Scarlet Witch's Tragic MCU Story Explained

After the Avengers raided the HYDRA research base where Wanda and Pietro were held, the twins escaped. Shortly afterwards, they met with Ultron (James Spader), the rogue artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark. 

Stark designed Ultron to protect the world, but its programming was ultimately corrupted, yielding a deep resentment towards Stark and the Avengers. Since this desire to take out the superhero team aligned with the goals of the Maximoff twins, they became allies. Wanda and Pietro assisted Ultron on multiple missions, including one to acquire billions of dollars worth of vibranium, with Wanda using her mind manipulation powers to throw off the Avengers off. As depicted in "Age of Ultron," she even got inside Bruce Banner's (Mark Ruffalo) head, leading him to change into the Hulk and go on a furious rampage through nearby Johannesburg.

The trio then traveled to South Korea, where Ultron would attempt to upgrade his body by forcing Helen Cho (Claudia Kim) to build a new, more powerful corporeal form with her regeneration cradle. Yet, as his consciousness was being uploaded to the new body under the twins' watchful eyes, Wanda found she was able to read Ultron's mind for the first time, leading her to learn that Ultron was concealing his true objective: Putting an end to the human race. Wanda and Pietro would ultimately flee Ultron, and shortly afterwards, when they realized that Ultron was battling the Avengers nearby, the duo joined forces with the superhero team in protecting the people of Seoul.

This ill-fated alignment with Ultron would be cleverly referenced in the "Doctor Strange" sequel, as Wanda discovered Ultron drones on Earth-838 acting as security forces for the Illuminati. At one point in her attack, she tosses aside a decapitated Ultron skull. If you really want to blow your mind, you might want to reimagine these events through the prism of an intriguing theory that Wanda actually married Ultron.