Wiccan

Origin

Billy Kaplan never had a problem being different than other people. It was other people that had a problem with him. Being raised in a normal home in New York with his loving mother, Rebecca Kaplan, father, Jeff Kaplan, and two brothers, Billy had the average problems for a gay teenager. In school, he met a tremendous amount of hate and fear because he was different. Billy’s issues escalated as he grew older and entered high school where his differences became the source of endless torment and violence.

John Kessler was Billy’s main nemesis and after receiving a beating that left him sore and bloody, Billy went to his favorite place to calm down -The Avengers Mansion. A woman jogger passed by and asked him if he was okay because she saw the boy was bleeding. Billy explained to the woman what had happened and was shocked to see the woman was none other than Scarlet Witch. Flabbergasted, he then admitted that she was his favorite Avenger.

Once Scarlet Witch had heard the full story of his troubles at school, she told him that next time he was threatened the best thing to do would be to stand up to Kessler. Billy scoffed at her advice and told her maybe if he had powers like her he could. She reassured him that “Everyone has some gift,” and advised him that next time he encounter Kessler, not to back down. Billy did not take Scarlet Witch’s advice. He avoided Kessler at all costs until one day he saw Kessler had found a new victim. Unable to allow another to suffer Kessler’s abuse in his place, he confronted Kessler. While being attacked, Billy’s powers manifested for the first time. Unable to control them, he electrocuted Kessler, nearly killing him.

Shocked and afraid at what he had done, Billy ran back to the Avengers Mansion to talk with the Scarlet Witch but she was nowhere to be found.

Creation

Wiccan was created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung.

Major Story Arcs

Billy met Iron Lad at the Avengers Mansion while seeking Scarlet Witch. Iron Lad explained he needed help protecting himself from his future self, called Kang. Iron Lad had used a system he found in the remains of the Vision which helped locate alternative members for the Avengers for the next generation. Iron Lad had found Teddy Altman (Hulkling), Elijah Bradley (Patriot) and now Billy Kaplan (as “Asgardian”) who all three agreed to help him, despite their lack of experience. They started off by helping out the community, such as saving people from a burning building. However, the act only attracted unwanted press. Kat Farrell of the Daily Bugle was at the scene, dubbing them the “Young Avengers” and after reporting to J. Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle he decided to put Jessica Jones on the assignment of finding out who they were.

The Young Avengers later encountered both Kate Bishop and the daughter of the late Ant Man (Scott Lang), Cassie Lang. Billy and the other Young Avengers were then confronted by Iron Man, Captain America, and Jessica Jones who disapproved of their unsanctioned vigilantism. It was during this time that Iron Lad’s future self, Kang the Conqueror arrived to bring Iron Lad back to the future and convince him to accept his destiny.

The confrontation led to a battle between Kang and the Young Avengers. During this battle, Billy revealed his ability to cast spells where he had previously limited himself to lightning projection and flight due to his inexperience. The battle culminated with Iron Lad killing Kang which altered the past and present. The Young Avengers agreed that in order for reality to stabilize, Iron Lad must return to his own time. Understanding that there was no choice, Iron lad returned to the future, bidding his teammates farewell.

After these events, Captain America ordered the Young Avengers to disband. Instead, the Young Avengers continued to function as a team, now using Kate Bishop’s resources to support them. Kate had new costumes designed for the team, who now operated out of an old abandoned warehouse owned by her family. She and Cassie also convinced Billy to change his alias from “Asgardian” to “Wiccan” in acknowledgment of his new powers (and due to “Asgardian” being exploitable by the media in relation to Billy’s sexuality and relationship with Hulkling).

The team continued to fight crime on the streets, including busting dealers of Mutant Growth Hormone, which granted superpowers to ordinary humans. During this time, Billy attempted to tell his parents that he was a superhero, only to accidentally come out to them. His parents openly accepted his sexuality and welcomed Teddy as a member of their family.

