One of the biggest casualties of the Intellectual Property broken home that was the MCU and Fox’s X-Men franchise was the unfortunately necessary retconning applied to the character of Quicksilver. A fair amount of source material had to be adjusted to account for the absence of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four from the entirety of the MCU, but the story of Pietro Maximoff really broke our hearts in almost every way.
First of all, we never wanted to choose between Evan Peters and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. They’re both phenomenally talented actors with impressive resumés who are actual, real-life friends who already worked together on their own superhero movie Kick-Ass. Pitting these two “against” each other as the same character in competing franchises kind of broke our hearts and had us hoping that each would bring something uniquely valuable to the character. Regrettably, that was not to be.
We’ve gathered 25 of the most savage Quicksilver vs. Quicksilver memes to remind ourselves how hilariously different the two cinematic interpretations are, and how much cooler Evan Peters’ Quicksilver ultimately turned out to be. From his speed to his style to his ability to outrun bullets, we had a hard time thinking of any way the MCU Quicksilver came out on top in this match-up.
Here are 25 Quicksilver vs Quicksilver Memes That Show X-Men Is Better Than The Avengers.
BLACK PANTHER KNOWS BEST
Thanks to the incredible success of Black Panther worldwide, MCU fans got more intimately acquainted with the material that makes up the Black Panther suit as well as Captain America’s shield: vibranium.
The variety used to make the mesh that makes up T’Challa’s suit absorbs kinetic energy, which makes it something not only virtually indestructible, but a powerful weapon in its own right. Everything that comes at it only makes it stronger, so the more you fight the vibranium, the stronger it gets. That makes bullets a particularly hilarious and useless weapon when turned against say, Cap’s shield or Black Panther’s suit.
Clearly MCU Quicksilver should’ve picked up something from the vibranium store before getting caught up in the final conflict in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
When the freshly turned antihero saw that the only way to protect Hawkeye and (of course) a little kid was to use himself as a human shield, he heroically did so and lost his life. Literally the only thing of value Quicksilver does in the entire movie is use himself as a human shield and make Elizabeth Olsen ugly cry, and that’s what makes this Black Panther meme so deliciously fun.
SMILE, BUDDY
In the X-Factor comics of the early ’90s, Quicksilver is depicted as an irritable, grouchy, and impatient character.
When asked about why he felt it necessary to portray the mutant this way, writer Peter David explained that life among normal speeded people was probably intensely frustrating for anyone who could move as fast as Quicksilver could:
“Have you ever stood in the post office behind a woman with 20 packages who wants to know every single way she can send them to Africa? It drives you nuts! You think to yourself, “Why do I have to put up with this? These people are so slow, they’re costing me time, and it’s so damned irritating. I wish I didn’t have to put up with this.” Now—imagine that the entire world was like that… except for you…. to Quicksilver, as he said in an issue of Amazing Spider-Man many, many moons ago, the rest of the world is moving in slow motion. That must really, really get on your nerves.”
The MCU Quicksilver certainly is evocative of this characterization, but that didn’t make him any more fun or entertaining. X-Men’s Quicksilver asking his counterpart to smile echoes our own frustration that MCU Quicksilver is such a buzzkill.
QUICKSILVER VS. DEADPOOL
In 2016. Evan Peters found himself at the center of most of Apocalypse’s positive press. Fans loved the alternatively serene and sassy mutant whose power of speed gave us two of the film’s most popular sequences set to two of the ’80s’ most popular songs.
The internet was not shy in its opinion that, not only should there be more Quicksilver in general, but the character should be awarded with his own solo spin-off film. Peters responded positively to the idea, but he had his doubts about whether or not it would be possible. The prison kitchen and school rescue sequences took over a month to film, so the idea of doing a feature-length version seemed unrealistic. That didn’t stop him from speculating on an idea that got him really excited – a Deadpool/Quicksilver crossover film.
While the characters don’t have history together in the comics, they’re perfectly matched in terms of attitude. The internet responded with its full support in the form of expertly edited mash-up videos, very strange fanfiction and, of course, memes.
This one in particular takes “shots” at MCU Quicksilver’s passing in Age of Ultron, and it’s even funnier it uses a screenshot of the X-Men’s Quicksilver because it’s almost like Deadpool and XQ staged this joke together.
FLASH VS. QUICKSILVER
As evidenced by the very existence of this list as well as the plethora of memes we had to choose from when picking our entires, the MCU Quicksilver vs. X-Men Quicksilver debate is a very, very hot one.
