doctor strange phd

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Stephen Strange (Earth-616)

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Dr. Stephen Strange , M.D. , [26] a.k.a. Doctor Strange , was the Sorcerer Supreme for Earth-616 . [14] Strange was once a brilliant but arrogant Neurosurgeon , until a car accident crippled his hands. [11] When modern medicine failed him, he embarked on a journey to Kamar-Taj in Tibet , where he was trained by the Ancient One . [11] He healed his hands and learned more about Magic , eventually becoming a Master of the Mystic Arts . [14] He settled in the Sanctum Sanctorum in Greenwich Village , New York City , becoming the Earth 's protector from any mystical threats. [27]

• 1.1 Early Life
• 1.2 Medical Career
• 1.3 Car Accident
• 1.4 The Ancient One
• 1.5 Mystic Consultant
• 1.6 Super Hero Career
• 1.7 The Illuminati
• 1.8 Sorcery Supremacy
• 1.9 Infinity Gauntlet
• 1.10 More Attempts at Title
• 1.11 Midnight Sons
• 1.12 Shanzar
• 1.13 Recruited
• 1.14 Secret Defenders
• 1.15 Infinity Crusade
• 1.16 Siege of Darkness
• 1.17 Un-Earth
• 1.18 Salome
• 1.19 War of the Seven Spheres
• 1.20 The Order
• 1.21 Dead Girl
• 1.22 House of M
• 1.23 Civil War
• 1.24 New Avengers
• 1.25 World War Hulk
• 1.26 Secret Invasion
• 1.27 Dark Reign
• 1.28 Heroic Age
• 1.29 Incursions
• 1.30 Infinity
• 1.31 Post-Infinity
• 1.32 Time Runs Out
• 1.33 Secret Wars
• 1.34 Last Days of Magic
• 1.35 Loki: Sorcerer Supreme
• 1.36 Damnation
• 1.37 Sorcerer Supreme of the Galaxy
• 1.38 The Two Doctors
• 1.39 Herald Supreme
• 1.40 Death of Doctor Strange
• 1.41 Death's Servant
• 2.2 Abilities
• 2.3 Weaknesses
• 3.1 Equipment
• 3.2 Weapons
• 3.3 Transportation
• 7.1 References

Early Life [ ]

Stephen Strange was born to Eugene and Beverly Strange in November [28] 1930 while the couple was vacationing in Philadelphia . In 1932, Stephen's sister Donna was born at the family's Nebraska farm. Knowing that Strange was destined to become the next Sorcerer Supreme, a resentful apprentice sorcerer, Karl Mordo , beset the child with demons from the age of eight through to adulthood, as he was jealous that a kid would be better than him. Ultimately Strange was rescued by Mordo's master, the Ancient One , mystic protector of the Earth-realm as the then-current Sorcerer Supreme. Shortly after this torment began, Stephen's brother, Victor , was born. At age eleven, Strange aided an injured Donna, an experience which ultimately fostered an interest in medicine. [29] At age fifteen, he briefly dated a young woman named Laura Robson . [30] Strange entered New York College as a pre-med student directly out of high school. [29] Later, while home on vacation for his nineteenth birthday, Strange was swimming with Donna when she suffered a cramp. After a frantic search, Stephen found her already drowned. The experience left him with a sense of personal failure that eroded his medical idealism. [31]

Medical Career [ ]

Brilliant Surgeon

Stephen earned his medical degree in record time and entered a five-year residency at New York Hospital , where his rapid success made him arrogant. Stephen's mother Beverly died near the end of his residency, and work became more and more impersonal for the bereaved surgeon. Strange's talent remained, however, and he became a wealthy and celebrated neurosurgeon before he turned thirty. [26] [29]

Arrogant Doctor

Egotistical and greedy, cold and callous, Strange's interest in his patients generally began and ended at his bill. [26] The exception was Madeleine Revell , an injured United Nations translator whom he saved and fell in love with. Following a whirlwind romance and proposal, she left him due to his increasingly materialistic nature. [32]