A confrontation with the villain Mr. Hyde led to Wiccan’s discovery that Patriot had been abusing Mutant Growth Hormone. After defeating Mr. Hyde, Patriot admitted that he had not inherited his grandfather’s Super Soldier abilities and promptly quit the Young Avengers. While still trying to decide how to continue their activities while staying under the radar of the New Avengers, Hulkling was kidnapped by the Super-Skrull.

The Young Avengers managed to escape to Billy’s household. However, the Super-Skrull tracked them down, revealing Hulkling’s mother to be a Skrull (who was charged to raise him on Earth by Hulkling’s birth mother, the deceased Skrull Empress Anelle). The Super-Skrull killed Hulkling’s foster mother and captured Hulkling to his ship to take him back to the Skrull Empire.

The team arrived at the Avenger’s Tower and with the help of the newly reformed Vision, located additional assistance to rescue Hulkling. Wiccan discovered that he and the newest recruit, a youth with super speed by the name of Tommy Shepard, were identical in appearance. The team confronted the Super-Skrull and freed Hulkling. The Super-Skrull revealed to Teddy that he was “Dorrek VIII” the rightful heir to the Skrull Empire. They were interrupted by a troupe of Kree soldiers who revealed Hulkling to be half-Kree as well and the son of their greatest warrior, Captain Marvel. As a Kree, Hulkling was to be enlisted in the Kree army, by force if necessary. The Young Avengers and the Super-Skrull fled the Kree. During this time, the Super-Skrull stated his belief that Billy and Tommy’s similarities in appearance and powers indicated that they were the twin sons of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision. The Super-Skrull noted that Wiccan seemed to have inherited the Scarlet Witch’s magical and reality-warping abilities while Tommy has those of her twin brother, Quicksilver.

Vision confirmed the story of the twins. Wiccan was greatly convinced that their connection to the Scarlet Witch was evident, though Tommy was more skeptical. Before the Vision could reveal the identity of the father, a battle erupted between Kree and Skrull forces over the fate of Hulkling. Wiccan and the Young Avengers fought alongside the New Avengers to end the conflict. The battle was negotiated when the Super-Skrull disguised himself as Hulkling and agreed to spend time with each empire before deciding which to join. Thus the real Hulkling (disguised as the Super-Skrull) was able to stay on Earth.

Civil War

Wiccan continued as a member of the Young Avengers (now including Tommy as “Speed“) until the events of Civil War and the Superhero Registration Act forced the team to go underground as part of Captain America’s anti-registration team of superheroes. Recognizing the Runaways under attack by registration agents on a monitoring screen, the Young Avengers set out to assist them and convince them to join the anti-registration side. The Runaways rebuked their offer, but joined together when Karolina Dean, the Skrull Xavin, Hulkling and Wiccan were captured by agents of a secret alien-observation base called The Cube. Wiccan and the others were eventually rescued by their teammates and continued avoiding registration.

During a trap laid by Iron Man and the pro-registration heroes, in which they planned to immediately take out the resistance’s teleporters – Cloak & Wiccan – Wiccan was captured and sent to the N-Zone prison for his involvement with the underground Avengers. Stature later defected to the pro-registration side, stating that she did not want to go to prison like Wiccan had. Wiccan and the other imprisoned anti-registration heroes were later freed by Hulkling who disguised himself as Hank Pym to infiltrate the N-Zone prison. The two sides clashed until the battle was ended by Captain America’s realization that their position was being fought in a manner that only endangered more citizens.

Like many other heroes, Wiccan and the Young Avengers were granted amnesty following the conclusion of Civil War. Wiccan and the rest of the Young Avengers (excluding Stature) decided not to register, Hawkeye and Patriot serving with the underground resistance team known as the Secret Avengers. Billy gave up his superhero career, being mostly grounded by his parents who urged him to register.

