Flashy Mutant
Quicksilver: “You didn’t see that coming?”
Avengers: Age of Ultron
An angry mob chases a child. The child reaches a dead end and turns, revealing the compound eyes that mark him as a Mutant. The mob’s leader raises a tire iron to attack the monster. Before the blow can land, a blue streak tears the weapon from his hands and uses it to hit the leader dozens of times. He slumps to the ground, barely alive.
Quick as a blink, the streak circles the rest of the mob. Its speed causes a whirlwind that knocks them unconscious. With all threats eliminated, the streak slows down and is revealed to be a young man with white hair wearing a blue costume. Quicksilver picks up the kid and runs him to a nearby safehouse.
Quicksilver is one of Marvel’s fastest characters. He’s been a hero and a villain, working with the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. So who is he? How did he get his speed? Why are there two Quicksilvers in the movies? Let’s find out. Ready, set, go!
Scene Select
Silver Streak: Quicksilver’s Backstory
Pietro Maximoff: “They told me you control metal.”
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Magneto: “They?”
Pietro Maximoff: “You know, my mom once knew a guy who could do that.”
Quicksilver debuted in The X-Men #4 in 1964. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who named their character after an archaic term for mercury.
Quicksilver, also known as Pietro Maximoff, is the twin brother of Scarlet Witch. They were raised by a Romani couple, unaware that Magneto was their biological father. They had been placed with the couple after their pregnant mother left following Magneto’s massacre of a village where their oldest sister had been killed.
The twins led normal lives until their powers manifested. Pietro’s superhuman speed and and white hair made people claim he “moved like quicksilver.” Superstitious villagers tried to kill them, but they were saved by Magneto, who offered them a place in his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants team. A grateful Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch agreed to join.
The Brotherhood often battled the X-Men. Quicksilver and his sister quit the team when Magneto left him to die during a mission. He felt guilty about his crimes and joined the Avengers to atone.
House of M: Quicksilver’s History
Quicksilver: “You can make anyone you ever loved happy. Why would you be given all this power if not for a reason? It might be that this is what you’re supposed to do. And if you don’t… Wanda, if you don’t, [The Avengers] will kill you. And we’ll never be together ever again.”
Avengers: House of M
Quicksilver married an Inhuman named Crystal after a whirlwind romance. Magneto appeared after their daughter Luna was born and revealed that he was Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch’s father.
During the event House of M, Scarlet Witch suffered a mental breakdown and gained reality warping powers. Quicksilver was terrified that The Avengers would euthanize his sister and manipulated the Scarlet Witch into rewriting reality so that mutants were the dominant race. Magneto killed Quicksilver for manipulating his sister Wanda. She snapped and resurrected Quicksilver and depowered 99% of mutants to punish her father.
Quicksilver was unable to cope with the loss of his speed. He snuck into the Inhumans’ base and stole their sacred Terrigen Crystals, hoping they could repower him. He also kidnapped Luna, causing Crystal to divorce him and sparking a war between the Inhumans and the United States.
Fastest Man Alive: Quicksilver’s Powers and Personality
Quicksilver: “I was more alive than ordinary mortals could ever imagine. I could run across the surface of water. I could outrun a hurricane. I was like the wind. Like a bolt of lightning. I was superb. I was perfection. I was… Quicksilver.”
Son of M
Quicksilver is Marvel’s premier speedster. His speed settles around Mach 4 although it varies. He is fast enough to run on water, create localized tornadoes, and even outrun radio waves. His thoughts are also sped up, which causes him to perceive the world in slow motion
After being depowered, Quicksilver used the Terrigen Crystals to try and regain his speed. He instead gained the power to travel into the future and the ability to repower mutants with a touch. The downside is that while the repowered mutants were stronger, their bodies quickly burned out. Quicksilver soon lost these powers and regained his speed through a convoluted story.
Quicksilver is an arrogant jackass. His sped up perception of time makes everything take forever from his perspective. He takes out that frustration on everyone else. He has also been known to support Magneto’s Mutant superiority manifesto. Despite an unpleasant personality, Quicksilver is a hero who likes helping people.
The Actors who play Quicksilver
Len Carlson – The Marvel Super Heroes
Adrian Egan – X-Men
Richard Ian Cox – X-Men: Evolution
Mark Hildreth – Wolverine and the X-Men
Scott Menvill – The Super Hero Squad Show
Aaron Taylor Johnson – Avengers: Age of Ultron
Evan Peters – X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix, WandaVision
Didya get all that?
The fastest Avenger alive
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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