Two years after his mother's death, Strange's father, Eugene, also fell ill. Already crippled by grief over his mother's death (though he would never admit it), Stephen was unable to face any more tragedy and refused to visit Eugene's deathbed. A few days later, an outraged Victor confronted Stephen in his apartment over his apparent lack of grief. [31] Following the confrontation, Victor rushed from the apartment and into the path of an oncoming car. Victor died, and a guilt-wracked Stephen placed Victor's body in cold storage, half-hoping that future breakthroughs could revive him. [33]

Car Accident [ ]

Car Accident

Injured Hands

Around 1963, Strange was involved in a debilitating car accident. [26] Dr. Nicodemus West , a brilliant surgeon in his own right, was an admirer of Dr. Stephen Strange agreed to do the surgery. Though he was able to save Strange, the nerves in his hands were severely damaged. [11] Dr. Strange, with his surgical career over and too vain to accept positions as a consultant or assistant, soon exhausted his fortune following every rumored treatment, no matter how ineffective. In a matter of months, the once wealthy surgeon became a derelict, [26] and resorted to performing a number of shady medical procedures to survive (and pay his growing bar tabs). Strange's guilt over the mistakes of his early life would come to weigh heavily upon him over the years, and his recollections of the time could not always be trusted. [11]

The Ancient One [ ]

After hearing rumors of the mystical Ancient One, Strange pawned his last possessions for a ticket to the East. Strange found the Ancient One's Tibetan palace, but the aged sorcerer refused to cure him, instead offering to teach him in mysticism. Strange refused but couldn't leave immediately due to a sudden blizzard. While staying for the duration of the storm, Strange witnessed the Ancient One's apprentice, Baron Mordo, secretly attack the teacher with mystically summoned skeletons, which the old man easily dispelled. Strange, his skepticism eroding, confronted Mordo about the treachery but Mordo responded with restraining spells that kept Strange from warning the Ancient One or attacking Mordo physically. Amazed by these displays of magic, Strange underwent a change of heart. Deciding that the only way to stop Mordo was to learn magic himself in order to challenge Mordo on his terms, Strange accepted the Ancient One's offer. Pleased by Strange's acceptance for unselfish reasons, the Ancient One removed the mystic restraints, explaining that he was well aware of Mordo's treachery but preferred to keep Mordo close by in order to control and possibly change him. [26]

Doctor Stephen Strange

The Ancient One had known of Strange and his potential to serve as the Sorcerer Supreme prior to even Strange's first encounter with him. He regarded his hidden prowess so highly that he rejected Daimon Hellstrom for Strange as his pupil. The Ancient One had planned to make Dr. Strange his successor for a long time. [ citation needed ]

Strange spent years under the Ancient One's tutelage, learning to tap the innate mystic powers of himself and the world around him, as well as how to invoke the powers of Principalities, powerful beings such as Dormammu , Satannish , and the Vishanti , who resided in their own mystic realms. A few years after Strange's arrival, Mordo left the Ancient One's palace to seek greater power. The two rivals would clash often in the future. It was during this time that Strange passed a test against Death itself. As a reward, Strange was given ageless life and an ankh-shaped mark on his forehead that would only appear when his life was in dire jeopardy. The Ancient One himself had attained near-immortality by passing this test over 600 years earlier. [ citation needed ]

During his early years as a student of the mystic arts, Strange befriended many sorcerers around the world, including Lord Julian Phyffe and Sir Clive Bentley of Great Britain ; [34] Cardinal Alfeo Spinosa and Count Tancredo Carezzi of Italy ; Omar Karindu , Rama Kaliph , [35] and Turhan Barim of the Middle East; Wai Chee Yee and Sen-Yu of Asia ; [35] and Aleister Kane , Kenneth Ward , [16] and Frank Brukner of America . Strange also found allies among more of earth's heroes, aiding the Black Fox in at least two adventures, while other adventurers, such as Immortalis and Terror, Inc. , regarded him with skepticism. [ citation needed ]

Mystic Consultant [ ]