He and Teddy continue to be in a relationship. Teddy assisted Billy by posing as him while he and Speed went on a search for the Scarlet Witch to learn more about their past. Wiccan hoped that revealing their existence to Wanda would help her regain her sanity and return to the Avengers. During their search, Wiccan and Speed openly referred to the Scarlet Witch as their mother and to one another as brothers. Their search took them to various significant locations to the Scarlet Witch, finally ending at the former home that she shared with the Vision. There the boys encountered Master Pandemonium who further strengthened their belief that they are the reincarnated souls of the Scarlet Witch’s twin sons. However, Master Pandemonium stated that their past was steeped in chaos and tragedy and convinced them that rather than search for who they were in the past, they should embrace who they are now. The advice from Pandemonium helped Billy, who is sated for now. He recognizes that the Scarlet Witch may not be ready to be found and feels that he is happy enough with his present life.

Secret Invasion

Billy and the Young Avengers are the first team to respond to invading Skrulls in New York. The team is quickly defeated even after the team of Initiative recruits arrive. Wiccan, Speed, and Hulkling team up with Xavin and the Runaways to defeat the Super-Skrulls that are sent to assassinate Hulkling.

Dark Reign

During the events of Dark Reign, Billy and the other Young Avengers encounter another group of superpowered teenagers running around using the name “Young Avengers”. Unhappy about this, Billy uses a location spell to find the team, and the real Young Avengers confront the false ones. The false team, dubbed Young Avengers Lite by Billy, states their intention to continue to fight crime. The Young Avengers decide to give the newbies a chance, and announce that they will host try-outs, where each Lite member will be teamed up with one or more Young Avengers. Billy was impressed with the magical capabilities of Sylvie Lushton, aka Enchantress. He and Teddy decided to work with her, and took her out on a training mission against Hydra squadrons. Sylvie revealed to them that she was not actually from Asgard, but that she woke up one morning with powers. Billy took to her so well that, later, at a Young Avengers meeting, he vouched for Sylvie. Of the entire team of YA Lite, only Enchantress and Coat of Arms (who had been tested by her old acquaintance, Tommy, aka Speed) were asked to join the Young Avengers. Coat of Arms refused to leave her team, but Enchantress graciously accepted. Back at the Avengers Mansion, Billy was eager to begin Sylvie’s training, but she seemed more interested in getting closer to Billy, whom she appeared to be attracted to, causing Billy a degree of discomfort.

Sylvie was later kicked out. She returned to her own team, and swore revenge on the Young Avengers. Someone on the team (which shall be referred to from hereon out as the Young Masters) contacted Norman Osborn, aka Iron Patriot – America’s ‘Top Cop’ and the leader of H.A.M.M.E.R. The Young Avengers were lured into a trap set by the Young Masters, who were waiting with Osborn’s Dark Avengers to take down the YA. After a brief engagement, the Dark Avengers and the Masters were all but defeated. It was in this moment that Osborn called in the big gun. Robert Reynolds, aka Sentry, descended into the room, prepared to tear the YA apart. Billy used his magical abilities to send Sentry away, taking Osborn’s most valuable team member off the board. Humiliated and defeated, Osborn ordered the remaining members of his team to stand down, simply stating to the YA that, “This never happened.” With that Osborn took his leave, and left the team alone.

Siege

When Norman Osborn invaded Asgard with his army of superpowered beings and H.A.M.M.E.R. forces, the heroes of Earth went to its rescue. Among these heroes were the Young Avengers. The team was split up, running rescue missions, relief missions, and interference across Asgard. It was here that Billy revealed to Teddy that Norse myths have always had a special meaning for him because his father used to read them to him at night. One night, Billy was angry at his father for no good reason, and yelled at him, telling him never to read to him again. Since that night, Billy’s father never did. Billy and Teddy had been helping out when they came across an Asgardian temple being desecrated and pillaged by the Wrecking Crew. Billy and Teddy began to battle the Wrecking Crew, warning them against disgracing this sacred space. Of course, their threats were played off and ignored. In response, Billy, now enraged, summoned a devastating blast of lightning that quickly took down the entire Wrecking Crew. Later, Billy and Teddy joined the rest of their team, and helped the Avengers save what was left of Asgard.

