Marvel Gives an MCU Favorite a Big Upgrade

Even though they both have the designation Earth-616, the Marvel Comics Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe are really two different places. In some cases, the movies are better. They have David Harbour as a delightfully buffoonish Red Guardian, they have Agent Carter, and they have a pretty streamlined shared continuity.

But in some ways, the older and richer comics universe is better, in ways that even movie fans would agree. After all, some fan favorites still live in the comics. And in the case of the Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff, her comic counterpart is not only living, but thriving, becoming the next Sorcerer Supreme.

“It’s time for Wanda to take her destiny into her own hands,” writer Steve Orlando told AIPT about the upcoming series Sorcerer Supreme. “With the cloak and the eye calling out for a new wielder, there’s no one better suited than the Scarlet Witch. She’s the one who listens when no one else will—and she’s about to change the rules of magic forever.”

Written by Orlando and illustrated by Bernard Chang, Sorcerer Supreme will indeed involve a lot of rule changing, not just because the rules of Marvel’s magic are complicated. The title of Sorcerer Supreme is bestowed upon magic users by the trinity of mystical beings known as the Vishanti. Most often, the title goes to whomever wins a tournament set up by the Vishanti and, most often, that winner is Doctor Strange. However, the recent death of Doctor Strange (don’t worry, he got better) has allowed others to take up the mantle, including Strange’s lover Clea, the trickster god Loki, and Doctor Doom.

Doom gained the title in the 2024 crossover event Blood Hunt, in which vampires launched an all-out assault on humanity. Once he secured his new powers, Doom used them to conquer the world in the 2025 crossover event One World Under Doom. But now with Doom defeated, Wanda’s ready to take on the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme. But there’s one big problem: the Vishanti.

The trio has chosen instead Wanda’s mentor, Agatha Harkness—generally a sage crone in the Marvel Universe, only recently de-aged to better match the snarky character that Kathryn Hahn plays in the MCU. When Wanda defies the Vishanti by refusing to give up the title, she’s sent to Limbo (Marvel’s version of Hell), where she comes face to face with its current ruler, the Goblin Queen Madelyne Pryor, who MCU fans might know as the evil clone of Jean Grey recently seen in X-Men ’97. Fortunately, Wanda doesn’t need to go through Limbo alone, as she can count on the help of her council, which includes her son Wiccan of the Young Avengers and, of course, Doctor Strange himself.

But Wanda’s best ally is the person writing her adventures. Orlando has been doing excellent work on the character for years now, penning both her solo series and her series with brother Pietro in the miniseries Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver.

Even with such forces behind her and such great power at her disposal, things will be hard for the Scarlet Witch. But that’s always how it is for Wanda Maximoff, whether in the pages of Marvel Comics or in live-action adventures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Sorcerer Supreme #1 hits comic store shelves on December 31, 2025.