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When Marvels Wandavision first kicked off on Disney+ fans across the MCU were enthralled in the world Scarlett Witch had created for herself. It seemed the MCU was expanding and fans everywhere had theories about where Marvel was headed after Wandavision. The biggest push was the appearance of Evan Peters as a cliff hanger late in the season. Fans of Marvel immediately saw this as a potential X-Men crossover event that would bring the Merry Mutants to the MCU. But what Wandavision gave us might have been the biggest slap in the face from any Marvel movie up to that point.
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We're not cops
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Of course we're not cops. If you were cops, you wouldn't be driving a rental car. How'd you know we've got a rental car? I checked your registration when you were walking through the door
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I also had some time to kill, so I went through your rental agreement and saw you from out of town. Are you FBI
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Among Marvel's best supporting superheroes of days past, Quicksilver might be the dark horse to beat
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And good luck catching him. With supersonic speed and two wildly different film portrayals
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Quicksilver made a lasting impression despite never quite getting his big moment
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And as a fondly remembered minor character, you would assume Quicksilver's reappearance in a popular TV series would be a surefire hit
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But unfortunately, the MCU's WandaVision had other plans. So what exactly went down with
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Quicksilver's disastrous sort of return? And more importantly, who the heck is Ralph
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Do me a favor and return it for me. Okay. Peter? Take it slow
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When WandaVision hit Disney Plus in 2021, initial reactions were off the charts. After the
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dissolution of Marvel's hit Netflix shows, the studio had big capes to fill. But the MCU's first
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homegrown streaming launch was a major victory, because at first, WandaVision offered an escape
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from superhero team-ups and repetitive origin stories. In fact, the MCU's first televised
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outing was unlike anything seen in comic media. Following the events of Avengers Endgame
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WandaVision features the eerie family life of Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch. As the show
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progresses, Wanda and company hurl through various eras of TV sitcoms. WandaVision thrilled viewers
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but that would all change on a very special episode called On a Very Special Episode
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When Pietro Maximoff, aka Quicksilver, showed up, audiences could not have been more thrilled
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shocked, and disoriented. Because although the MCU's Wanda lost her twin in an unceremonious
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death in Age of Ultron, this was not the Quicksilver Scarlet Witch was looking for
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No, this was the other Quicksilver. You know, this guy. She recast Pietro
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Let's rewind a bit. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Quicksilver
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and his sister Wanda burst onto the pages of X-Men number 4
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In these early issues, the twins were antagonistic members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants But before long both characters wound up as second Avengers and by the 80s the Maximoffs were even revealed to be Magneto children Throughout the years depictions of Pietro Maximoff varied from pompous grump to stoically
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cool. And when it finally came time to adapt him for film, studios had plenty of Quicksilver
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shades to choose from. And while fans wondered which version would wind up on screen
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few guessed they would get more than one. Before the great MCU takeover of 2008
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the Marvel Comics outsourced film adaptations to other studios. Originally, these deals produced third-party films like Sony's Spider-Man movies
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and Fox's X-Men features. The Fox partnership meant that when the MCU debuted Iron Man
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the company was restricted from adapting X-Men or even using the term mutant
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And for a while, these strange bedfellows seemed at peace until Quicksilver entered the scene
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Because the MCU was restricted to Spidey-free non-mutant films, the studio focused on its last library of Avengers
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Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, all fair game. But when the MCU broke into deeper super team cuts
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it was only a matter of time before something snapped. Let's pause for a second. How do you classify a character born a mutant but made an Avenger
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Quicksilver is clearly both, right? The MCU and Fox Studios decided characters can, in fact
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be a mutant and an Avenger. As ink dried on their agreement, the MCU debuted its Quicksilver in a mid-credits scene from The Winter Soldier
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Though this appearance was obviously short, Quicksilver and his sister Wanda had much bigger roles in the following year
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In Age of Ultron, Aaron Taylor-Johnson played Pietro Maximoff, a super-fast, stone-faced outcast who eventually helps the Avengers defeat Ultron
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This portrayal was seen by many fans as an accurate representation of their favorite comic character
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Though ATJ's Quicksilver dies in a cliched but touching sacrifice, fans were quick to note that the actor signed on for multiple MCU entries