Children’s Crusade

The Young Avengers are seen fighting a terrorist group called the Sons if the Serpent. When Hulkling is hurt during the battle, Billy uses his powers to put the Sons into comas. This sudden outburst of powers worries the Avengers, who think that it may lead to Wiccan having a mental breakdown similar to that of the Scarlet Witch. While Billy agrees to be tested, the Young Avengers help his to escape from Avengers Tower. Outside, Magneto arrives, saying that he wants Billy help to locate his daughter.

The team travels to Europe to find her, but instead find a doombot posing as her. Realizing that the Scarlet Witch must be a prisoner of Doctor Doom, Billy sneaks into Latveria on his own to find her. When he does, multiple fights break out between the various groups trying to capture the Scarlet Witch. In a fight with Doctor Doom, both Cassie and Vision are killed.

At the end of the series, the Young Avengers decide to retire, and Wiccan decides to give up his life as a superhero.

Marvel NOW!

After discovering that Hulkling had been going out as a superhero without his knowledge, he and Wiccan fight over the choice to become superheroes again. Realizing how hard Hulkling’s life has been, Wiccan decides to do something to make it up to him, and finds an alterate universe’s version of his Hulkling’s mother, saving her before her death. That night, however, the woman attacks Wiccan’s parents.

When Wiccan and Hulkling wake up the next morning, they discover to their horror that Hulkling’s mother is not what she appears to be, but is actually an inter-dimensional parasite, who has taken control of Wiccan’s parents. They go to the Uncanny Avengers for help, but they too fall under the influence of the parasite. Wiccan and Hulkling are thrown into a prison outside their dimension, but are rescued by Loki. Loki tells them that they need his help in order to destroy the parasite, and they agree. However, when they go to Asgard, they find that Loki’s father Laufey is there as well. Unwillingly, Wiccan’s spell to bring back Hulkling’s mother has brought back the parents of multiple heroes, including Ms. America‘s. The group travels to New York to discuss what they should do, but they are found by Ms. Altman, and defeated.

They are rescued by Noh-Varr and Kate Bishop, and the team flees to Central Park in order to avoid bringing too many people into the spell. Loki convinces Wiccan to temporarily give him some of his powers, and Wiccan agrees, seeing no other choice. When Loki teleports away, seemingly abandoning the team, Wiccan sees no choice but to kill himself in order to end his spell, but is saved by Loki’s return. The team defeat the creature, but Wiccan’s spell is still in tact. As long as they are near their parents or the location of their parent’s deaths, they will be in danger. Having no other choice, Wiccan and the team decide to leave New York.

After three months in exile, Wiccan and the team are approached by the former X-Man and mutant Prodigy, who tells them that Speed, Wiccan’s twin brother, was kidnapped by a mysterious figure wearing a Patriot uniform. The team agrees to look for Speed and they use Miss America’s interdimensional powers to find him. During their time traveling through dimensions, Hulkling becomes worried that Wiccan’s powers might be responsible for their relationship, a theory proposed by Loki. In order to test if his feelings are genuine, the two agree to temporarily break up.

After a dangerous and adventure-filled trip through the multiverse, the team ventures to Mother’s dimension to rescue Teddy. Prodigy contacts the younger members of the X-Men at the Jean Grey School, and word gets around quickly. Soon, almost all the young heroes of Earth-616 are assembled to battle Mother’s army. Loki’s hand is revealed, and Billy is locked in battle with Mother. He seems to be steadily losing ground, until Teddy appears to him. The two work out their problems, and their love is able to save the universe. Mother is defeated, and all theteen heroes gather at MJ’s Club to celebrate the new year.

