Who is Pietro Maximoff?
As a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I always crave more superhero-related content. I recently rewatched the “X-Men” series, the original films from the early 2000s, and was reminded just how well those films hold up. Even the “Star Wars” style “prequel-sequel” films, “X-Men: First Class” (2011), “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (2014) and “X-Men: Apocalypse” (2016) are still enjoyable films.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Quicksilver has always been my favorite “X-Men” character. In the comics, Pietro and his sister, Wanda Maximoff, are the children of Magneto who go down a dark path before becoming X-Men and eventually, Avengers. Some versions of this sound familiar because the Fox and Marvel Universe both have their own stories. In “X-Men: Days of Future Past” we are introduced to Peter Maximoff, an Americanized version of Pietro who is the son of Erik Lehnsherr, AKA, Magneto. In “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” we are introduced to Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, humans who gained powers after being experimented on by Hydra agent Baron Strucker. Pietro later dies after saving Hawkeye and a civilian from a spray of bullets while Wanda goes on to join the Avengers. The two films came out only a year apart; “X-Men” in 2014 and “Age of Ultron” in 2015.
With the Fox-Disney merger two years ago, many Marvel fans began to speculate when an “X-Men”/“Avenger” style crossover would occur, and then WandaVision happened. In episode five titled “On a Very Special Episode,” Pietro Maximoff appears outside Wanda’s home only for the audience to discover it isn’t Marvel’s original Pietro, played by Aaron Taylor Johnson, but Peter Maximoff, portrayed by Evan Peters in the “X-Men” films. Quickly fans began to speculate what this could mean. Was Marvel trying to mess with us by casting Peters as Quicksilver, or was that really the same Quicksilver we adored and loved throughout the “X-Men” franchise? How did he get here, and why did he seem to have both memories of the MCU Quicksilver and the Fox Quicksilver?
And once again, what does this all MEAN?
There is a heated debate among Marvel fans about who played the better Quicksilver, Johnson or Peters. Evan Peters’ Quicksilver holds a special place in my heart; he’s childish, witty and makes for great comedic relief. Who can forget the fantastic scene where he saves nearly everyone in the span of seconds before Xaiver’s school explodes? I still can’t listen to “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” without thinking of Quicksilver. Fox had the character first, and while Marvel made do with the traits they could give their Pietro, Peters will remain superior. If this really is Peter Maximoff who showed up in the Marvel universe, what does that mean going forward?
Rumors about the upcoming Dr. Strange and Spider-Man films could give us some answers. Dr. Strange 2, titled “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” has Stephen Strange alongside Wanda Maximoff fighting an unknown villain from a different universe and is listed as a sequel to WandaVision. Spider-Man 3 is supposedly reprising roles to Jamie Foxx as Electro, Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin, Alfred Molina as Doc Ock and Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are rumored to return, although we aren’t sure if they will be different versions of Spider-Man or just cameos. With this in mind, it would make sense that Marvel would slowly introduce us to the multiverse with Peter Maximoff being brought into the MCU. With two more episodes left of WandaVision, we can only hope that our questions will be answered soon.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
*Photos courtesy of Fox and Marvel Studios.
Sydney Dahle is a fourth-year student studying history and political science at Utah State and is currently the Lifestyles Content manager for the Utah Statesman. She hails from St. Louis, Missouri, and spends her free time writing and listening to music.
@dillydahle