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This was a clear indication that Quicksilver would return. But that same year as the MCU Maximoff's debut, Fox wanted in on some Quicksilver action too
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In 2014's Days of Future Past, a character named Peter Maximoff first appeared
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And although Fox Quicksilver shared the powers and essence of this Marvel counterpart Pietro to Peter wasn the only change Played by Evan Peters the Fox Studio Quicksilver is quick playful and downright hilarious In one particularly outrageous sequence
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the super-powered dynamo is even faster than in the comics. But for non-sticklers, the scene was a remarkably bold take
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Although these changes drew the ire of comic fans, Peter's Quicksilver was a major hit
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And unlike the MCU, Fox Studios knew to capitalize on lightning in a pair of goggles
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From multiple X-Men film appearances to a slot in Deadpool 2, the studio had no intention of slowing Quicksilver down
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But then the unthinkable happened. It was really only a matter of time before the mutants came home to the MCU
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And in 2019, Disney Studios acquired Fox. It was decided that all X-Men and mutants would come straight from the MCU
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Which brings us back to our regularly scheduled programming. Long lost bro get to squeeze his stinking sister to death or what
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After Quicksilver's WandaVision tease, fans couldn't contain their excitement. Though their beloved Pietro Maximoff a la Aaron Taylor Johnson had been cleverly recast
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the insinuation of a massive crossover was something even the most hardcore comic fans
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dreamed of. Perhaps this would be the moment that spawned a fully formed Marvel roster on film and
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TV. If Spider-Man could become an Avenger, the possibilities seemed endless. But then
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WandaVision's all-new Halloween spooktacular came to Disney+, and everything happened so fast
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time seemed to stop. From the beginning of the episode, something seemed off with Quicksilver
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Though he claimed to be Pietro Maximoff to his so-called sister Wanda, this reintroduction was certainly something
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Who's Billy's idea? I'm Tommy. And don't you forget it! According to WandaVision's showrunners
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Evan Peters' Quicksilver is a hybrid of funky 90s dude like Full House Uncle Jesse and Joey from Friends
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And it almost works. WandaVision is as much a show about superheroes
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as it is an examination of TV tropes and sitcoms. Many of its episodes are stylized in specific eras
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and modeled after classic shows. The Quicksilver-centric sixth episode plays on our nostalgia for 90s staples
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like Malcolm in the Middle. But even with campy sources in mind, it was clear that things were not as they seemed in WandaVision
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And by the end of the episode fans hopes were blasted away as quickly as Quicksilver It not like your dead husband can die twice Fearing the worst Marvel Comics aficionados still tried to stay positive leading up to the seventh episode
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because in a major comic book event known as House of M, Scarlet Witch creates a scenario very similar to the world of WandaVision
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In the popular Marvel series, it is revealed that Quicksilver was responsible for convincing his sister to create a utopian prison world
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And for those that kept the faith, It seemed WandaVision might utilize this source material to initiate an MCU version of House of M and its follow-up
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Is there a better platter to serve a united mutant and Avenger front than an adaptation of No More Mutants
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Perhaps there was still hope. Well, let me introduce you to Ralph
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You're Ralph ? . Evan Peters' Quicksilver is revealed to have been an imposter all along
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And once freed from the possessive spell used to fool Wanda, the guy just leaves
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That's right, not Quicksilver, not Pietro Maximoff, heck, not even Peter Maximoff
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just some guy named Ralph the whole time. This revelation landed with a wet smack for misled fans
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If the MCU never intended to adapt No More Mutants, why waste a character with such strong ties to a beloved series
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According to WandaVision showrunners, the goal of Ralph was to showcase the casting dynamics of classic sitcoms
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The idea was to have fan expectations of Evan Peters quite literally play into his role as
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Quicksilver. While this meta-narrative playfulness often works to WandaVision's advantage, the decision to make Quicksilver a hasty ruse disguised as a funky 90s uncle, well
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it just felt like a slap to the face. Nobody wants a fake villain, and fans certainly don't
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appreciate seeing favorite characters deployed like pointless pawns. Quicksilver had too much
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history, too much potential, and far too many adoring fans to be relegated to such lows
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And to add to that disappointment, WandaVision was an otherwise phenomenal outing, a bright spot in a field of streaming supers
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But sadly, the show's legacy has been marred by the tragic Ralph debacle
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WandaVision needs something more than a lazy imposter thrown in for easy views
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And more importantly, Quicksilver should never have been done dirty after finally coming home