Strange, studied magic under the Ancient One for seven years and returned to the United States in the 1970s. Strange became a mystic consultant, establishing his Sanctum Sanctorum in New York 's Greenwich Village . He was attended by Wong , latest in a centuries-old bloodline that had served the Ancient One, and who had become both Strange's servant and his friend. During this time Strange fought the demonic entities such as the Possessors , [36] Aggamon , [37] the House of Shadows , [38] Zota , [39] the Bottle Imp , and KhLΘG . Strange also fought the otherworldly Nightmare , who fed upon dreaming humanity's terror and became one of Strange's most bitter enemies. [40] [27] [41] The mysterious doctor's reputation grew, and Strange even became an occasional consultant to local and federal authorities. [ citation needed ]

Super Hero Career [ ]

When the debut of the Fantastic Four heralded the dawn of the Heroic Age, Strange initially remained aloof from New York's superhero community, fighting his battles against Nightmare and Baron Mordo [42] [34] [43] [44] [45] in secrecy. At one point Loki , the Asgardian God of trickery manipulated Strange into attacking his heroic foster brother, Thor . The treachery was soon exposed, however, and Strange turned against Loki. [46] Thor would later, in the guise of Dr. Donald Blake save Strange's life by operating on him after another battle with Mordo. [47] Soon after, a clash with Mordo led Strange to ally with the young Spider-Man , who helped Strange rescue several people from a mystic dimension. The experience proved so traumatic that Spider-Man asked Strange to remove their memories of the event, though this caused them to forget Spider-Man's heroism as well. Impressed by the young hero's bravery and altruism, Strange came to regard him as a friend, and the two have teamed up many times over the years. [ citation needed ]

The Dread Dormammu, sensing his old adversary the Ancient One's declining power, threatened to invade the Earth-Realm and sent a messenger ahead of him. Upon learning of Dormammu's intent, the Ancient One sent Strange to the Dark Dimension to do battle with the evil foe. While there, Strange was approached by Clea , a novice mystic and, [48] though few knew it at the time, daughter of Dormammu's sister Umar . [49] Clea feared that if Dormammu fell as ruler of the Dark Dimension, the dimensional barriers would weaken and the realm would be ravaged by the Mindless Ones . Clea thus sought to prevent the duel, but Strange would not yield. Dormammu easily outmatched Strange, but in the process lost just enough of his energies so that the Mindless Ones were able to invade. Seeking to save the Dark Dimension's denizens, Strange lent Dormammu enough power to create a new barrier. Enraged by his own weakness, Dormammu felt honor-bound to spare Strange, who in turn bargained with him to spare both the Earth-Realm and the attractive Clea. [50]

Sometime later, Clea aided Strange again from afar and was once again imprisoned by Dormammu. [51] He forced her to watch as Strange and Mordo fought each other, with Strange taking several blows from his foe, but eventually the tides turned and Strange got close to defeating Mordo. Afraid his puppet would lose, Dormammu decided to enter the battle himself. [52]

Despite its many challenges, Strange was able to win the fight, but when Dormammu returned to the Dark Dimension, he contacted Strange and made him watch as Clea was banished to another dimension. [53] With time, Clea was rescued and Dormammu dealt with by Eternity , leaving the Dark Dimension without a ruler. [54]

Shortly after, Strange joined several superheroes in a battle against the powerful mutate Sundown . Now more involved with the super hero community, he became a special consultant to prominent super-teams such as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men , and the Avengers . [ citation needed ]

Months after attending the wedding of Reed and Sue Richards , [55] Doctor Strange had to save Clea once again, as Umar had cast her to another dimension, in the hopes of luring Strange to defeat him. [56] Strange overcame several of Umar's traps and rescued Clea, but in the end the Ancient One convinced him that she would only be safe if she were sent to another dimension yet again, making him watch as Clea was sent away from him one more time. [57]

Coincidentally, in this new dimension, Clea ran into none other than the Dreadful Dormammu, but history repeated itself as Strange found a way to reach her and defeated Dormammu. [58] Finally realizing that Earth was the only safe place for her, Strange helped her get an apartment in New York, so she could start her life anew. [59] However, Clea lost her powers on Earth and began missing the Dark Dimension. [60]

Later, Strange was exiled to a hostile dimension by Asmodeus , who took the doctor's form in an attempt to catch the Ancient One by surprise. Prevented from returning to the Earth-Realm by metaphysical law so long as Asmodeus occupied his form, Strange adopted a new form with a full-face mask (perhaps emulating his super hero allies). After defeating Asmodeus, Strange retained the new appearance to preserve his anonymity. After carelessly revealing his name during a battle with Nightmare, the cosmic Eternity , whom Strange was aiding at the time, agreed to return Strange's anonymity by altering all relevant earthly documents and memories bearing the name “Stephen Strange” to “Stephen Sanders.” [ citation needed ]

