While Scarlet Witch and Vision’s son Wiccan has been in the spotlight for several recent stories, their other son, Speed, is fading into obscurity.
One of the most anticipated aspects of the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe television series WandaVision is the possible debut of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision’s (Paul Bettany) children. Trailers for the series show the couple taking care of two babies and while the children likely won’t be identified until the series premieres it’s likely that they are Speed and Wiccan, the twin sons Wanda and Vision have in the comics. Both have become superheroes themselves but while Wiccan is an important figure in the Marvel Universe as both a powerful sorcerer and part of a fan-favorite romantic couple with Hulkling, Speed is less high-profile.
Created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, Speed, a.k.a. Tommy Shepherd, first appeared in Young Avengers #10 in 2006. He was discovered by the Young Avengers when they were searching for other possible teen heroes. At the time Tommy was imprisoned in a hi-tech juvenile detention facility after vaporizing his school. While escaping from the facility Tommy brutally attacked members of the prison staff, who had been experimenting on him to turn him into a living weapon. The Young Avengers managed to talk him down and convince him to join them on their mission to rescue Hulkling, after which Tommy remained on the team.
Upon meeting Tommy, the Young Avengers noted how similar he looked to both Wiccan, a.k.a. Billy Kaplan, and the Avenger Quicksilver. As his superhero name implies, Tommy is a speedster who is also able to vibrate the molecules in objects, causing them to explode. Tommy shares more than just looks with Quicksilver, as they both often display rather abrasive attitudes that cause friction with teammates, although Tommy’s moods are less severe.
Tommy and Billy eventually realized that they were twin brothers. They were later told by a Super-Skrull that they may in fact be the children of Vision and the Scarlet Witch. Wanda had once altered reality to give herself and Vision twin sons, drawing on two fragments of the soul of the demon Mephisto to do so without realizing it. Eventually, the soul fragments returned to Mephisto but reabsorbing them destroyed him. It was theorized that the souls may have been reincarnated into Tommy Shepherd and Billy Kaplan, who were separate beings.