Wiccan: Who is the Demiurge?

Don’t Send a Witch to do Wiccan’s Job

A man walks down a street at night. He hears screams and runs. A building is on fire and people are standing outside with assault rifles. The man quietly speaks. A rainstorm fills the cloudless night and extinguishes the fire. One of the gunmen spots him. He raises his gun and is blinded by a flash of lightning.

Their guns burn white hot and melt as the gunmen drop them. They see the man, now wearing a tattered cape and a silver crown. He waves his hand and they fall over. Their leader looks up and sees prison bars. Back at the building, Wiccan helps the victims evacuate before magically repairing their home.

Wiccan has a complicated past. He was a member of the Young Avengers, has ties to the original team, and a grand destiny looms in his future. So who is he? What is his connection to the Avengers? What is a Demiurge? Let’s find out.

Acolyte: Wiccan’s Backstory

Wiccan debuted in Young Avengers #1 in 2005. He was created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung. Steven Englehart and Richard Howell also deserve credit. Confused? That’s normal. Wiccan has a family tree almost as complex as Cyclops’.

After being beaten by homophobic bullies, Avengers fanboy William Kaplan hid near Avengers Mansion and was found by his favorite, The Scarlet Witch. She healed William and encouraged him to stand up for himself. A week later, he confronted the bullies to protect another student and learned that he could cast magic.

William secretly worked on his craft until several young superheroes recruited him for a team. The Avengers had disbanded after villains drove the Scarlet Witch mad, but the world still needed heroes. They invited him to join The Young Avengers. William accepted and became Asgardian to serve as their Thor analogue.

Asgardian began dating his teammate Hulkling and changed his codename to Wiccan to avoid inviting Ass-Guardian jokes from the media. Wiccan was sent to recruit speedster Thomas Shepherd and discovered that they looked almost identical. They knew that they were brothers. Thomas joined the team as Speed, but the remained puzzled about their relationship.

The Children’s Crusade: Wiccan’s History

Wiccan and Speed investigated their bond. Supervillain Master Pandemonium recognized that Wiccan’s magic was similar to the Scarlet Witch’s and claimed that William and Thomas were reincarnations of her dead children, Billy and Thomas Maximoff. The twins had been created when Scarlet Witch unknowingly stole the demon Mephisto’s magic to become pregnant. Mephisto reclaimed his magic and unmade them, but their souls were reborn into new bodies.

Billy wanted to find Wanda to learn more. His search was interrupted by the reformed Avengers, who feared that he could warp reality just like she could. Wiccan disobeyed their demand and stormed Latveria to save Wanda from Doctor Doom. It worked and she confirmed the twins were her children, but several heroes died in the process and the Young Avengers disbanded.

Court Wizard: Wiccan’s Modern Stories

Wiccan explored several futures to reunite the Young Avengers, but developed an anxiety disorder from precognitively seeing potential tragedies. Ironically, his friends teamed up again to save Wiccan from a monster his foresight accidentally unleashed. 

New teammate America Chavez revealed that Wiccan is more powerful than he knew. He will become The Demiurge, a godlike reality warper who created her dimension and will rewrite universal laws. Wiccan was terrified of his potential powers, especially after Loki hinted that he was unconsciously warping his friends as well.

His long-time boyfriend Hulkling helped him remain grounded. Shortly after discovering that Hulkling was legally king of the Kree and Skrull empires, the lovers eloped. Wiccan became the Court Wizard of the Kree-Skrull Alliance, despite both species’ aristocracy despising the idea of a human consort to their Emperor. Wiccan earned their respect by ousting an imposter who replaced Hulkling and ending a war that threatened to destroy the Alliance.

Demiurge: Wiccan’s Powers and Personality

Wiccan can cast any spell you can name. He can fly, fire lasers, create barriers, teleport, seal enemies, turn enemies into seals, and anything else they teach at Hogwarts. He needs to hear himself cast a spell for it to work, so he is powerless when unable to speak. Despite that weakness, Dr. Strange has him on the shortlist for the next Sorcerer Supreme.

Wiccan’s true power is reality warping. All of his spells are mnemonic devices to control his alterations. Wiccan knows that he isn’t mature enough to use his powers on a large scale and limits himself. The few times he has tapped into his full Demiurge form were automatic victories for his allies.

William Kaplan is the nerdy heart of the Young Avengers. He is compassionate and level-headed, though plagued by self-doubt and stubbornness. He loves his mother, husband, and extended Young Avengers family. Anyone who threatens them is likely to be smote by the Demiurge.

The Actors Who Play Him

Beylen Bielitz – WandaVision
Julian Hillard – WandaVision, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Joe Locke – Agatha All Along

Didya Get All That?

Scarlet Witch’s Second Chance Super Son.

Image: (L-R) Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) and Billy Maximoff (Joe Locke) in Marvel Television’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 MARVEL.

Jared Bounacos

Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.