Beyond their appearances in the movies and seemingly conflicting abilities, now we have Disney’s acquisition of Fox’s IP and the potential franchise merger to throw fuel on the fire. Before we had the MCU, the DCEU, and Fox’s weird, mutant franchise to compare and fight over, there was another hotly contested rivalry that lives on to this day: Flash vs. Quicksilver.
Fans have pitted the two speedsters against each other for years, constantly trying to reason out who’s faster. There’s never been a definitive winner (both characters have raced in different crossover events with different results), even though an actual physicist published an article that seemed to prove Quicksilver was far faster.
There’s one thing we do know for sure – Barry Allen is definitely faster than MCU Quicksilver, as this meme so artfully points out.
The internet will probably never run out of ways to make the MCU pay for its Quicksilver’s lame swan song and we hope it never stops trying. It’s probably too much to hope that The Flash make a cameo appearance in Infinity War to point out that most speedsters don’t need worry about bullets, but that scene is there in our headcanon.
YOU DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING?
Hawkeye’s kind of like the Apple of the MCU. Something goes wrong? He’s got an arrow for that. The unstoppable S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is known for his ability to withstand nearly any kind of attack - except a mind control staff, those are tricky - as well as his ability to maintain a healthy family life far away from the sturm and drang of his day job.
To be honest, vibranium is a more realistic concept than someone like Hawkeye being able to keep his family in a safe and idyllic farmhouse despite being well-known to powerful villains across the universe, but we’re willing to let it slide because it’s just really heartwarming.
But, unfortunately, as we learned in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Hawkeye is not bulletproof. He’s not a mutant, he’s not an alien, and he seems to eschew the kind of technological enhancements that a friend like Tony Stark could offer him.
In the final confrontation between James Spader’s Ultron and the Avengers, Hawkeye was in danger of losing his life before MCU Quicksilver laid down his life to save him. Hence the wicked, wicked “shield” joke that happened on this blessed Tumblr thread.
BULLETS, REALLY?
There have been various iterations of the Quicksilver character in the history of the comics, the Fox X-Men films, and the MCU.
Generally, the Marvel comics feature a character that more closely resembles the version we saw in X-Men Days of Future Past. He’s Magneto’s son, the Scarlet Witch’s twin and Polaris’ half-brother (though he’s Peter in the Fox franchise instead of Pietro.
He’s faster than the speed of sound, which was first beautifully represented in Days of Future Past when Evan Peters saves Wolverine, Magneto, and Professor X from the prison guards trying to stop them from escaping. He floats round the prison kitchen, totally relaxed, and resets the scene so the guards punch themselves in the face and their bullets are artfully rearranged to miss their targets.
When MCU Quicksilver gets riddled with bullets after sacrificing himself to save Hawkeye and an innocent child, eyebrows the world over were raised sky high.
The MCU established their Quicksilver as fast, but clearly not fast enough. The sequences in which we really get to see Quicksilver flex his muscle, so to speak, are some of the best of the X-Men franchise - and one of the few redeeming qualities of Apocalypse. This meme with X-Men Quicksilver joshing his counterpart over getting caught by “a few bullets.” Really.
THE BACKSTORY
Quicksilver and Magneto have some serious history, both in and out of the comics. The character was originally conceived as the dark mutant’s son, and for the most part has retained that identity in further adaptations.
The two don’t typically have the easiest relationship with conflict springing from a wide range of events, including but not limited to: Magneto’s treatment of Pietro and Wanda’s mother, Quicksilver’s inability to please his father due in part to his humanity, and the simple lack of relationship they had in Days of Future Past. The common thread in nearly every storyline involving Magneto and Quicksilver is that, at the very least, they have a relationship. That, in and of itself, is pretty intriguing.
It’s also another reason that MCU Quicksilver is lacking. His backstory is that he and his sister volunteered to be turned into super soldiers to pay back Tony Stark for his part in their parents’ passing. It’s certainly a timely and sympathetic backstory, but it’s just not as interesting as being sired by a very conflicted mutant superboss.
We know the MCU’s hands were tied when it came to what to do about the Lensherr twins backstory, but the simple fact remains that in his abilities, conception and execution, MCU Quicksilver falls terribly short.
THIS PORTRAIT, THO
As a family, the Lensherr’s are pretty dysfunctional in whatever iteration they appear. Take the Ultimate Universe, for example. There, Magneto sires the twins, but instead of abandoning them, he only abandons their mother and takes her children with him.
While the character has considerably softened to something far more sympathetic in the Fox franchise, in the comics Magneto spends a lot of time being horrifically and violently prejudiced against humans. He takes his children to raise them to join his anti-human/pro-mutant group The Brotherhood of Mutants, but he’s pretty withholding of his fatherly affection due to the twins’ human heritage. This fact is not lost on Quicksilver, who has a hard time with the fact that he can never please his father.
