Marvel’s deadliest Wolverine was created through the magic of the Scarlet Witch. In 2018, celebrating the box office release of Avengers: Infinity Wars, Marvel Comics launched an event called “Infinity Warps.” Gamora, Thanos’ daughter, had successfully acquired all the Infinity Stones. She used the power of the Infinity Gauntlet to rewrite reality, creating a new, warped universe in which different heroes were mashed together.
Conceptually, “Infinity Warps” was similar to another event in the 1990s, where Marvel and DC had being mashed up in the so-called “Amalgam” universe. On that occasion, though, the comic book publishers had chosen to combine heroes who had a lot in common; Wolverine and Batman, for example, were merged into the so-called Dark Claw. In the case of “Infinity Warps,” the mash-ups were apparently random, allowing writers to relax and have fun with crazy, out-there ideas. Some of them worked; others, sadly, were a lot less effective. But one of the stand-outs was a mash-up of Scarlet Witch and X-23.
Dubbed “Hex-23,” this character was born to be a host for the demonic Mephicthton. She was a combination of science and sorcery, with unholy experiments conducted upon her while she was still in the womb. As a result, Hex-23 grew to possess the typical Wolverine healing factor; but her claws shimmered with scarlet, eldritch energy. Her magic grew with age, and she appears to have grown into all the powers of Scarlet Witch as well; she could rewrite reality itself, and generate devastating hex blasts.
Weapon Hex’s backstory paralleled X-23’s, to a point; she was raised as a weapon, but her mother truly loved her, and attempted to save her from her fate. But the stories diverged when Hex-23 learned she had a younger sister, the Speed Weasel. Hex-23 went rogue, and soon she had sabotaged the very rituals she had been created to fulfill. Hex-23 and Speed Weasel left as sisters – and heroes.
Most of the “Infinite Warps” heroes are forgettable, but Hex-23 is an exception; she’s a remarkably interesting character, and the twisted combination of X-23 and Scarlet Witch is surprisingly compelling. What’s more, from an aesthetic viewpoint she’s quite formidable; the crimson Hex Magic shimmers around her claws, creating an unusual visual effect that artists such as Gerardo Sandoval has a blast with. When the dust settled from the “Infinity Warps” story, this reality remained, a facet of the Soul Stone. Hopefully that means Hex-23 will be seen again sometime in the future.
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