Scarlet Witch Fact — November 6, 2026

Today's Fact

Every bride at this wedding was kidnapped, the groom had seven heads, and the decisive weapon turned out to be Wanda's own power.

WANDA WAS MARKED AS A BRIDE FOR A SEVEN-HEADED SERPENT GOD — AND HER OWN HEX SUMMONED HIM TO EARTH!

The Featured Fact

The 1989 crossover Atlantis Attacks hid a wedding plot inside a war. The Deviant priest-lord Ghaur meant to haul the elder god Set back to Earth, and part of the rite required seven brides, one for each of the serpent's seven heads. His chosen seven were Andromeda, Dagger, the Invisible Woman, Jean Grey, She-Hulk, Storm — and Wanda Maximoff, picked out in Avengers Annual Vol. 1 #18 (1989) and stamped with the Mark of Set, which left the brides under Ghaur's control.

Wanda's part in the ceremony went far beyond standing at the altar. When the Avengers smashed the Lens of Power that was meant to feed a sphere holding a fragment of Set's life-force, Ghaur reached for his spare battery: he aimed the Scarlet Witch's probability power at the sphere instead. Her hex made the fragment swell and grow until it had energy enough to drag Set himself through, and the seven-headed god stood on Earth because the one power that could improvise a miracle on the spot belonged to his unwilling bride.

It took Thor, Quasar, Doctor Strange and the Thing persuading the god-eater Demogorge to intervene before Set was pulled away from the world. Ghaur still tried to burn the brides' life-force through the Serpent Crown for a second summoning, but the attempt conjured the spirit of Naga instead, and when Ghaur vanished into that mystical fight the Mark of Set faded from the women's necks. Their first free act was a unanimous one: all seven hurled the Serpent Crown down into an undersea chasm.

Why It's Obscure

Seven brides, seven heads, one smashed lens, and a crown at the bottom of the sea.

The mark

Control worn on the neck — Ghaur's Mark of Set sat on each bride's neck and held her will under his; the instant he was taken, the marks vanished and the seven women were themselves again.

The seven

No minor names on the list — alongside Wanda stood an X-Men founder, two Fantastic Four and Avengers mainstays, a weather goddess and an Atlantean warrior: Ghaur needed power, not pageantry.

The hex

Her power was the contingency plan — with the Lens of Power in pieces, Wanda's probability manipulation was the only energy source in the room that could still fatten a god's life-force into a full arrival.

The crown

Disposed of by committee — freed in Fantastic Four Annual #22, the former brides threw the Serpent Crown into a chasm opened by Ghaur's own downfall, which is about as final as seven witnesses can make it.

Gallery

Wanda's hexes at full stretch, and a fellow bride whose weather was also conscripted into the ceremony.

Comic artwork of the Scarlet Witch in red, hex energy spiralling from both hands — **The battery of the rite**Wanda with probability energy coiling off both hands — the power Ghaur aimed at a fragment of a god when his proper equipment broke.

Comic artwork of the Scarlet Witch conjuring red hex spheres — **Seven heads, one hex**Wanda mid-casting in her classic pointed headdress, the look she wore through the Atlantis Attacks summer of 1989.

Comic artwork of Storm wreathed in lightning, white hair billowing — **A fellow bride**Storm, wreathed in the lightning that made her one of Ghaur's seven — she and Wanda regained their wills in the same moment, when the Mark of Set vanished.

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against at least two independent sources before publication.

Bullpen Bulletins

Marvel.com — Brides of Set Marvel's own history of Ghaur's scheme: the seven marked heroines, Wanda's probability power freeing Set's essence, and the brides casting the Serpent Crown away once freed.
Marvel Appendix — Brides of Set Detailed chronology of Atlantis Attacks: Wanda's selection in Avengers Annual #18, the gathering in Avengers West Coast Annual #4, and the freeing of the brides in Fantastic Four Annual #22.
CBR — Atlantis Attacks and the Brides of Set Overview of the 1989 crossover, Ghaur's plan to summon Set, and the seven captured brides including the Scarlet Witch.