Warning: This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Marvel fans are lamenting the two loneliest heroes in the MCU. Phase Four finally got kicking this year, and 2021’s offerings began and ended with two of the most popular stories in the whole franchise. Namely, debut Disney Plus series WandaVision — which earned widespread acclaim and awards success — and blockbuster threequel Spider-Man: No Way Home, which has broken all kinds of box office records.
But while those two projects resulted in a surge of popularity for both Tom Holland’s Peter Parker and Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, they also put those two heroes through the wringer. WV and No Way Home might be hugely loved by the fandom, yet they left Spidey and Scarlet Witch as the two loneliest Avengers of the lot. This realization was made by u/phantom_avenger on the r/marvelstudios subreddit:
The co-MVPs of Phase Four.
Others aren’t quite so sympathetic to Wanda.
Meanwhile, some think Loki’s own loneliness deserves some recognition.
Both Peter and Wanda had already suffered a lot across the MCU beforehand, but their experiences in these two projects really gave them a tough time. For starters, Wanda not only had to lose Vision all over again, but her children were also removed from reality. Likewise, the wall-crawler had to say goodbye to not just his Aunt May but likewise his entire life, as the memory of Peter Parker was erased from the world.
The result was that both Peter and Wanda’s stories this year ended the exact same way, with both of them totally alone. At least, we know that Wanda will get some company soon in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness when the sorcerer enlists her help with fixing the multiverse. As for where Peter’s journey goes from here, it’s too soon to tell. Certainly, at the moment, both Spider-Man and Scarlet Witch are understanding the full meaning of the phrase “with great power comes great responsibility.”
