Who is Pietro Maximoff, AKA Quicksilver, in WandaVision? A brief history of Wanda's brother in the MCU

Warning: the following contains huge spoilers for the WandaVision episode 5 ending. If you haven't watched the new episode on Disney Plus, turn away now!

After being mentioned in WandaVision episode 3, Quicksilver himself appeared on Wanda and Vision's doorstep at the end of episode 5. At first seen from behind, we glimpse that distinctive silver hair and are sure we know exactly who this is... until a familiar but unexpected face is revealed. Quicksilver is back, but it's Evan Peters' version of the character, rather than Aaron Taylor-Johnson's. 

This is all a bit confusing. After all, isn't Quicksilver dead? Well, Taylor-Johnson's version is, and Wanda is pretty emphatic in that she can't bring people – or dogs – back from the dead. But this other version of the silver speedster seems plucked straight from Fox's X-Men universe, which ended with Quicksilver alive (presumably, considering we don't know if the Westchester Incident discussed in Logan killed him). How exactly this alternate version of Wanda's twin arrived in Westview remains to be seen, especially considering Wanda doesn't even exist in the Fox universe. 

So who is Quicksilver? We give you the lowdown on everything you need to know about both versions of Pietro/Peter Maximoff, including what he got up to before his untimely death, and what his reappearance means for Wanda and the rest of the series.

Who is Quicksilver?

We'll start with the MCU's version of the character. Born Pietro Maximoff, Quicksilver is the twin of Scarlet Witch (otherwise known as Wanda Maximoff). Pietro (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) was born in Sokovia, a fictional Eastern European nation that was bombarded by Stark Industries weapons during Quicksilver’s childhood – an event that killed his parents.

He made his first appearance in the post-credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier as one of two subjects that were given enhanced powers by Baron Strucker thanks to the Mind Stone. As a by-product of the experiments, Quicksilver ends up possessing super speed.

What happened to Quicksilver in the MCU?

Quicksilver’s only major appearance in the MCU comes in Avengers: Age of Ultron. There, he harbours a major resentment for Tony Stark (after the bombing of Sokovia) and the rest of the Avengers. Along with Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver assists the newly sentient Ultron in his plans to destroy humanity.

Unfortunately for Ultron, Wanda and Pietro have a change of heart after the AI turns his attention towards Sokovia.

In the Battle of Sokovia – which sees the Avengers take on Ultron and put a stop to his world-ending schemes – Quicksilver sacrifices his life to save Hawkeye from Quinjet fire. As revenge, Scarlet Witch destroys Ultron’s mechanical body and helps defeat him.

Why was Pietro/Quicksilver mentioned in WandaVision?

Towards the end of the third episode, Geraldine/Monica Rambeau pushes Wanda on her brother – who is mentioned briefly by Scarlet Witch – and even says he was killed by Ultron. That, in turn, causes Wanda to freak out and throw Monica out of her dimension and back into the MCU's 'real world.'

In the fourth episode, we learn that SWORD is investigating Wanda's strange new world, and are trying to find a way to breach the barrier – hence the mysterious beekeeper's appearance. It seems Monica, though under mind control as Geraldine to a certain extent, was aware enough to try and breakthrough to Wanda. 

What about the other Quicksilver?

Before Disney bought Fox, Fox owned the movie rights to the X-Men characters. In the Fox-verse, Quicksilver appeared most famously as a member of the mutant team played by Evan Peters in X-Men: Days of Future Past and also in X-Men: Apocalypse.

In that universe, Peter (not Pietro) Maximoff is the son of Magneto. He got his super speed powers by virtue of being a mutant – not through HYDRA's nefarious experiments like Wanda. He most memorably uses his powers in some stylish slo-mo scenes set to music. 

Peter is potentially still alive in the Fox-verse, though we don't know for sure. In Logan, we see the aftermath of the Westchester Incident, caused by Professor X having a seizure. His seizures, caused by an illness of some kind, can be fatal for anyone near him due to his psychic powers. We aren't shown the Westchester Incident, but it becomes clear what happened: one of Professor X's seizures killed several of the X-Men. The casualties weren't confirmed, so we have no idea who lived and who died. This might not matter all that much anymore, as the Fox-verse is presumably no longer canon, though Peter's involvement in WandaVision definitely has us wondering if it might still exist in a multiverse scenario. After all, Wanda will be in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, and Elizabeth Olsen said the show is "a natural progression into what happens in Doctor Strange 2."

We don't know yet how Peter ended up in the MCU. Wanda doesn't exist in the Fox universe, so really Peter shouldn't have any idea what's going on or who she is. He does have a bit of a Sokovian accent, though, so he might actually be Pietro rather than Peter. If Wanda has managed to bring her brother to Westview from a whole other universe, than her powers are even more super-strong than we already thought, and have massive implications for the rest of the MCU. 

Whether this is the first step in Marvel diving into the multiverse or it's just an in-joke for us to enjoy remains to be seen. Could we be seeing the return of Aaron Taylor-Johnson sometime soon? Is Wanda going to notice her brother looks completely different to the last time she saw him? Is he Pietro or Peter? We just don't know yet, but here's hoping next week brings some answers. 

WandaVision drops a new episode on Disney Plus every Friday. Check out our WandaVision release schedule to find out exactly when episode 6 arrives, down to the minute.