Brother and Sister Duo Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch Included in Avengers 2
Joss Whedon has been teasing the idea of a sibling
partnership for Avengers 2 in the last couple of months. The internet was ripe
with speculation and now, he has confirmed the inclusion of brother-sister duo
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Their
actual names are Pietro Django Maximoff and Wanda Maximoff, respectively, for
those who wanted to know.
You can easily guess Quicksilver’s special ability, which is
the gift of speed as his name suggests. Scarlet’s powers include probability manipulation,
reality alteration and Chaos Magic. I have no clue as to what the first item on
the list means, and my closest guess is that she’s good at math and statistics.
The most interesting aspect that Whedon will have to deal
with though, is not their powers but their backgrounds, which should inevitably
complicate things in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The siblings were raised by
a gypsy couple living in dire conditions, and Pietro (Quicksilver) used his
abilities to steal to provide for his family. This inevitably angered local
villagers who decided to attack the gypsy camp, from which the siblings
escaped. Over the years, they had a nomadic lifestyle before Scarlet
accidentally set a house on fire with her uncontrollable hex powers and the
pair was chased by superstitious townspeople, yet again. Only this time, they weren't able to fend for themselves and had to be rescued by a familiar figure,
none other than Magneto.
While being rescued by Magneto, it later turns out that the
2 are his children. Feeling that they owe much to Magneto for his rescue, they
enlist in his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to eradicate the other well-known
mutant clan known as the X-Men. After
several comic book series, however, allegiances change and the previously evil
brother and sister enlist with the Avengers.
Here lies a major difficulty for Marvel. The X-Men story
line forms much of the two’s respective characters and is a possible source of
development material for the movie. It would seem vital to include the early
lives and childhood of these figures, especially given that they are the
children of Magneto but this will intertwine the X-Men and Avengers worlds,
creating unnecessary friction. Besides, it is a legally unmanageable situation
as 20th Century Fox own rights to X-Men whereas Avengers is
wholeheartedly Marvel’s.
Hence, it is a safe assumption that any backstory of
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch will be eradicated from Avengers 2 or altered
radically. Besides, it is unlikely to see presumably 2 supporting characters
receive much prominence in the sequel. With all due respect, they aren't like
Iron Man or Captain America. Therefore, I guess Whedon’s treatment of the
superheroes will follow a path similar to Black Widow’s and Hawkeye’s in Marvel’s
first phase. They were just placed right in the middle of the action in Iron
Man and Thor with a relatively minor introduction, and in all likelihood,
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch will experience a similar fate.
Regarding the characters, Whedon had this to say, “You know,
they had a rough beginning. They’re interesting to me because they sort of
represent the part of the world that wouldn't necessarily agree with The
Avengers. So they’re not there to make things easier. I’m not putting any
characters in the movie that will make things easier.”
Whedon does tease about their backgrounds but my convictions
haven’t changed. I think their back stories maybe left untouched. And that last
bit basically means that the Avengers will have more conflicting personalities,
besides the regular sparring between Iron Man and Captain America. This should
be interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment