Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver made their MCU debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron, though prior to that we were teased with a short sneak peek of their powers at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The Sokovian twins, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olson) and Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) were warmly received by fans, and were a big step in moving the superhero-count of the MCU towards Infinity (…thank you).
Naturally, there was a long period of research and exploration as to how the twins’ powers would appear on screen. You might be familiar with Scarlet Witch’s hex magic from the comics, which would have been an interesting look for them to capture in the film, had Marvel endeavoured to recreate it.
They took a slightly different route though, mindful of creating a distinction between the Witch’s controlling of matter and her mind powers. Quicksilver’s visuals were somewhat more faithful to the comics – with only DC’s The Flash to contrast to on screen. X-Men: Days of Future Past interpreted Quicksilver’s speed differently, appearing to make him capable of much higher speeds.
Marvel called upon internationally acclaimed visual effect studio Trixter Film to visualise their heroes’ powers. Conceptual artist Paolo Giandoso was a deeply involved member of that process, and recently released some concept art.
Take a look here:
The final visuals of both Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were quite impressive and fit into the style of the MCU quite nicely. Some moments in Age of Ultron, particularly in one of their posters (look below), seem to capture the circular effect of her comic-book hex powers. Since then, Scarlet Witch returned in Captain America: Civil War and we saw a little more about what she can do (also below). The visuals do seem to be developing, and as we discover more about Scarlet Witch’s power (as I think the MCU have barely scratched the surface), the more the studio can play with visualising them – particularly with Doctor Strange now in the game.
We’ll next see Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Infinity War, 2018. As for Quicksilver… well, let’s just not talk about that.
Source: Paolo Giandoso via ComicBook