Strange next resisted the invading Undying Ones , a race of demons that had once dominated the Earth and were led by the infernal Nameless One . To face the onslaught, Strange manipulated Prince Namor of Atlantis [61] and the monstrous Hulk into aiding him. [62] With the Undying Ones defeated, Strange seemed to believe the world safe from further incursion. Strange was troubled by his arrogant exploitation of Namor and the Hulk, however, and decided to forego magic and return to medicine as a consultant, selflessly performing the duties he once thought were beneath him. [ citation needed ]

Strange's return to medicine lasted only a few weeks. After Baron Mordo tried to kill him, Strange returned to sorcery and defeated Mordo with the help of the Ancient One. The Ancient One, for reasons of his own, reversed Eternity's spell, restoring the name "Stephen Strange" to the world's records and memories. Shortly thereafter, the Nameless One returned and Strange donned his (non-masked) robes to confront the threat alongside Namor and the Hulk. Becoming friends despite their differences, [63] the three were soon joined by the alien Silver Surfer to form the core of the Defenders , [64] a loose-knit "non-team" that would reunite sporadically to meet threats against the Earth. [ citation needed ]

A Captured Sorcerer

The Illuminati [ ]

Following the Kree-Skrull War , a number of Earth's most powerful heroes -- Doctor Strange, Black Bolt , Professor X , Iron Man , Mister Fantastic, and Namor -- formed the Illuminati , a secretive group of Earth's most influential heroes that would meet only a few times, and only to tackle events of extraordinary importance. While certain Illuminati members were unable to attend certain gatherings (such as Xavier and Iron Man), Strange attended all known meetings, adding the viewpoint and perspective his decades of battling mystic evil had brought him. [65] [66]

The Illuminati inadvertently precipitated an invasion of Earth by the shapeshifting, alien Skrull race by attacking the homeworld after delivering a warning not to endanger their planet again. This led to their capture, experimentation, and analysis, which enabled the Skrulls to eventually perform enough reverse biological engineering and cloning to gather the resources required to launch a covert invasion. [66]

Sorcery Supremacy [ ]

Strange came under attack by servants of the Old One Shuma-Gorath , a vast extra dimensional entity who had ruled on Earth millennia ago but was banished in the Hyborian era. Shuma-Gorath sought to return to the mind of the Ancient One himself, and Strange entered his mentor's mind to confront the creature. After fighting a losing battle, the Ancient One himself asked Strange to slay him rather than allow Shuma-Gorath passage to Earth. The Ancient One's physical death made him one with Eternity, and Strange inherited the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme, guardian of the entire universe. Since Clea had been spending countless hours studying in the Sanctum Sanctorum 's library, Stephen then decided to turn her into his first official disciple as the new Sorcerer Supreme. [67]

Seeking solace from his new burdens, Strange attempted to use his power to revive his brother Victor using spells from the Book of the Vishanti ; unfortunately, Strange did not realize he had read the Vampiric Verses , imbuing Victor with the potential for resurrection as a vampire. Thinking the spells had failed, Strange left his brother's body in cold storage. [ citation needed ]

Strange continued his adventures with the Defenders, and over the months the informal team's ranks included beings such as the Asgardian Valkyrie , Brunnhilde, [68] the winged millionaire Nighthawk , [69] the happy-go-lucky Hellcat , [70] and others. Though this pitted Strange against less magical foes (such as the mutant Magneto , the alien Nebulon , [71] [72] the subversive Sons of the Serpent , and the bizarre Headmen [73] [72] ), the camaraderie of the team and the love of Clea gave Strange a welcome change from his customary solitude. [ citation needed ]

