Movies News Talk
Marvel's Next Gen Showdown: Young Avengers vs. New Champions!
Get ready for some seriously epic magical mayhem, Marvel fans! In Scarlet Witch #7 (written by Steve Orlando, art by Lorenzo Tammetta, cover art by Russell Dauterman, releasing December 11, 2024), Scarlet Witch's solo series explodes with a crazy confrontation: Her children, the mighty Young Avengers Wiccan and Speed, face off against her mysterious new protégé, Amaranth, a member of Marvel's brand-new New Champions team. This epic clash of magical power is totally teased in Dauterman's awesome cover – showing Wanda standing strong beside her sons, with Amaranth floating ominously above. Prepare yourselves, folks; because this sounds crazy cool!
This magical showdown will occur inside a twisted carnival funhouse, trapping these characters together. This forces Wanda to make that impossible choice: saving her children, or her powerful student! And this introduces that critical question– Who is actually saving who?! It totally sets up the high stakes from issue 6 (Amaranth's debut featuring a terrified Agatha Harkness leading Amaranth to Wanda for training), turning things up several notches by introducing these important new characters into a well-established storyline! This whole story sounds crazy fun and utterly insane.
Wanda's relationship with Wiccan and Speed is famously complex. It has those inevitable family problems; plus an epic history in the comics and movies! And these guys were the founding members of the Young Avengers – an enormously important generation of heroes within the Marvel universe, highlighting the sheer amount of depth possible in superhero storytelling, with Amaranth adding even greater layers and potential for even deeper development later! These unexpected tensions created between Wanda's sons and this powerful newbie also create significant impacts which also influence how Wanda interacts with those individuals who matter the most to her – both for good, but more importantly for bad, showing why these very important interpersonal relationships create these powerful story moments which made many of her plots utterly memorable.
This isn't some throwaway team-up, either. Amaranth's creation–designed by artist Jen Bartel as a potential Scarlet Witch sidekick– perfectly showcases that this specific character wasn't an afterthought but rather someone the creators thought long and hard about including. And that New Champions team’s origins as a variant cover series make its appearance into mainstream comics something significant! It shows the potential of variant artwork which made fans appreciate many elements present here – further suggesting that variant art really showcases creative development for future plot points.
This entire series involved Wanda's family! Her twin brother Pietro (Quicksilver) and Polaris showed up earlier demonstrating how complex, yet enjoyable those various family reunions can become; resulting in epic team-ups highlighting Wanda's powerful ties and how those very family members were created with a degree of depth that isn’t easy to achieve in a shared comic book universe setting! And Wiccan and Speed's reunion with their mom is awesome; and brings forth another extremely intense climax. They show off those strong motherly bonds alongside that awesome training provided by Wanda.
Amaranth’s arrival however complicates this whole family affair; highlighting that power and conflict intertwine to such levels it becomes difficult to simply choose those good moments. Amaranth’s powers may cause a clash between Wanda and her sons; her potential rival might force these very tense interpersonal and familial interactions! This really creates immense opportunities. Speed (with a smaller part in Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver) last appearance here; highlights that these elements will further build, creating the ideal tension.
Amaranth’s official entry onto the New Champions team kicks off the Marvel Universe's newest squad; filling in the absence from that legendary Young Avengers and Champions team-ups; resulting in a creative shift for teen superhero storytelling in this specific medium, while retaining elements previously presented that continue to demonstrate just how popular this specific storytelling technique really is amongst its loyal viewers, highlighting this legacy in another way by adding even greater impact from many different viewpoints and perspectives. These changes highlight important generational themes within the shared continuity setting.
Along with Amaranth, there’s Fantasma (a new Ghost Rider) and a group of Hydra ex-victims, alongside additional characters added from those early variant comics showing just how interconnected some seemingly unrelated storylines could potentially be, and how much future plot could result from using these previously unutilized plot elements! The result showcases just why Marvel continues to thrive through creative decisions, keeping many different groups of characters both relevant and simultaneously appealing and unique!
Scarlet Witch #7 sets things up brilliantly and hints towards an upcoming and amazingly satisfying storyline that completely changes much of the future Marvel Universe for that young adult target group, creating moments that might even introduce the characters present into different storyline branches and other very different superhero events! This whole magical confrontation involving Wanda, her sons and her formidable new student will absolutely test familial bonds. The fight will demonstrate each hero’s immense abilities, showing off how complex these intergenerational issues might appear and adding an incredibly layered narrative element. It also reveals how those young hero teams continue to evolve; creating exciting conflicts and opportunities that keep the universe fresh, engaging, and undeniably appealing to viewers.