Avengers & X-Men: AXIS

During the AXIS event, following the Inversion of several heroes and villains on the island of Genosha, the Red Skull was held captive in the Avengers Tower. He was supposed to have been safely locked away, guarded by the Avengers, but when a recently inverted group of Avengers (Sam Wilson, Scarlet Witch, Luke Cage, Wasp, Medusa, and Thor) went to check on him, they found that he’d escaped. Their intent was to kill the Skull to prevent the X-Men (under the leadership of an inverted Storm and Genesis, now the Apocalypse) from taking him. Both Jarvis and the Hulk tried to sway them from taking such measures, but they refused, and unwittingly unleashed Kluh – the Hulk’s Hulk. After looking into it, Sam Wilson found that someone with Avengers membership and passcodes had helped the Skull escape. He called a large meeting, inviting everyone who’d ever held Avengers membership to join him in the Tower. Billy and his boyfriend Teddy were among those gathered at the meeting. Sam Wilson and his newly Inverted Avengers shrunk all the gathered heroes down using Pym particles extracted from the Wasp (presumably against her will) and trapped them all in one of Hank Pym’s microscopic ant farms, thereby taking care of the “liability”. After a possessed Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom cast the Inversion spell again, the “evil” heroes reverted to their heroic selves, and the trapped Avengers were freed.

New Team Affiliations

Wiccan would spend much of his time bouncing from team to team.

After Secret Wars, Billy and Hulking joined the new Avengers team that Sunspot built from A.I.M., facing off against The Maker. When Billy leaves the team, Sunspot gifts him a NYC penthouse for he and Hulking to retire to.

Sometime later, Billy is targeted by the Vridai, a race of shapeshifters expelled from their home during War of the Realms. As such, he falls in with Blade‘s Strikeforce to track the shifters.

Soon after, Billy married his longtime boyfriend, Hulking, however, their new life is briefly interrupted when Hulking takes his rightful place as the king of a Kree and Skrull alliance. Billy joins him at his side, and they play a part in stopping a Cotati invasion of Earth.

Powers and Abilities

Magic/Reality-Warping: Billy’s main power is the superhuman ability to manipulate reality at will, enabling him to tap into the universe’s store of magical energies, which he inherited from his spiritual mother the Scarlet Witch. For Billy to activate his reality-bending magic, He must focus on a desire or idea and vocalize, repeating quickly what he wants in order for a spell to be cast. It has been demonstrated that without the ability to hear his own words, the spell cannot be cast, though other uses of his powers have been done seemingly effortlessly and without words. His powers thus far have manifested on a localized scale in a variety of ways through the upper limit of his powers has yet to be seen.

As the Demiurge, Billy is destined to “rewrite the laws of magic” in the universe, meaning that he is a being of power on a massive scale.

As “Asgardian” he limited his abilities to that of flight and lightning projection. At first, it was presumed that Billy was just an electrokinetic mutant with strong sorcery abilities. While patterning himself after Thor in the guise of Asgardian, Billy limited himself entirely to flight and lightning based spells. By stating an intent and focusing on the outcome,

Wiccan is capable of a variety of feats, including, but not limited to:

• Astral Projection/Astral Travel
• Clairvoyance
• Cryokinesis (Ice Manipulation)
• Electrokinesis (Electricity Manipulation)
• Energy Based Constructs
• Energy Blasts/Bolts/Waves
• Energy Manipulation
• Fire Control
• Flight/Levitation
• Force-Field Generation
• Light Projection
• Mystical Spells/Enchantments
• Matter Manipulation
• Probability Manipulation
• Telekinesis & Telepathy
• Mass Teleportation/Portal Creation
• Healing Living Beings
• Weather control

Alternate Realities

House of M

In House of M, Wanda recreated her sons William and Thomas as the younger members of the Magnus family. She was playing with them when Doctor Strange met her in the tower.

