While Quicksilver proved to be a valuable asset to the Avengers in both the MCU and the comics—despite his time being cut tragically short in the live-action universe—Marvel Comics’ readers know that he is even more powerful than what was shown on the big screen as Quicksilver has a hidden power that fans of the films will never get to see.
Pietro Maximoff aka Quicksilver made his full Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in the film Avengers: Age of Ultron. In the movie, Quicksilver and his sister, Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch, align themselves with the villainous Ultron in an effort to take down the Avengers. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch hated the heroes of the Avengers because of the team’s association with Tony Stark, a former weapons manufacturer whose company designed missiles that were used to decimate the Maximoffs’ village and kill their parents. Eventually, however, the super powered siblings decide to join the Avengers and stop Ultron from destroying the world. Unfortunately, this leads to Quicksilver’s tragic death at the hands of Ultron himself. This seemingly closed the book on one of the Avengers’ most iconic Marvel Comics members forever.
In Avengers #43 by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, the Avengers are facing off against the villainous copycat of Captain America, the Red Guardian. However, before the team jumps into action, they are first shown training within their private facility, and Quicksilver displays a power that leaves the entire Avengers roster speechless. By vibrating his legs at top speed, Quicksilver discovers that he can actually fly. Not only that, but this issue confirms that Pietro can fly faster than he can run, which Captain America clearly states while trying to get his shield back from the mischievous Avenger.
While the fact that Quicksilver can fly is shocking and immensely impressive, there is one issue with this particular aspect of his power: he can only fly in incredibly short bursts. When Quicksilver stole Cap’s shield and Clint’s bow, he was forced to land immediately after as that was as long as Quicksilver’s body could stand vibrating at that speed. However, that doesn’t mean his power of flight is useless–far from it, in fact. Quicksilver’s power of flight has the capability to get him out of a number of jams and access areas of practically any location that would have otherwise been off limits. For instance, if Quicksilver needs to get from the top of one building to another, and he didn’t want to waste precious seconds running down one building and up the other, he can simply fly across, and he can do so without sacrificing speed for convenience since this issue proves he can move faster when he’s flying.
While Quicksilver’s power of flight isn’t as epic as that of some of his fellow Avengers like Captain Marvel and Iron Man, it is a super useful ability to have in his back pocket and proves just how powerful his abilities can be when he truly puts them to the test. Unfortunately, MCU fans will seemingly never be able to experience Quicksilver flexing this particular muscle on the big screen, barring any multiversal resurrections, which is a shame given the epic potential of Quicksilver’s hidden power.
