Marvel fans are already familiar with Scarlet Witch and her speedy brother, Quicksilver. The powerful twins span decades of complex, intricate comic story lines that massively altered their universe. But, did you know that the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver also have a secret sister? With tumbling speeds, chaos magic, and an awesome costume of her own, this deadly familial relation is one for the books. Here’s everything you need to know about Luminous, the more powerful version of both Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver combined.
Wanda and Pietro Maximoff boast a complex history. Depending on which writer is penning their adventures, they are either the children of Magneto, Magneto’s adopted children, wards of the mystical puppeteer Django Maximoff, or experiments crafted by the meddlings of the High Evolutionary. Even more confusingly, the twins are sometimes Mutants, not actually Mutants, or just super-powered heroes. More perplexing still, the duo shifts between heroic acts, villainous arcs, and moments of opposing ideologies. So, where does Luminous fit into Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’s rich comic tapestry?
In The Uncanny Avengers – crafted by Remender, Cassady, and Acuna – the Avengers and X-Men join together in the ultimate dream team: the Avengers Unity Squad. During the “Counter-Earth” story arc, the heroes find themselves split up on various regions of this other version of Earth, which is controlled by the High Evolutionary. Counter Earth is a pure Earth that, originally, had no superheroes. A complicated history of powerful entities fighting over its possession and destruction has left it in the hands of Marvel’s most ambitious mad scientist.
Ultimately, Wanda and Pietro agree to help the rebellious Low Evolutionary against the High Evolutionary, but they are intercepted by Luminous. Sporting a headdress, a bright blue costume, and witchy powers, she declares that she’s the higher, evolved form of being that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were meant to be. At every chance she can grab, Luminous insults Wanda and Pietro, calling them things like, “gene junk”, “tumors”, and “boring.” She states that, “Father wants to have a chat,” hinting that the High Evolutionary is the Maximoffs’ architect rather than Magneto. Scarlet Witch is in denial until the two fall into a heated battle; to Scarlet Witch’s dismay, Luminous displays more powerful and controlled chaos magic. She’s also faster than Quicksilver, having just defeated him moments before Wanda makes an attack. It seems that Luminous is indeed a highly evolved combo of the Maximoff twins, and it seems that Wanda can’t escape defeat.
Luminous boasts incredible speed and control over chaos magic. In her fight against Pietro, Luminous merely mocks him and is depicted in the panel to be floating around Quicksilver with ease as he sprints for his life. When Scarlet Witches battles her, Luminous defeats Wanda’s magic effortlessly. Chaos magic means she can also control portals and reality warping spells. Her magical side provides her levitation, similar to Scarlet Witch, and if contempt was a superpower, Luminous would be peerless there too. She loves belittling any creation deemed lesser than her level of evolution, especially her embarrassingly low life-form siblings. Her DNA is an evolved cocktail ‘template’ of Wanda and Pietro’s genetic makeup.
In Uncanny Avengers Vol. 2 #5, it’s shown that the only Avenger strong enough to overpower Luminous is Vision. He accomplishes the defeat by phasing through her mind, halting her attacks. However, Luminous survives and escapes Counter Earth with the High Evolutionary. Perhaps she’ll make a return soon – her artistic design makes for a stunning composition of clashing reds vs. blues during her battles with Wanda, and it seems to be a waste if Luminous never returns as an antagonist for Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, who don’t have many villains of their own. If nothing else, she makes a stellar cosplay for die-hard Marvel fans.
