We’ve seen a lot of powerful women in Marvel Comics, but two of the most prominent characters that have appeared in a lot of different Marvel comic book stories, including the X-Men, are Scarlet Witch and Dark Phoenix, who are both incredibly powerful and have become villains at certain points in the storyline. Both of these characters are magical and mystical threats that can use powers that are seemingly cosmic. However, who between Scarlet Witch and Dark Phoenix will win in a fight?
Dark Phoenix would win in a fight against Scarlet Witch. Dark Phoenix is a lot more powerful than Scarlet Witch. Even though Scarlet Witch has powers that can alter reality, Dark Phoenix is the host of the Phoenix Force, which is one of the most powerful cosmic entities in the Marvel Universe and is said to be an extinction-level threat to the universe.
Even though Scarlet Witch has showcased her abilities in both the comics and the MCU, there is no doubt that Dark Phoenix is a greater threat as she is powerful enough to threaten cosmic beings that are at the top of the power scale in Marvel Comics. So, with that said, let’s look at this battle in greater detail.
Strength
Scarlet Witch’s strongest suit is her magic, and that means that her physical abilities were never really impressive. Like most comic book characters that don’t possess superhuman abilities, Scarlet Witch’s strength is still impressive when compared to regular humans. But she is still regular as far as her physical capabilities are concerned. That’s why she isn’t really a real threat if she doesn’t make use of her magical abilities.
Jean Grey, regardless of which form she is in, isn’t really that strong in terms of her physical strength. She has some level of strength training as a member of the X-Men, and that means that she is physically fit and stronger than regular people. But she doesn’t have superhuman strength due to the fact that her powers aren’t physical in nature. As such, her physical capabilities were never her strongest weapons, even if she was in her Dark Phoenix form.
As you can see, neither Scarlet nor Dark Phoenix can threaten each other when it comes to their physical abilities. Even when Jean Grey uses the power of the Phoenix Force, she isn’t physically impressive. As such, this should be a toss-up.
Scarlet Witch 0, Dark Phoenix 0
Powers and Abilities
Scarlet Witch’s true abilities lie in her magical powers, as she is an incredibly gifted magical being with powers that can alter reality when she is at her strongest. She is one of the most powerful Marvel entities when it comes to her energy projection and her ability to bend different forces of magic to her will. And that was why, in House of M, she was powerful enough that she was able to change reality and nearly cause the extinction of all of the mutants on the planet.
Even when she is in her regular form, Jean Grey is powerful enough to be considered one of the strongest mutants on the planet, as her psychic powers allow her to basically do whatever she wants to do, except for the fact that she is often the one placing limits on what her powers can do. Her mental abilities are so powerful that she doesn’t even have to lift a finger to defeat an opponent. Of course, as Dark Phoenix, she has access to cosmic powers that are nigh-omnipotent, as she was listed as an omega-level and an extinction-level threat. When empowered by the Phoenix Force, which is one of the most powerful entities in Marvel, Dark Phoenix has the powers of a god.
There is no doubt that Dark Phoenix takes this round. As powerful as Scarlet Witch’s reality-altering abilities are, Dark Phoenix is even more powerful because she is a threat to the entire universe.
Scarlet Witch 0, Dark Phoenix 1
Speed
Outside of her incredible magical powers, there isn’t anything special about Scarlet Witch’s physical capabilities. She can move as fast as a well-trained human being but doesn’t have the ability to use her powers to her advantage whenever she wants to move incredibly fast. It might be true that her magic allows her to fly or levitate so that she can travel faster. She could also travel from one dimension to another using teleportation magic. But that’s just about it as far as her speed and mobility are concerned.
In her regular form, Jean Grey is faster compared to regular human beings due to the abilities that her telekinetic powers allow her to have. However, when she is in her Dark Phoenix form, she gains the ability to instantly move from one place to another via her teleportation abilities. The Phoenix Force allows her to use cosmic teleportation, which means that she can move through the vast vacuum of space at will and in an instant.
Her magical powers may be impressive, but Scarlet Witch doesn’t hold a candle to the cosmic powers that enhance Dark Phoenix’s speed and mobility to unthinkable levels.
Scarlet Witch 0, Dark Phoenix 2
Durability
One of the biggest weaknesses that Scarlet Witch has is the fact that her body is still human. That means that she can still suffer from the usual physical damage that regular human beings can suffer from, although her powers allow her to manipulate her biology to the extent that she could heal from her wounds. Nevertheless, she could still get damaged from physical attacks that can kill any human being, and that means that a well-aimed strike can defeat her whenever she doesn’t have her guard up.
Jean Grey has the ability to use her psychic powers to actually reconstruct herself whenever she dies, and that means that she is still incredibly durable without the use of the Phoenix Force. But in her Dark Phoenix form, she is basically immortal and can never truly die as long as she serves as the host of the Phoenix Force. Even if she dies, the Phoenix Force can easily bring her back to life. And that means that she is incredibly difficult to defeat as her godlike powers make her nearly immortal.
Scarlet Witch is still quite durable due to her ability to defend and heal herself. But Dark Phoenix is an immortal being with almost no weaknesses whatsoever.
Scarlet Witch 0, Dark Phoenix 3
Fighting Skills
Like any regular comic book character, Scarlet Witch went through martial arts and combat training, even though this really isn’t her forte. Still, she knows how to defend herself in close-combat situations and is a very capable fighter when compared to regular people. But she isn’t at the level of well-trained fighters like Captain America or Black Panther.
Dark Phoenix, as Jean Grey, is actually a well-trained combatant, as she trained in hand-to-hand combat and was even able to use her training to defeat a group of ninjas without relying too much on her psychic powers other than the use of telekinetic weapons. Her fighting skills came as a result of her training with the X-Men, but she still isn’t an incredibly skilled combatant.
Neither Scarlet Witch nor Dark Phoenix is the best fighter in the world, but Jean Grey has the edge here because she actually has the close-combat feats that Wanda doesn’t have.
Scarlet Witch 0, Dark Phoenix 4
Scarlet Witch vs. Dark Phoenix: Who Would Win In A Fight?
Even though we all know the potential of Scarlet Witch’s magic and her ability to alter reality, the fact is that Dark Phoenix is a cosmic entity that even all of the superheroes of Earth would struggle to defeat. There is a reason why she is an extinction-level being, as her powers allow her to actually threaten the entire universe. In that regard, there are only a handful of beings that could actually defeat Dark Phoenix, and Scarlet Witch isn’t one of them.
