'Sorcerer Supreme' #1 Preview Teases Wanda Maximoff's New Role in the Marvel Universe

The Scarlet Witch has played many roles in the Marvel Universe, from antagonist to Avenger. This December, Wanda Maximoff takes on the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme following the fall of her now-predecessor, Victor Von Doom. Her ascension to this new rank will unfold in the pages of SORCERER SUPREME, the recently announced ongoing series by SCARLET WITCH (2024) scribe Steve Orlando and rising star artist Bernard Chang.

The preview for SORCERER SUPREME #1 opens with Wanda in her new costume, draped in the Cloak of Levitation and donning the Eye of Agamotto, essential items for a Sorcerer Supreme. With her new magical items in tow, Wanda charges into battle against the ever-dangerous Dormammu. Later, at the Sanctum Sanctorum, she meets with her advisory council through the looking glass, consulting Clea, Amaranth, Somnus, and of course, Wiccan and Speed. But not everyone is pleased with Wanda’s new station, least of all the Vishanti, who confront our sorceress in an eldritch void.

Read our discussion with Steve Orlando about the Scarlet Witch’s new status quo in the SORCERER SUPREME #1 preview below!

MARVEL: In the ashes of ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM, Doctor Doom left his successor with the world in a perilous state. What kinds of mystical challenges will Wanda face as the new Sorcerer Supreme?

STEVE ORLANDO: There'll be threats old and new! We'll see classic villains like Dormammu and Nightmare, risen to menace Wanda with a fury altogether different from what they offered Stephen Strange. We'll see new villains like the Night Terrors, the spawn of Nightmare, and Nemesis — the first nightmare. We'll see people who took no issue with any previous Sorcerers Supreme, but for whom that all changes once it's Wanda — the Vishanti, most of all.

So many people were comfortable with Wanda as the Scarlet Witch, but she's as surprised as any of us to find out that not everyone feels the same once she's occupying the Sanctum Sanctorum. And some forces are so displeased... they'd risk it all by releasing the worst weapons from one of the universe's most devastating secret wars — the Extinction Weapons!

MARVEL: From Agatha Harkness to Wiccan, many familiar faces are slated to make an appearance in the new SORCERER SUPREME series. Is there a particular dynamic you're excited to explore?

STEVE ORLANDO: Absolutely! Agatha and Wiccan will both loom in the book — Agatha first as an adversary, but then what? Both call into question Wanda's perspective, and in Wiccan's case, her perspective on her future. What are children but the embodiment of tomorrow? Of all that should outlive you? And with Agatha, it's Wanda's perspective on her past and the realization of her limitations, not in power, but in point of view.

Wanda is shocked that Agatha attacks her; she considers her to be one of her closest friends, and she's known Agatha nearly all her life. But soon, Wanda realizes that all of her life is but a drop in the ocean of Agatha's tens of thousands of years of life. How much can people change in ten years? In twenty? Wanda is forced to question whether she was foolish to believe she knew Agatha at all.  

But even so, those aren't my favorite dynamics because that's reserved for Wanda and Wong. While Wong respects the title of Sorcerer Supreme, he loathes Wanda's choices and is suspicious of her claim to the duty. But he's willing to be convinced... as long as Wanda is willing to learn.

MARVEL: The mantle of Sorcerer Supreme has passed through many hands. How will the Scarlet Witch stand out from her predecessors in this role?

STEVE ORLANDO: There's no world where Wanda doesn't stand out — from moment one, all those years ago, she's been a disruptor. Almost by definition of her earliest gifts, she's had no choice but to be so. When it comes to the title of Sorcerer Supreme, Wanda has come into the responsibility in a unique way, not at the choosing of the Vishanti, but at the behest of unique beings in desperate need.

While she respects the norms and rules of magic, she doesn't do so, and never would or will, to the detriment of a being in need. Wanda believes magic can do more; she believes that a time comes when protecting something becomes akin to caging it. But [norms and rules] can be broken... and Wanda Maximoff is always the first in line to break them.

MARVEL: You've contributed a lot to Wanda's world as a solo hero, from the Scarlet Witch's Emporium in Lotkill, NY, to her tenure now as Sorcerer Supreme of Earth. Where do you hope to take the character next?

STEVE ORLANDO: Wanda's journey has always been one of discovery and self-actualization. But that doesn't mean she's always right, and doesn't mean everything's easy for her — even when it seems like it might be. For a long time, she's been practicing magic and ignoring the costs, thinking her mastery of possibility protects her. But for even the greatest of cosmic forces, the bill always comes due.

Rebuking the Vishanti is something Wanda thinks is right. But sometimes, even for someone as powerful as Wanda, the weaknesses come not from oneself but from how one's actions reverberate in the world around them. Wanda's willful, provocative freedom, the embodiment of her view on chaos, might liberate her... but it's what else it liberates that she should worry about.

Check out the preview for SORCERER SUPREME #1 now and pick up the issue at your local comic book store on December 31!

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