Wiccan: Witches’ Road, the miniseries written by Wyatt Kennedy with art by Andy Pereira, promises to reshape the life of the son of the Scarlet Witch and pave the way for his mystical potential, something that’s been prophesied for years now in Marvel comics. After all, Wiccan is destined to become the Demiurge, a powerful being who will one day rewrite the rules of magic.
While we still need to wait for the upcoming issues to know whether that prophecy will come to pass in this story, last week’s second issue was particularly important to set the stage for it. Wiccan: Witches’ Road #2 gave us some backstory on the nature of Wiccan’s Demiurge powers, connecting him to a deep-cut character of the same name.
The events of last year’s Imperial brought about the end of the Kree/Skrull Alliance, and with it, Hulkling’s position as the emperor of both races. Stranded in space and beaten after a betrayal, he and Wiccan managed to find their way back to Earth, leading that story right into the first issue of Wiccan: Witches’ Road.
The couple then found themselves lost in a forest in Europe with Hulkling injured and Wiccan mysteriously powerless. In their attempt to survive, they were both kidnapped by the witch Baba Yaga who sent Wiccan on a quest to defeat an unruly magic user and prove his worth as the Demiurge. That is when Baba Yaga reveals that Wiccan had lost his magic due to his long stay in space, which severed him from his “worthiness” as the vessel of the entity known as the Demiurge. But who is the Demiurge?
Thor Annual #10 from 1982 gave us our first glimpse into this hidden bit of Marvel history. The issue, plotted by Mark Gruenwald and Alan Zelenetz, told the origin of life on Earth, and the catalyst of it all was the intriguing being known as the Demiurge.
The Demiurge is introduced as the life energy that surrounded Earth’s biosphere after the planet was formed. Once that energy became aware of itself, it took the shape of a disembodied entity that began to observe the planet. That entity, seeing the potential for life, began to shower Earth’s surface with his own energy, seeding the soil with life. From that soil, the Elder Gods—like Gaea and Chthon—spawned.
The Demiurge also helped Gaea conceive the first god of the second generation of gods: Atum, who would afterwards become Demogorge and destroy the Elder Gods that were soon to become corrupted.
Beyond those events, not much was known about the Demiurge. Although that story was revisited a couple times in other comics, the nature of the entity still remained a mystery. In one of those comics, specifically Immortal Thor #5, writer Al Ewing hinted at a potential connection between the original Demiurge and Wiccan, saying there is a “Demiurge-To-Come” who “lives among the living and awaits his time.” He then calls the original entity the Demiurge Primordial in order to differentiate them.
That term would later resurface in a retcon in The Incredible Hulk #28 (2025) by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, where it’s revealed that Earth and the Demiurge Primordial were created by the One-Above-All, who left the Demiurge to shape life on the planet according to his design.
As for Wiccan, his first appearance as teenage Billy Kaplan happened in Young Avengers #1 (2005), but it was in Young Avengers #8-9 (the 2013 series by Kieron Gillen) where he discovered he was destined to become an entity called the Demiurge, or as Kid Loki put it, “a singular multidimensional messiah” who would one day rewrite the rules of magic. Billy was also able to temporarily tap into his Demiurge powers at the end of the run.
That takes us to Wiccan: Witches’ Road, where we get our first actual connection between Wiccan and the Demiurge Primordial, proving how powerful Billy is destined to become.
Baba Yaga reveals the energy the Demiurge used to seed Earth is interdimensional in nature and is the source from which magic users draw their powers. Back when Earth was still evolving, so was the entity’s power until it became unruly. Because of that, the Demiurge searched for a vessel to house that energy and found that vessel in Wiccan, turning Billy into his heir.
Now we know that not only is Wiccan destined to rewrite the laws of magic, his power comes directly from the “Godcreator” and the original source of Earth’s magic. But with Wiccan moving into space, his powers were taken upon his return—and if the cliffhanger of the last issue is any indication—given or promised to a new Demiurge-To-Come. We still have three issues to go before the series is finished and more details are revealed, but it’s obvious Marvel has big plans for our beloved Young Avenger.
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