When the Scarlet Witch used her powers to recreate the world after the House of M event, she inadvertently recreated both William and Thomas as well. However instead of recreating them as her children, they ended up as the children of other parents. Thomas ended up as the son of the Shepard family while William ended up as the son of the Kaplan’s family.

Battle of the Atom

In the “Battle of the Atom” X-Men crossover event, Billy Kaplan is one of the future X-Men, alongside a Phoenix-powered Quentin Quire, Jubilee (who goes by the codename “Wolverine”), Kymera, Shogo Lee, and Sir Robert (Bobby Drake). In this future, he is the Sorcerer Supreme. His inclusion on the team allowed the future X-Men to gain mastery over both science and magic.

Earth-721

Wiccan and Hulkling from this reality, also known as Earth A, came to Earth-616 as tourists, and for some reason they registered in the Initiative. The Wiccan and Hulkling of Earth-616 didn’t approve of this, and later Wiccan and Hulkling from Earth-721 was sent home.

Earth-91172

On Earth-91172, a world ravaged by the Hulk, Wiccan is a member of the Next Wave of Heroes – the last heroes of earth. The members are Quentin Quire, Patriot, Lightspeed, Speedball and Sophie, Mindee and Esme Cuckoo.

The Last Avengers Story

In this one-shot about the final adventure of the Avengers, Billy Maximoff chose to be a villain, calling himself the Grim Reaper. He joined Ultron in attacking the Avengers. His brother Tommy, who was a trained sorcerer, assisted the Avengers and the two fought each other until their father the Vision intercepted and destroyed Ultron, ending the battle.

Avengers: The Crossing

Some readers believed the twins Malachi and Tobias to have been the kidnapped children of the Scarlet Witch and Vision. William was believed to be Malachi, who attacked the Avengers during the Crossing story arc.

Avengers Forever

In one of the many dark possible futures shown to Immortus by The Time Keepers; William and Thomas had become tyrannical God-like superhumans who were seen launching a devastating assault on Eternity in an attempt to overthrow him.

Other Media

Wandavision (2021)

Billy appears in the WandaVision TV series on Disney+, portrayed by Baylen Bielitz as a 5-year old and Julian Hillard as a 10-year-old. In the show, Wanda gives birth to Billy and his twin brother Tommy after moving to Westview to start a new life with Vision. However, strange things begin to occur with the children, who rapidly age from infancy to school age through unknown means. Around the time the two boys are physically 10, they begin to display superpowers, with Tommy having inherited his uncle Pietro’s super speed and Billy displaying magical powers similar to the ones used by his mother. It is eventually revealed by Agatha Harkness that Billy and Tommy were subconsciously created by Wanda through the use of Chaos Magic, and cannot exist outside of Westview. At the close of the series, Billy and Tommy are seemingly cease to exist after Wanda undoes her spell and frees Westview from her control, but the post-credits scene has Wanda hearing the boys calling to her, implying they somehow survived.

Video Games

• Wiccan appear’s in Doctor Strange‘s ending in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, where he is seated beside the Scarlet Witch and surrounded by other mystics of the Marvel and Capcom universes (such as Brother Voodoo, Tessa, Jennifer Kale and Donovan).
• Wiccan is a playable character in the MMO game Marvel Heroes. He was added as an Enhanced Costume for Scarlet Witch (meaning he shares a moveset with her) in the Marvel 2015 update, and was voiced by Kyle Herbert.
• Wiccan appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel’s Avengers.

• Wiccan appears as a playable character in Marvel Future Fight.

• Wiccan appears in Avengers Academy.

Merchandise

• Wiccan was featured in the HeroClix figure game. He has received two figures to date, one of which depicted his most well known costume, and the other of which depicted his original Asgardian outfit.
• ToyBiz produced a figure of Wiccan for the Marvel Legends line as part of an exclusive Young Avengers box set. The box set would prove to be one of the last Marvel Legends products produced by ToyBiz before the Marvel license transferred to Hasbro.
• Eaglemoss released a painted figurine of Wiccan.