Marvel Teases a Loki/Scarlet Witch Romance

Marvel released a teaser for this September's Scarlet Witch #8 (by Steve Orlando, Lorenzo Tammetta and Sara Pichelli), depicting what appears to be Loki and Wanda "Scarlet Witch" Maximoff about to share a kiss, hinting that the two longtime Marvel Universe characters (who have both become Marvel Cinematic Universe standouts) might be starting a romantic entanglement with each other.

The tease that Marvel released with the stunning Russell Dauterman cover for the upcoming issue was simply, "GOD VS WITCH! This September, Wanda and Loki fall under each other’s spell in SCARLET WITCH #8!"

Have Loki and Scarlet Witch had any major connections in the past?

Loki and Scarlet Witch look like they're about to kiss

Marvel highlighted in its tease for the issue the idea of Scarlet Witch and Loki being a clash of mischief (via Loki, the God of Lies) and chaos (via Scarlet Witch and her chaos magic), and that certainly does suggest that Loki and Scarlet Witch would make for an interesting pairing in the comics, but interestingly, despite both characters being major parts of the Avengers universe, the two have rarely interacted over the years.

Part of that is the fact that, while Loki was the reason why the Avengers formed in the first place, the Scarlet Witch did not become a member of the team until Avengers #16, and Loki did not fight against the Avengers again until the team's tenth anniversary, where Loki and Dormammu manipulated the Avengers into fighting against the Defenders over the pieces of the powerful weapon known as The Evil Eye. Once the heroes provided him with the weapon, Dormammu planned to use the Evil Eye to bring the Dark Dimension to "our" world, but Scarlet Witch was able to defeat him with a powerful hex blast while he was struggling with Loki, who planned to usurp the weapon for himself. In the process, Loki was inadvertently blasted with the Evil Eye and was left catatonic. So while their first meeting with brief, the Scarlet Witch certainly left an impression on Loki.

Scarlet Witch wasn't in her right mind during Loki's next major battle with the Avengers, the crossover known as "The Acts of Vengeance," and while she was one of a number of Avengers who fought against Loki in Avengers #400, she had no notable interactions with the Asgardian there. The most notable connection between Loki and Scarlet Witch to this point was when Loki took on the form of the Scarlet Witch to manipulate Hank Pym, Hercules and a number of other heroes into forming a new Mighty Avengers team.