In Days of Future Past, Erik has abandoned both his son and the boy’s mother, which makes things a little awkward when said son shows up with Wolverine and Professor X to break Erik out of prison.
Quicksilver keeps the knowledge of his paternity close to his chest, but it’s clearly a motivating factor in his continued partnership with the X-Men.
The way Evan Peters plays this only makes us want him in the MCU more, and this gorgeous fanart sketch of the Lensherr family only makes us want to see them somehow reunited in one film – minus the other guy who couldn’t run so fast.
THE FANS HAVE SPOKEN
Poor MCU Quicksilver continues to take a beating among fans despite the fact that his final appearance in the MCU happened several movies ago.
That’s a bit of a shame because he was decently impressive in Age of Ultron before he lost to a hail of bullets and his own desire to redeem himself. It’s even more of a shame when you consider the pedigree of the actor who played him and how lame it is that he probably won’t get to make any more appearances. Aaron Taylor-Johnson has an impressive resumé that’s as long as your arm, but he’s most well-known for starring as the lead character in Kick-Ass. In that simultaneously fantastical, but hyper-realistic superhero tale, he plays a kid who turns himself into a real-life superhero.
That’s part of what made it so disappointing that his turn in the MCU was so underwhelming.
We know Aaron Taylor-Johnson is capable of turning in a awesome action performance and we know what it looks like when he’s an effective superhero.
Watching him perform some semi-cool feats in Age of Ultron only to perish at the end was disappointing on more levels than just story.
That’s why this meme showcasing Evan Peters’ far more entertaining turn as the X-Men Quicksilver succeeds in making its point. We’d rather watch a provocative performance than what we got in Age of Ultron
WE’D BUY THIS ALBUM
If Deadpool had a record label, this is totally an EP he’d get behind. Each song nails a particular inconsistency or character attribute we’ve come to associate with the Quicksilver vs. Quicksilver debate.
“Never Given Up (Them Marvel Rights) is probably a power ballad about the star-crossed franchises doomed never to meet (clearly a pre-merger creation). “Magneto Ain’t My Daddy” is probably a heavy-metal addition all about his frustrating father-son relationship. “Gots Goggles B——” is definitely a dance track we’d probably listen to before getting ready to go out, and “It’s All About Logan” is absolutely an acoustic ode to the fact that Wolverine has been the undisputed star of the X-Men franchise since its inception.
The last song “Man, F— Continuity” we envision to be a carefree rock song with a video that shows X-Men Quicksilver driving up the PCH to prank Tony Stark.
While Quicksilver’s conflicting adaptations in the FoxX-Men and the MCU are no doubt exceedingly frustrating to many fans, there was no way to avoid the eventual continuity conflicts considering Quicksilver is an important figure in The Avengers storylines as well as in the X-Men. We like this meme because it reminds us not to take what are essentially minor conflicts and let them ruin our experience of either franchise.
HUMAN S.H.I.E.L.D.
There’s an aspect to the debate between MCU Quicksilver and X-Men Quicksilver that is remarkably unfair and it’s summed up in two words: production value.
In order to create the speedster sequences in Days of Future Past and Apocalypse, Bryan Singer shot Evan Peters scenes using a Phantom camera that shot at 3000 frames per second. The mansion rescue scene took a full 30 days to shoot (which is the reason Evan Peters has given for the low probability of getting a Quicksilver solo flick), and it required speed shots of mansion interiors that had cameras moving at speeds upward of 80 miles an hour.
The result was a spectacular extraction that topped Peters’ Days of Future Past prison kitchen rescue in popularity.
Comparatively, MCU Quicksilver’s sequences were pretty underwhelming. We get to see him performing speedy feats, but his entire arc leads up to a death that we don’t even get to see.
Instead of finding a more interesting way to showcase Quicksilver’s extreme talents, we just see the result of his actions – a safe Hawkeye and Pietro Maximoff’s bullet-riddled body. It’s anti-climactic in addition to illogical in the extreme, and it doesn’t hold a candle (not even a birthday candle) to X-Men’s Quicksilver scenes, as this meme so expertly points out.
DEADPOOL MAKES A PLAY FOR SCARLET WITCH
While a crossover between Evan Peters’ Quicksilver and Deadpool is likely something fans would give almost anything to see, it’s almost as much fun to think of him popping up in the MCU just stir the pot a little bit.
It’s unlikely he’d be of much help to anyone, but we’re pretty convinced he’d throw some fierce and inappropriate shade at anyone who crossed his path.
