The modern writing of her has been so-so, but
Frank Cho certainly knows how to draw Wanda!
I don’t remember where exactly I first ran into the Scarlet Witch. Much like Wolverine, she was probably first introduced to me by the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition. Her illustration was by the legendary John Byrne and the pose showed a little more life than many of the character shots in the book. Her name and powers fascinated me. And like many young comic fans, I probably thought she was pretty hot in that skintight red costume. When I finally started to read more Marvel books, West Coast Avengers immediately drew my attention. Wanda Maximoff and her husband Vision were on the team—much later I would find out they were just recent additions—and I instantly took to the split units under the pen of Steve Englehart and the pencils (for better or worse) of Al Milgrom. But it wouldn’t be long until John Byrne moved in to take over the book.
All signs seem to point towards the Russo brothers, directors of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the upcoming Captain America: Civil War, have been tapped to take over for Joss Whedon on the Avengers movie franchise. It is quite a step up from episodes of Arrested Development and Community or the awfulness that was You, Me and Dupree.
But by choosing young or less high profile directors, Marvel has started to cement a series of great new faces on the directorial side. One can easily argue they started that push with Joss Whedon and the first Avengers film. While Whedon was a proven television quantity, his film work was not nearly as high profile as the Avengers allowed. But by putting trust in him, Marvel came out with a masterpiece.
The Russos created their own great film with their first foray into a Marvel Universe, which they will deepen in their next film. And in doing so, they continue a line of great lesser known or unknown directors Marvel has fostered into solid talents whose careers will deepen as they move past Marvel film-making.
With a new writers program also in place, Marvel Studios seem set to build new talent as they continue to make solid films for years to come.
The next stop in the Marvel Cinematic Universe lands in May with Avengers: Age of Ultron.
