Relationship Spotlight: Pietro & Wanda Maximoff (The Avengers)

The addition of the Maximoff twins was one of my favorite parts of Avengers:  Age of Ultron.  There’s their cool powers – amazing mental abilities including mind manipulation and telekinesis for Wanda (the Scarlet Witch) and super-speed for Pietro (Quicksilver) – and both are compelling characters who make a big impact despite limited screentime.  Best of all, though, I think is the relationship they have with one another.  The MCU has brought some really stellar relationships to life, and these two are a particularly prime example (big Maximoff-related spoilers for Age of Ultron.)

The first thing you notice about Pietro and Wanda is how closely they’re entwined.  They come by it honestly, having lost their parents at a young age in brutal, tragic circumstances; they’ve survived the same traumas together, and each is the other’s only family.  They cling to one another, look to one another in making decisions, and protect one another before all else.  Now, their bond has grown deeper, as both have undergone the same experiments to give them their respective enhanced abilities.

Their shared loss (courtesy of a Stark Industries bomb) has placed both of them on a path toward revenge, although their anger manifests in different ways.  We see this in the twins’ demeanor as well as how they operate in the field.  Pietro has a quick temper, and he attacks his enemies (or perceived enemies) head-on, relying on his speed to get him out of danger if he finds himself in over his head.  Wanda, meanwhile, tends to be a lot subtler.  Her anger simmers beneath the surface, and she similarly attacks from the shadows, getting into the heads of her opponents when they’re not looking.

But while they come at things in different ways, both move toward the same goals.  It’s interesting to watch them as they decide where they stand at various points of the film.  Whether it’s making the choice to enter the field, join Ultron, or ally with the Avengers, they rarely discuss anything.  Instead, they more often seem to silently confer and one can announce the decision for both of them with few words exchanged.  Sure, there are little things – Wanda chiding Pietro to be more cautious, Pietro teasing Wanda about being the younger twin – but on everything that matters, they’re perfectly aligned from the get-go.  (In general, I feel like Wanda runs the show a little bit, but not in the sense that Pietro goes along with her even if he doesn’t want do.  I don’t know; it’s kind of hard to articulate.  Maybe it’s that he just implicitly trusts that what Wanda wants is what he wants?)

Their protectiveness of one another is so central to both characters.  This is both in a physical sense – Pietro appears at Wanda’s side out of nowhere, always ready to bring her to safety – and an emotional one – the two orphans seem to parent one another.  For me, the absolute heart of the entire film can be found in Wanda’s reaction to Pietro’s death during the final battle.  They’re separated from one another, halfway across the city, but Wanda knows immediately, and her powers explode out as her grief overwhelms her.  Then, when Ultron warns Wanda that she’ll die if she doesn’t leave the city, she tells him that she’s already died and offers to show him how it felt, tearing his metal “heart” out of his chest.  I mean, holy crap.  This franchise has done sharp work with numerous romances, friendships, and familial relationships, but I don’t think anything compares to the rawness and love of that moment.