The Marvel Cinematic Universe has proven to be clever enough to create plans for all of its characters across its ever-expanding franchise. Launching from their first onscreen introduction, the characters — their narratives and their powers — grow with each new cinematic or serial appearance.

Wanda Maximoff, for instance, first appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier's post-credits scene before fully joining the fray in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Since then, she has become one of the most powerful Avengers in the MCU. Of course, it wasn't until her first chance in the spotlight with WandaVision that Wanda's backstory was explored. Arguably the best 2021 MCU release, WandaVision was, in fact, the first time that she was called The Scarlet Witch and that her powers were revealed to be Chaos Magic.

The concept of magic always spellbound Marvel, and now from the pages of its comics it's made the grand leap into the seemingly-infinite live-action universe. Little by little, it has become more of an imposing threat as the most powerful magic users in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have threatened to fall out of self-control, and instead, let their magic control them. WandaVision’s finale erupted in calamity — in all its scarlet beauty — as it revealed truths about Wanda's true abilities. Chaos Magic has finally been introduced into the MCU, but, of course, true to Marvel Studios form, further explanation of Chaos Magic was left a mystery by the time Wanda fled Westview.

Updated October 6th, 2022: For those looking for some Chaos Magic facts this Halloween season, this article has been updated following the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as well as recent announcement regarding the MCU's future plans.

These were later explored in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness where it was revealed that following WandaVision, Wanda had been reading the Darkhold and was going to use it to get her lost children from another multiverse — by any means necessary. With her Chaos Magic, she sent various monsters after the young girl America Chavez and eventually found herself in conflict with Doctor Strange. The movie revealed more details about the lore behind Scarlet Witch, and also more about Chaos Magic. With the announcement of Agatha Harkness: Coven of Chaos, it is likely the subject will be explored even more. The question remains: what exactly is Scarlet Witch's Chaos Magic?

What is Chaos Magic?

Scarlet Witch in Wandavision
Marvel Studios.

It was the Elder God Chthon who was the first to wield Chaos Magic in Marvel's canon. Through the use of Chaos Magic, Chthon was later known as the Chaos God and deemed himself the ruler of Earth through his power. His downfall came about after the other mages of Earth banded together to defeat him by sealing him into Mount Wundagore for eternity. Marvel Comics declared that Mount Wundagore was the official birthplace of The Scarlet Witch, and it was here that she inherited the ability to manipulate the surrounding energy through her mutation. The comics claim that she first gained Chaos Magic as a child after absorbing power through a withering Chthon.

Related: Scarlet Witch: 8 Comic Book Storylines That Need to Be Adapted in the MCU

The MCU decided to abandon Wanda's mutant origins as the property battle between 20th Century Fox and Disney waged on, with Avengers: Age of Ultron explaining her powers were a result of genetic experimentation by HYDRA from studying the mind stone in Loki's scepter. In the eight episode of WandaVision, it is revealed Wanda had powers before the experiments.

While this might have been an indication of a mutation, the series later explains she is born with an ability to use Chaos Magic, and is born The Scarlet Witch. It was Wanda's raw Chaos Magic that allowed her to enslave the town of Westview due to the sheer strength of her grief. The season final unleashed the full potential of her Chaos Magic as Wanda accepts her fate as The Scarlet Witch.

Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch
Marvel Studios / Disney

Chaos Magic originated in Marvel Comics and is recognized as the ability to warp time and reality into the user's liking by toying with the fibers of life itself. Per its namesake, Chaos Magic gives its users the ability to dictate their reality only if the reality is altered through instability, resulting in chaos. Chaos Magic seems limitless in theory, though can be counteracted through the use of Order Magic. The use of Order Magic allows its users to reconstruct any form of reality that has previously been damaged or destroyed, patching the rifts created within the universe, similar to how Doctor Strange fixed the cracks in reality during Spider-Man: No Way Home.

"Her powers, she's never had any training, I'm talking about Scarlet Witch. She never had any training; she's figuring it out," Feige said to ComicBook.com, "Arguably, you could say that that's why her powers are much more chaotic and much looser in the way that we showcased those light effects. In [Doctor Strange]... it's much tighter. It's all about focus. It's all about pulling energies from other dimensions in an organized and purposeful fashion, which is why they can do a lot more than she can in, at least, a much more precise way."

Is Chaos Magic the Most Powerful Magic?

Scarlet Witch
Marvel Comics

Chaos Magic is the most powerful form of magic, so much so that other sorcerers have chosen to ignore its existence out of fear. When trying to compare the power of Chaos Magic to existing entities within the MCU, the closest comparison can be drawn from the Reality Stone that was previously coveted by both the dark elf Malekith and the Mad Titan Thanos. The Infinity Stones aren't inherently magical themselves, but they grant those who bear them abilities that can be viewed as mage-like.

Related: Here’s What Makes Wanda (Scarlet Witch) One of the Most Powerful Avengers

The Reality Stone is absent of Chaos Magic, but its power can scale up to what Chaos Magic is capable of achieving. Within both the MCU and Marvel Comics, there is currently no force that can rival the strength of Chaos Magic. When measuring its strength, the power drawn from Chaos Magic can be viewed as nearly equivocal to Jean Grey's powers in the X-Men as the Dark Phoenix. However, Jean's mutation cannot directly rival Chaos Magic, as its unpredictable power strips away at the foundation of existence.

Wanda's Chaos Magic seems to be the strongest power in the MCU, as she was able to hold off Thanos while he wielded five infinity stones all while destorying another. In the WandaVision finale, Agatha Harkness (the perfect Kathryn Hahn) revealed that Scarlet Witch's magic exceeded that of the Sorcerer Supreme and with her full might she destroyed most of the sorcerer's at Kamar Taj. With her magic she killed the Illumaniti of Earth 838 which consisted of powerful heroes like Mr. Fantastic, Professor X, and Black Bolt. She killed a variant of Captain Marvel, and the Captain Marvel of the MCU was able to take on Thanos. Scarlet Witch's Chaos Magic made her the most powerful Avenger, and also the most dangerous threat.

Who Uses Chaos Magic in Marvel?

Scarlet Witch Agatha Harkness Chaos Magic
Marvel Studios / Disney

The comic book origins solidify that aside from Wanda, Chthon has established himself with the ability to use Chaos Magic. Agatha Harkness, who has the power of absorbing energy, can use Chaos Magic. Instead of using Chaos Magic for herself, Harkness converts it into Dark Magic. With her upcoming Disney+ series titled Agatha Harkness: Coven of Chaos, there are bound to be even more Chaos magic wielders. Shuma-Gorath is another known Chaos Magic-user within Marvel Comics, although Marvel Studios was not allowed to use the character due to rights issue they took the design of the character and renamed him Gargantos for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but that creature was a servant of the Scarlet Witch.

Outside the canon of who has already been known to bear Chaos Magic, speculations around who could possibly be susceptible to its power have been contested throughout the fanbase. Billy "Wiccan" Kaplan has been considered to be capable of possessing his mother's Chaos Magic, though he has yet to experience it for himself. While the MCU's Billy is still a child it appears that the studio is assembling its Young Avengers, so there's definitely room for Billy to grow.

Wanda's fate following Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness remains unknown, as she supposedly died when she collapsed Mount Wundagore on top of herself. However, her body wasn't shown, and with the upcoming threat of Kang the Conqueror to the Multiverse, there is a chance the Scarlet Witch will return to fight alongside the heroes and redeem herself. To battle a man who can travel time and manipulate the multiverse, the Avengers will need the untapped reality warping abilities of Chaos Magic and the Scarlet Witch.