Later, however, Strange felt that his magical powers had become severely diminished. This allowed Strange to become possessed by the spirit of the Star of Capistan , transforming him into the Red Rajah. As the Rajah, Strange tried to link the consciousnesses of all the people of New York City with his own to create a type of utopian society. Eventually, Strange's teammates in the Defenders were able to free him from the effects of the Star, which Strange promptly destroyed. As a result of this, Strange felt it necessary to take a leave from the Defenders in order to renew his commitment to the mystic arts in order to keep his powers at their peak. [74] The Defenders continued on without him and later Strange would rejoin the group when they required his assistance. [ citation needed ]

At one point, the trans-temporal sorcerers called the Creators manipulated the Ancient One's spirit into offering Strange a chance to become one with the universe. When Strange rejected the offer, he was stripped of the mantle and power of Sorcerer Supreme. Strange soon joined battle with the Creators, defeating their ally, the In-Betweener , and thwarting their reality-reshaping plans. After their deception was revealed, the Ancient One restored Strange's title; who, if anyone, assumed the title in the meantime is unknown. Though Strange's adventure took mere days from his perspective, weeks passed on Earth. [ citation needed ]

Months later, the mysterious alien Tribunals perpetrated a hoax that convinced the four founding Defenders that their alliance would eventually cause a cosmic tragedy, and the group was disbanded. It would be some time before the hoax was exposed. Strange soon lent aid to BorderLine Investigative Services (actually a band of vampire hunters) in confronting Dracula . At one point, Strange cast the Darkhold 's famed Montesi Formula , a spell which destroyed all vampires within the Earth-Realm. The cryogenically stored body of Victor Strange, however, was passed over because it had been enchanted with the powers of the Book of the Vishanti. With the book ultimately being a tome of protection (even when applied to vampires), Victor's body survived. [ citation needed ]

Meanwhile, in the Dark Dimension, Clea had returned to lead the rebellion against Umar. Clea overthrew her mother and took the throne with Strange's help, but her responsibilities as ruler of the Dark Dimension and his as Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth-Realm meant the two would be forced to separate. [75] Upon returning to Earth, however, Strange's role as Sorcerer Supreme was challenged by the covetous alien Urthona . At one point, the struggle against Urthona forced Strange to destroy his own collection of talismans, tomes, and artifacts to prevent Urthona from taking control of them. (It was later revealed that Agamotto , one of three Vishanti, had intervened, sequestering the collection away at the moment Strange seemed to destroy them). [ citation needed ]

With the artifacts removed, the barriers between dimensions they had established weakened, and the Earth was assaulted by a number of once-pacified mystic threats. Strange met the threats with the extra dimensional novice mystic Rintrah and was eventually joined by Kaluu , an old rival of the Ancient One and master of life-draining black magic. Weakened by the loss of his artifacts, Strange reluctantly accepted Kaluu's offer to teach him the black arts. These skills served Strange well when confronted with the return of Shuma-Gorath, who Strange fought on one of his home planes. The power required to defeat Shuma-Gorath corrupted Strange, to the point where he merged with the evil demon-god. After inducing the merged creature to commit suicide, both Shuma-Gorath and Strange's own ego were destroyed. Kaluu guided Strange's spirit back to Earth, slowly restoring Strange's ego as he burnt off the taint of Shuma-Gorath's evil. Though this ultimately allowed the demon to reform in his home dimension, it had at the very least, been prevented from returning to Earth. [ citation needed ] Shortly thereafter, Strange and Clea met again, and Strange confessed he was done trying to move past love and wanted to embrace it. Since they couldn't be legally married (due to Clea's status as an extradimensional being), Strange and Clea began wearing magic rings that were actually only one and were therefore mystically connected for all eternity. [76] Afterwards, Strange took Rintrah as his new apprentice. [ citation needed ]

Strange assisted the X-Men (at the behest of fellow Illuminati member and longtime friend Professor X) when Margali Szardos , Sorceress Supreme and adoptive mother to Nightcrawler , believed Wagner had been guilty of cold-blooded murder and thus magically separated his soul from his body into her own dimension. Strange determined that Nightcrawler was actually human, that a hostile yet not malevolent mystic force was responsible for his body's "death". Strange was taken along with the X-Men to Margali's realm of "Hell" where Kurt's innocence was proved, and they were allowed to return to Earth on good terms. However, Strange was shocked when the Eye of Agamotto was used by Margali, who told him enigmatically that he had not been the Eye's first custodian, nor would he be the last, ending with Strange determined to find out more about the potent yet mysterious sorceress. [77]

