Jean Grey and Scarlet Witch are among the most powerful MCU characters. Both are from the X-Men comics and they possess telepathic and telekinetic powers that place them at the top level of superhero skills.
Jean Grey can summon cosmic powers to fuel telekinetic and telepathic abilities while Scarlet Witch can cast spells and manipulate energy and matter at an incomprehensible rate.
If they faced off with one another, who would win? This would be a grueling, hard-to-determine fight, but the answer may boil down to the Phoenix Force.
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Jean Grey Powers in the Comics and the MCU
Jean Grey originates from a mutant species from the Marvel comics X-Men. She was born with telepathy and telekinesis, and she experienced a transformative event as a child when her best friend died that revealed these powers.
The mutant Professor Charles Xavier took in Jean Grey and taught her to control her powers.
As a teenager, Grey was placed into the X-Men as the only female member and took on the name Marvel Girl.
Marvel Girl is the most powerful user of telepathy in the Marvel Universe. She can not only read minds, but can also project her thoughts to control humans and animals alike. Mind control and mental paralysis are two top offensive tools.
Grey’s telepathy also provides defensive measures like a telepathic cloak to conceal herself and a psychic shield that can protect others. She thus has mental offensive and defensive skills that could easily overpower opponents.
Marvel Girl has telekinetic abilities that allow her to levitate things, other people, or herself through the air. She can also create a Force Field through telekinesis for defense.
Further, Jean Grey has great powers of empathy that enable her to tap into the emotions of others and could be used against an attacker.
She is further bonded with the Phoenix Force, an ancient cosmic entity that provides Grey with creative and destructive energy. Grey’s telepathy, telekinesis, and empathy are amplified through the Phoenix Force, and they make this superhero beyond powerful.
These attributes are on top of “ordinary” superhero powers like speed and durability that are both bolstered through the Phoenix Force.
However, Grey does not rank at the top in terms of intelligence and strength, and these could be potential weaknesses.
In the MCU, Jean Grey demonstrates her range of powers, including flight through telekinesis and telekinetic blasts of energy. She can also change matter on a molecular scale and disintegrate it.
Her telekinetic and flight/walking-on-air skills are prominently displayed in X-Men movies, and her full array of powers is reflected in the MCU, making Jean Grey an unbeatable force.
Scarlet Witch Powers in the MCU and Comics
Scarlet Witch was born Wanda Maximoff and also comes from the X-Men comics. Yet, Maximoff was at first a villain.
As a comic character, Scarlet Witch and her brother, Quicksilver, served as villains in the 1960s. Then she evolved into a sorceress with great energy powers. Once she joined the Avengers, Scarlet Witch turned that power against villains.
One of Maximoff’s top powers is the ability to conjure chaos magic, which can warp time and reality and bring destruction. Powerful as this is, chaos magic is not the only magic that Scarlet Witch deploys.
Her witchcraft and spell-making are legendary. Scarlet Witch can tap into energy sources from other dimensions, project her astral form, control life on the cellular level, and predict the future.
Maximoff’s magic skills let her manipulate forms of energy. For example, she can channel energy and release powerful blasts of it at opponents. She can also create Force Fields and cast spells of invisibility.
Further, Scarlet Witch can teleport herself and is in tune with nature, and she can summon weather. And, like Jean Grey, Maximoff has telekinesis and telepathy to add to a lengthy list of powers.
Yet, like Grey, Scarlet Witch has vulnerabilities in terms of superhero powers. In this case, she does not rank high in speed, strength, or durability.
As with Jean Grey, the MCU does not hold back with Maximoff’s powers. Psychic and telekinetic abilities are on display, plus Psionic Energy Manipulation to create waves and blasts of energy. This power was used to destroy the Mind Stone.
In the MCU, Scarlet Witch displayed her full range of powers. When she took on Thanos in the Battle of Earth in the Avengers: Endgame, she suspended him in the air, stripped his armor, and almost tore him apart. That’s quite a way to defeat Marvel’s top villain.
Some rank Maximoff as the strongest Avenger with her power reflected in energy blasts wiping out anything in their path.
Jean Grey versus Scarlet Witch
These two powerful Marvel characters have the ability to take anyone on, and it’s difficult to determine who would prevail in a contest between Jean Grey and Scarlet Witch.
One site weighs in and calculates that the advantage goes to Jean Grey. In this case, the Phoenix Force wins out over the chaos magic.
Another source draws that same conclusion: the Phoenix Force triumphs. As one of the most powerful entities, the Phoenix Force appears to be too strong for Scarlet Witch. So concurs another breakdown of the two’s fighting abilities.
Marvel fans are more split and recognize Maximoff’s reality-warping power, but still tend to concede the victory to Jean Grey. So, it seems that Grey wins out in this tough contest.
However, if Jean Grey is without the Phoenix Force, Scarlet Witch would triumph. Witch’s skill with energy and reality-warping would be too tough for Grey.
This point of view makes sense given Scarlet Witch’s skill with magic, tactical fighting ability, and control over reality.
So, with the power of the universe behind her, Jean Grey wins, but without it, or if Grey cannot control it, Scarlet Witch prevails.
Jean Grey vs Scarlet Witch
Jean Grey and Scarlet Witch have powers of telepathy and telekinesis that anchor their abilities. Their energy and reality manipulation place them above other superheroes.
They have an impressive range of skills that include the ability to levitate objects and teleportation. With the Phoenix Force, though, Jean Grey looks to win out against Scarlet Witch. Without this power, Maximoff could win through her magic and reality-bending skills.
Todd Wahlstrom is a creative and analytical freelance writer and life-long Star Wars fan who has expanded into writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He has written about recent shows such as The Mandalorian and Andor and classic topics like Darth Vader, the Jedi, and Boba Fett. His recent articles include the MCU’s Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. Todd is the author of a non-fiction book, holds a Ph.D. in history, and enjoys hiking, running, and reading about science.