Considering Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch serve as annoying thorns in everyone’s side for nearly the entirety of Age of Ultron, they’d be prime targets for Deadpool’s unique “wit.”
That’s why this meme about Deadpool teasing Scarlet Witch works so well. Deadpool isn’t a nice guy, and honestly, that’s saved his life on more than one occasion. He’s a mercenary who cares about getting his job done, so he was never going to be terrifically impressed that MCU Quicksilver laid down his own life for the lives of others.
Heck, if he had been there, he probably would’ve broken the fourth wall just to tell us how stupid it was that a speedster got taken down by bullets. That’s the kind of meta-geek voice Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool is known for and also the kind of thing that would get under Scarlet Witch’s skin.
FLASH VS. QUICKSILVER?
While the two have met and raced in some DC/Marvel crossovers (with varying results), that hasn’t stopped fans from debating who’s faster of the two most infamous speedsters in comics.
In most of his iterations, The Flash gets his speed from the Speed Force, an energy he can harness that allows him to do cool stuff like run around the world in five minutes. In the comics, Quicksilver’s speed is his mutant power (except in the MCU, because of copyrights) and offers him the same ability to perform cool stunts like rescuing an entire school of mutants from an explosion he realized was happening when it was already in progress.
Rooster Teeth has tried to parse out what would happen if the two actually met in conflict. The Flash won because his brain actually worked faster than Quicksilver’s, so while their speeds matched up closely, Barry Allen could outthink Pietro Maximoff and win in a fight.
The funny thing is, the decades long argument is over - in a flash - if we’re talking about The Flash vs. MCU Quicksilver.
We know this horse has long been beaten, but if you can’t outrun bullets, you can’t outrun The Flash. That’s why this depiction of X-Men Quicksilver and The Flash leaving a despondent MCU Quicksilver in the dust is so wrong it’s right.
NOOB
Aside from the differences in backstory and execution of the Quicksilver character, there’s another aspect to this debate that’s a little more ephemeral.
In addition to clearly being faster and having that speed showcased in historic film sequences, the Evan Peters’ Quicksilver is just cooler. His costume’s cooler, his origin is cooler, and his entire attitude is cooler. This is a guy we’d actually want to hang out with if given the privilege, but the same cannot be said of the MCU Quicksilver.
As much as we love Aaron Taylor-Johnson, his interpretation doesn’t inspire the same aspirational feelings that Evan Peters’ version did.
He’s a smart Alec - and not in a good way, his tagline is undeservedly self-aggrandizing, and his passing is incredibly lame. The fact that it resulted in a neat moment when the Scarlet Witch freaks out and kills a bunch of hostiles surrounding her doesn’t redeem the character. He’s just not someone we’d want to spend any more time with than we absolutely had to, so while we’re still not here for the way he was taken out, we weren’t sorry to see him go.
This meme points out why the MCU Quicksilver will never be invited to the cool kids table, even though it’s not totally his fault.
THE BEST COSPLAY
Cosplayers are endlessly creative when it comes to recreating and adapting costumes from their favorite superhero fandoms. We’ve seen everything from pitch perfect Iron Men to Batman/Wonder Woman mashups to a baby in Wookie onsie riding around in a stroller that was tricked out to look like a Funko box.
Halloween’s long been the time when closet-cosplayers can flex their punny/accurate character costumes, and we’re honestly surprised no one’s picked the one pictured in this meme and attached a Quicksilver sign to it.
There haven’t been too many people actively trying to cosplay the MCU version of this character, and that’s probably due to the fact that it’s far less popular than Evan Peters’ goggled speedster. It also might have something to do with the fact that he’s the only other Avenger besides Spider-Man to rock a unitard, and not everyone can pull those off.
Despite how underwhelming Pietro Maximoff wound up being in the MCU, someone walking around wearing a coffin with an Avengers logo and a Quicksilver name tag would have earned a serious slow clap. If there’s a redemption arc to be had for Quicksilver, maybe it’ll be found in clever cosplay poking fun at his anticlimactic existence.
ALWAYS GO BACK FOR THE DOG
One of the attractive qualities of Evan Peters’ Quicksilver was his capacity for chill. Instead of his abilities encouraging frustration with the slower pace of the world around him, they seemed to have bred in him a sense of patience. This is a guy with very few responsibilities and nearly all the time in the world to take care of anything that needs to be done. The juxtaposition of his lack of urgency combined with the deadly stakes that so often surround him make the character a unique and refreshing alternative to the panicked people that surround him.
So when he takes the time to save every single student in the mansion and a dog, it’s not as treacly a moment as it could be. Of course, it helps that the dog is blissfully unaware of his impending doom and is happily munching on pizza when he’s rescued.
