later due to The Avengers’ Time Heist where she stood proudly as an Avenger once more against a Thanos Variant in the Battle of Eatth!
That takes us to WandaVision and the Marvel Studios Disney+ series that saw Wanda finally become The Scarlet Witch! Wanda’s extraordinary Chaos Magic which allowed her to wield the Power of Creation fulfilled an ancient Wiccan prophecy that foretold of the arrival of a being that would be stronger than even the Sorcerer Supreme: The Scarlet Witch, and WandaVision saw Wanda wrestle with her grief en route to fulfilling her destiny!
WandaVision will forever hold a special place in my heart due to it being the first Marvel Studios production in the COVID era. At the time it was released, it had been 18-months since we’d gotten anything new from the MCU and that made it highly anticipated! The series did NOT disappoint, and the finale saw Wanda fulfill the prophecy of The Scarlet Witch in all her glory, as she donned a glorious costume and comic book accurate tiara!
This is where the beauty of this Hot Toys figure comes in! My previous Wanda Maximoff figure was wonderful for its time, but it simply does not compare to this WandaVision figure! From the different shades of red, to costume, to the cape, and on to the sculpted hair and tiara, and the uncanny Elizabeth Olsen head sculpt, this is The Scarlet Witch!
This figure looks absolutely perfect and came with plenty of accessories from glowing hands to The Darkhold. At long last, I have the perfect accompanying piece to my Hot Toys VISION figure!
I felt like I’d been waiting for Wanda to become The Scarlet Witch for years after her MCU journey, and when we got that in WandaVision, I still found myself for years waiting to get my hands on this Scarlet Witch figure! Finally, after three-and-a-half years, she is part of my collection, and she is easily one of my most favorite pieces!
Every now and then, good things are worth the wait!
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