#hex power

[scarletwitchpanels]

Scarlet Witch & Jeff the land shark by Peach Momoko

[smbhax]

From "The Return of the Blob" in The X-Men #7, September 1964. Stan Lee script, Jack Kirby pencils, Chic Stone inks, Stan Goldberg (?) colors, Artie Simek pencils. Photoshop color reduction.

Info from Grand Comics Database

[evilhorse]

Enough!

(Avengers Volume 9 #23)

[scarlet--wiccan]

Does Billy have probability warping as his x-gene?

Billy is not a mutant and doesn't have an x-gene, so the short answer is no.

The slightly longer answer is that the text does not investigate the exact mechanics of Billy and Tommy's powers, and even prior to the retcon, it was actually a little vague about whether or not they were mutants themselves. I have always taken it as read that Billy and Tommy's powers are an exact duplicate of Wanda and Pietro's-- which, in the 2000s, would have meant that they were mutants. As I've said, the text supports the idea that Billy and Tommy are genetically identical to the original William and Thomas Maximoff.

For the majority of Wanda's publication history, she was considered a mutant, and this was still the case when Billy and Tommy were first introduced in Young Avengers, but our understanding of Wanda's mutation changed a few times over the years. In the late 90s, we learned that Wanda's probability-altering "hex power" is not actually her natural mutation. Per Busiek, Chthon altered Wanda's mutation to serve as a conduit for chaos magic, and her natural power would have been something elemental, similar to Magneto. Her "hexes," therefore, were an unrefined expression of raw chaos magic, and not a purely mutant power.

I typically prefer a more granular, distinct interpretation of Wanda's abilities, but the fact remains that her probability powers are not the naturally-occurring expression of her x-gene, and the same could therefore be said for Billy. In the current canon, they're not mutants, so none of this really matters.

Lately, I've seen some debate as to whether or not Billy's powers are fundamentally the same as Wanda's. I think they are. In the original run of Young Avengers, Heinberg intentionally sought to distinguish them by having Billy's powers manifest and express themselves very differently than Wanda's hexes. But at their core, both characters' powers are defined as chaos magic, and I think it's worth noting that since HoM, Wanda barely uses her classic hexes anymore. In practice, their abilities are very similar, especially in stories like Young Avengers (2013), which focused largely on reality warping, taking cues from HoM and Wanda's Nexus lore. Billy still uses the distinctive chanting gimmick, but I think that's meant to reflect the differences in their education and experience level, more than anything else.

In my mind, it makes a lot more sense and is much more interesting that these characters have the same basic power but express it differently, as a result of differing circumstances, and it just makes the overall story more cohesive. Why would Billy have fundamentally different powers if he inherited them from Wanda, especially in light of the retcon that part of their magical talent comes from a much longer lineage?

[chthoniccult]

There is this one comic Twitter account who is so confidently in making arbitrary claims that Wanda's hex power is her CORE mutant power that SEPARATE from her magic and that modern day writers has made it "only magic". Recently, this man exposed himself by claiming that Steve Orlando adds a new feat for her Hex to be able to counter with magic, this is incorrect as it has that abilities before, but when someone pointed out, he backtracked instantly and now suddenly he ALREADY knew all along??? I really want to make a post ranting about this user, but I'm conflicted about whether it will make me seem petty or not. For some of my mutuals, you're definitely aware of this person, so what do you say if I decide to make a post venting about him

[alternateworldcomics]

Silver-Age Scarlet Witch using her Hex Power.

[scarletwitchpanels]

Scarlet Witch by Mindy Lee

[scarletwitchpanels]

Scarlet Witch #3 Disco Dazzler variant