It was at this point, however, that Victor Strange's body finally rose as a vampire, and ultimately fell under the sway of sorceress Marie LaVeau . LaVeau tried to coerce Strange into again reciting the Vampiric Verses, thereby nullifying the Montesi Formula, but Strange instead banished the page containing the Vampiric Verses page from the Earth-Realm. Nonetheless, LaVeau was able to use Victor as a template to duplicate the spell, making it possible for long-destroyed vampires to reappear. [ citation needed ]

Infinity Gauntlet [ ]

Strange and Clea were soon drawn back to the Dark Dimension, as both Dormammu and Umar sought to reclaim the throne. Umar ultimately won, leaving Clea exiled on Earth. While Clea sought allies to mount an offensive, Strange and others were drawn up in the fight with an Infinity Gauntlet -wielding Thanos of Titan . The death-worshiping Thanos used the Gauntlet's immensely powerful Infinity Gems to eradicate half of the universe's population before the heroes defeated him and used the same power to undo the damage. [ citation needed ]

More Attempts at Title [ ]

However, attempts to claim Strange's position of Sorcerer Supreme were not to end, even years after he had attained, lost and again won back his station. Ian McNee attempted to challenge Strange for the role, having trained himself for ten years, and apparently killed Strange; however, further killings due to others challenging McNee, in turn, convinced him that killing was the curse of the Sorcerer Supreme. However, Strange had not been killed and no one had really died from the battles. Nicodemus , too, tried to seize Strange's title, winning it briefly, but the strain and pressure of such power and responsibility quickly overwhelmed him. [ citation needed ]

Midnight Sons [ ]

Strange soon formed alliances with other supernatural heroes, manipulating the formation of the Midnight Sons , a loose group including his vampire hunter allies, as well as Morbius , Ghost Rider , and Blaze among others. These warriors were actually the last in a long line of Midnight Sons, destined to confront the demonic scourges of Zarathos and Lilith . He also briefly tutored the young sorcerer Augustyne Phyffe , who ultimately chose to abandon sorcery. [ citation needed ]

Shanzar [ ]

After sharing leadership of Earth's heroes against the Magus during the Infinity War , Strange teamed with Namor, the Hulk, and the Silver Surfer to battle Shanzar , the invading Sorcerer Supreme of another dimension. [78]

Recruited [ ]

Meanwhile, the Principalities of various mystic realms began summoning their devotees to serve them in the War of the Seven Spheres , a war between opposing magical entities expected to last five thousand years. When the Vishanti sought to enlist Strange, he refused, unwilling to abandon his earthly duties. Unable to resist them if called, Strange instead renounced the use of their powers, stripping him of much of his power. [79]

Secret Defenders [ ]

Strange was then attacked by an even more powerful Dormammu, who had manipulated Clea into deposing of Umar so that he could again rule the Dark Dimension. With the help of the Hulk, the Silver Surfer, and Ghost Rider, Strange was able to repel the dark lord, but he continued to rule the Dark Dimension, and Clea remained there to again lead the resistance. Strange soon after began recruiting Secret Defenders , ad hoc teams assembled to meet periodic threats to the Earth that he could not handle alone. Strange also sought the aid of Immortalis in curing his brother Victor but was refused because no permanent cure was known. After Rintrah was slain while destroying a dangerous talisman, Strange placed his body in stasis pending a potential revival and took Kyllian Kell , heir to ancient Celtic magic, as his new apprentice. [ citation needed ]

Larger than life!