We should probably give him credit for saving a goldfish moments before, but considering there’s an excellent chance that goldfish passed of natural causes days later, we’re more excited about Pizza Dog.
This meme expertly points out that we already knew he was going to save everyone in the school, but saving the dog was the icing on the cake for this repeat gag.
QUICKHIPSTER
Part of the reason X-Men’s Quicksilver was so entertaining was that he felt pretty relatable for a speedster mutant from the 1980s. There was something relevant about his low-key, flip, too-cool-for-school attitude and something about it that was very familiar.
If he lived in 2018, he’d have an apartment in Williamsburg or Echo Park and he’d be big, big fan of vinyl. That’s why this Quicksilver Hipster meme never fails to tickle us.
We can absolutely imagine the be-goggled mutant subtly throwing shade using any one of these phrases.
It’s also kind of fun that the top left quote references his comics roots in the Brotherhood of Mutants. As we mentioned above, Quicksilver’s origin actually sees Magneto raising him and his sister to be members of the Brotherhood, Magneto’s anti-human, pro-mutant X-Men antithesis.
MCU Quicksilver was so underserved by both his narrative and limited exposure in the film, that he never had enough time to develop much of a character beyond his desire for vengeance and eventual self-sacrifice. We can’t imagined him saying anything near as clever or as funny as what’s written in this meme. While we are very aware X-Men Quicksilver didn’t actually utter any of these quotes, it means something that we can hear them in his voice.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT
This meme represents a lot of wishful thinking on the part of X-Men and Avnegers fans the world over. The issue that forced Marvel’s hand when Quicksilver’s adjusted backstory made him significantly less cool doesn’t exist anymore. Now that the Disney is wresting control of the X-Men IP from Fox, there are at least no legal hurdles that would stop Evan Peters from reprising his role instead of bringing back Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Granted, switching actors is probably a moot point considering Quicksilver lost his life in Avengers: Age of Ultron and considering that Kevin Feige has said in no uncertain terms that Quicksilver would not be returning to any MCU property, Also we realistically won’t be seeing the MCU tackle the X-Men for another few years. Just a few years ago it seemed totally impossible that X-Men would ever see their way into the MCU. Fans had resigned themselves to the closest adaptations they would get to their beloved comics until the impossible happened and The Mouse acquired its very valuable IP.
It would take some serious, serious retconning, but this meme has pointed out the obvious question: would anyone really care if Evan Peters’ Quicksilver just showed up in Phase 4 like nothing had ever happened? We know we wouldn’t complain.
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE(S)
In our greatest fantasies, there’s a big party palace in the sky where all of our favorite characters from different franchises can hang out and get to know each other. Cartoon Wolverine and Jackman Wolverine are chewing on stogies and drinking whiskey, Iron Man is trying to evade Deadpool and MCU’s Scarlet Witch is awkwardly making conversation with her brother from another mother.
Imagine X-Men Quicksilver’s surprise to find out that in a neighboring universe he has a twin sister from an imaginary country in Eastern Europe?
This meme hits on our secret desire for this meeting to happen just to see Scarlet Witch choke on what to say when Quicksilver inquires after his own counterpart. There’s no way she can admit he was shot down to someone who strolls around flying bullets like they’re soap bubbles, and it’s probably not going to be easy to explain that he sacrificed himself for two people he didn’t know to someone who’s as much of a loner as Evan Peters’ Quicksilve.
The only humane solution would be for Scarlet Witch to use her powers of hypnosis to make Quicksilver forget he ever asked about his counterpart. Anything less would be inconsiderate.
EXCEPT… NO.
This meme is just hilarious in its inaccuracy. As much as we love Aaron Taylor-Johnson (and we really, really do), this quote is just adorably off-base in its good-natured attempt to undermine the X-Men Quicksilver.
If there’s one thing the MCU and X-Men franchise both have in common is that they prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch don’t need to appear next to each other to be entertaining. In both of his X-Men appearances, Evan Peters’ Quicksilver stole the show right out from under actors like, say, Jennifer Lawrence and Michael Fassbender who have six Oscar nominations and one win between them.
Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch more than held her own as a late addition to the MCU pantheon. We’re pretty surprised at how quickly she integrated with the rest of the team, and that’s in large part due to the caliber of Olsen’s performance. Plus, her powers are, frankly, stupidly impressive and they enabled her to play a key role in Infinity War.
At the end of the day, the MCU Quicksilver feels incredibly extraneous - so much so that you can’t really fault Taylor-Johnson from lobbing some low-key shade at his old Kick-Ass bro.
