Wanda Maximoff was a native of Sokovia who grew up with her fraternal twin brother, Pietro. Born with the latent mythical ability to harness Chaos Magic, she developed a hatred against Tony Stark and rallied anti-American protests after the Novi Grad Bombings killed her parents. Years later, in an effort to help purge their country of strife, the twins joined HYDRA and agreed to undergo experiments with the Scepter under the supervision of Baron Strucker, with the Mind Stone awakening and amplifying Wanda's powers. While her brother developed super-speed, she attained various psionic abilities. When HYDRA fell, the twins joined Ultron to get their revenge on Stark, but abandoned him when they discovered his true intentions to eradicate humanity.

In 2016, during the Attack on the IFID Headquarters, Maximoff tried to contain an explosion caused by Crossbones, who pulled the cord on his own explosive vest, but failed in her mission and inadvertently destroyed a nearby building with the blast, killing many of its occupants, much to her horror. Maximoff felt responsible for what happened, and since she was unsure of her decision about the Sokovia Accords, she ended up under Vision's watch, who made every effort to make her feel better.

However, Clint Barton convinced her to run away and join Steve Rogers in his fight against Tony Stark's team. As a result of her actions during the Clash of the Avengers and her violation of the Sokovia Accords, Maximoff was briefly imprisoned on the Raft before Rogers freed her alongside her teammates.

Over the next two years, Maximoff reunited and reconciled with Vision, and together the two started living off the grid in Europe, forming a romantic relationship. In 2018, they were ambushed by the Black Order, who sought the Mind Stone, and rejoined the Avengers to seek refuge in Wakanda. Maximoff took part in the city's defence when the Black Order invaded the city, where she was forced to kill Vision to prevent Thanos from completing the Infinity Gauntlet.