Why Scarlet Witch was the only Avenger who could’ve killed Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, explained

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has owned pop culture for fifteen years now. And there have been some jaw-dropping moments, but nothing—or at least nothing in recent memory—hits quite like the full-on chaos of Avengers: Endgame finale. The one where everybody shows up to fight with Thanos.

But out of all those capes and suits, nobody messed with Thanos quite like Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch. She nearly tore the guy apart, no Infinity Gauntlet needed. The wild part is that Kevin Feige (the big boss of Marvel) has said Wanda could’ve ended Thanos by herself, if not for his last-ditch tactics.

The thing is, Scarlet Witch is not just some power-trip character. She’s been through the wringer. Her whole story is a rollercoaster of heartbreak, rage, and trying to figure out who she is, underneath all that magic. That’s why her showdown with Thanos hits so hard. She’s not just fighting a villain; she’s unloading a lifetime of pain on the one man who seriously deserves it.

So, where’d she come from? What’s her deal? Why is she the one Avenger who could’ve snapped Thanos in Avengers: Endgame? Scarlet Witch’s story isn’t just about blowing stuff up—it’s about what happens when pure grief meets unstoppable power.

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Who is Scarlet Witch? Wanda Maximoff’s origins and evolution

Comic book origins

Scarlet Witch showed up for the first time in The X-Men #4, way back in 1964. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the character. She started kinda iffy on the whole hero-villain thing, tagging along with her speedy twin brother Pietro (aka Quicksilver). At first, her deal was “hex powers,” which is comic-book for “stuff goes sideways whenever she wants.” But Marvel being Marvel, they stepped it up a notch. Now she’s capable of altering reality itself.

MCU adaptation

Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch first showed up in Avengers: Age of Ultron back in 2015, with Elizabeth Olsen nailing the role. The MCU decided to shake things up a bit, so instead of being Magneto’s kid and a mutant like in the comics, Wanda and her brother Pietro got stuck with a pretty rough backstory.

Orphaned in Sokovia, they signed up as lab rats for HYDRA, and exposure to the Mind Stone gave Wanda all those powers. They didn’t even call her a mutant at first—just “enhanced”.

The Infinity Stone angle is way different from the comic books, but it works.

Powers and abilities

Scarlet Witch has telekinesis, so she can toss around cars, people, and objects—no matter what it is, she just waves her hands and stuff flies everywhere. She also has the ability to manipulate energy. She can generate massive red blasts, force fields, and shields.

Also, she employs mind games. She can quickly enter someone’s mind, manipulate their memories, and create hallucinations. She also uses chaos magic, so by the time WandaVision and Multiverse of Madness come around, she’s rewriting reality.

Additionally, her powers go totally off the charts when she’s feeling extra emotional. Happy, sad, furious—her abilities elevate.

Character arc

Wanda’s story is a masterclass in getting knocked down and crawling back up, even if it’s messy. First, she loses her parents in a brutal bombing. She is pissed, so she goes after Tony Stark, but then she switches teams and ends up fighting alongside the Avengers.

Her brother Pietro dies in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and just when she finds a little happiness with Vision, Thanos comes in and rips that away too. In WandaVision, all that pain finally boils over. She rewrites reality just to feel okay for a minute, but even that comes crashing down.

In the end, she’s got no choice but to own up to everything and step into her all-powerful Scarlet Witch shoes.

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Scarlet Witch’s role in Avengers: Endgame

Wanda got the short end of the stick in Avengers: Infinity War. She had to destroy the Mind Stone—and Vision with it—hoping to stop Thanos from completing the Infinity Gauntlet. And then Thanos just flips time backwards with the Time Stone, undoes her sacrifice, and rips the stone (and Vision’s head) out himself.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Wanda gets snapped out of existence with half the universe. Five years later, Hulk brings her back with his snap in Avengers: Endgame.

Now, when Avengers: Endgame hits its big showdown, all the snapped-back heroes crash the battlefield. Wanda shows up, and you can feel the rage. She goes after Thanos like she’s got nothing left to lose—because she doesn’t.

She just tears into him, breaks his sword, and shreds his armor. For a second, you almost think she’s gonna finish him off herself. Probably one of the most formidable moments in the whole movie.

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The confrontation in Avengers: Endgame: Scarlet Witch vs. Thanos

Wanda goes toe-to-toe with Thanos for around a minute in Avengers: Endgame. She pins him in midair and just starts tearing his armor apart, and Thanos, the big purple dude who never breaks a sweat, actually freaks out. You see it on his face. He’s losing.

So what does he do? He tells his ship to just nuke the whole battlefield, even if it means roasting his own army.

But why is this bit such a big deal? Well, Thanos is usually Mr. Calm-and-Collected. Suddenly, he’s desperate. This guy took on Thor, Iron Man, and Cap at once and shrugged it off, but Wanda is a different beast. She nearly snaps him in half.

And then there’s Wanda herself. She could finish Thanos right there, but as soon as the “rain fire” starts, she lets go to protect her friends. She’s got the power to win, but chooses compassion over victory. That’s what makes her interesting—she’s a wrecking ball with a heart.

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Why couldn’t anyone else do it?

A bunch of Avengers took their shots at Thanos in Avengers: Endgame—some got close, but nobody really had him on the ropes solo.

Thor had both Stormbreaker and Mjolnir. Still, he couldn’t seal the deal. He was way too caught up in his own head, and Thanos knows how to throw down.

Captain Marvel was throwing haymakers, no doubt. She matched Thanos for raw power, but then he whips out the Power Stone.

Iron Man and Captain America fought their hearts out, but Thanos is on another level physically.

But Scarlet Witch actually had Thanos sweating. She turned him into the world’s biggest turtle, making him play defense. None of the others did that. She was *this close* to snapping him.

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Why Scarlet Witch was uniquely capable of killing Thanos

Wanda’s powers are wild. She got her abilities from the Mind Stone, the same source that powered Vision and, by extension, the Infinity Stones themselves. The Infinity Stones are like the MCU’s cheat codes, and Wanda has a direct link to one of them. Makes sense that she could actually fight with Thanos, especially when he didn’t have the full Gauntlet.

But her own magic was already off the charts. WandaVision revealed she’s packing chaos magic—an ancient and nearly limitless form of sorcery.

And her backstory is rough. She lost her brother, lost Vision, and that means she has got enough emotional baggage. But instead of breaking down, all that pain just supercharges her. Every time she’s hurting, her powers go nuclear.

Remember that fight with Thanos in Avengers: Endgame? She’s so mad, she’s literally tearing the guy apart. He had to rain fire to get her off him.

Even before she starts rewriting reality in WandaVision or Multiverse of Madness, Wanda is already flexing powers that put her on the same level as the Infinity Stones.

And Kevin Feige went on record saying Wanda could’ve smoked Thanos by herself. Feige told ComicBook.com:

“I contend she would have taken down Thanos if he hadn’t called the [army], it was done.”