Infinity Crusade [ ]

Strange was at one time abducted by the Goddess , who collected thirty-three of the most "spiritually-attuned" heroes in the universe to aid her in her Infinity Crusade , an attempt to purge the universe of evil. Mesmerized by the Goddess, Strange joined her crusade, and while his physical form served her, he sent his astral form to keep tabs on his brother. By this time Victor Strange had adopted the identity "Khiron", a costumed hero and deadly vigilante. After realizing how violent he had become, Khiron chose to take his own life. After breaking free of the Goddess, Strange again fought Urthona, who had grown even more powerful by serving in the War of the Seven Spheres . [ citation needed ]

Siege of Darkness [ ]

While tutoring his new, impatient apprentice, Kyllian was pulled into another dimension by a talisman. When Strange managed to find him, Kyllian refused to go; preferring to remain with Iskelior , a woman he met there. The bickering sorcerers were interrupted by the ancient sorceress Lilith, who began tearing down the mystical barrier to allow her demonic offspring, the Lilin , passage to Earth. Kyllian remained behind to seal the dimensional tear, and Strange returned to Earth, promising to rescue Kyllian later. [80] Joining the Midnight Sons, Strange confronted Lilith and her Lilin. At one point the Midnight Sons were menaced by a blood lusting Morbius, while Wong's betrothed, Imei , was dying from the poisoned kiss of the Lilin Sister Nil . Strange chose to subdue Morbius' bloodlust, saving the most people possible, but allowing Imei to die. Furious, Wong left Strange, and would even try to kill him on later occasions. Eventually, the Midnight Sons were victorious, and the Lilin were sealed back away in another dimension. In the meantime, Kyllian was rescued by Modred the Mystic , and returned to Earth in the form of Wildpride, now more in control of his "animal magick," and bearing a grudge against the master he felt abandoned him. [81]

Un-Earth [ ]

Strange was later part of an international coalition of heroes opposing the techno-magical Mys-Tech and was one of the six beings who stabilized the unraveling reality created by the clandestine group's "Un-Earth," a mystical replica they planned to use to control the real Earth. [ citation needed ]

Strange again had to defend his title as Sorcerer Supreme, this time from Salome , a winged member of the mysterious Blood race and allegedly the first Earth-born Sorcerer Supreme over 20,000 years ago. Salome easily reclaimed the mantle from a weakened Strange and began gathering followers to help her rule the Earth. Unable to stand against Salome, Strange secluded himself in a pocket dimension, taking Sister Nil (the last of the Lilin remaining in the Earth realm) to record his actions and act as his assistant. From that dimension, he dispatched two magical constructs based upon himself to tend to his earthly affairs. The first, Vincent Stevens , became a cunning businessman, and built a fortune with which to develop so-called "technomagick." The other was a being called Strange , a masked figure who fought alongside the Midnight Sons and gathered artifacts for Strange to use against Salome. Strange also left the leadership of the Secret Defenders to Doctor Druid , another of the Ancient One's pupils. Though Doctor Druid served as best he could, he was ultimately unable to lead the group. [ citation needed ]

Possessing only a few of his artifacts and mystically poisoned by Salome's dance, Dr. Strange realized that he would have to focus on developing his weakest discipline, elemental magic, in order to reclaim the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme. Dr. Strange had barely finished enhancing his sorcery when Stevens and Strange rebelled against him. Stevens was apparently destroyed in the resulting conflict, and Strange went to the Dark Dimension, where he merged with the rebellion's Nobel as Paradox. Meanwhile, Salome had enlisted Wong against his old master, claiming to have bound Imei's soul to the demon Xaos , and promising a full resurrection in exchange for his service. Later, Strange would show Wong that Salome had been deceiving them and that Imei was truly dead. Wong gained some closure when Strange took him to visit her in the afterlife, and the two eventually reconciled. This time, however, Wong joined Strange as an equal partner, and in many ways a brother, not a servant. Wong still referred to Strange as "Master" from time to time because "old habits are hard to break." [ citation needed ]

War of the Seven Spheres [ ]

After defeating Salome, Dr. Strange temporarily assumed a younger, more violent persona as he began to track down and terminate the illegal operations established by Stevens. Dr. Strange was still cleaning up after Stevens when he was again summoned by the Vishanti to serve in the War of the Seven Spheres ; unwilling to lose any more of his already diminished power, this time Strange complied. [ citation needed ] Although from his perspective Strange spent 5,000 years fighting for the Vishanti against their enemies, the Trinity of Ashes , only a few months passed on Earth by the time he returned. During this time, he was forced to thoroughly violate his moral code in order to survive. By the end Strange was an utterly broken man who no longer identified as a doctor but as a general, willing to commit any atrocity if it meant winning. The Trinity sued for peace on the condition that Strange be locked away for their protection. The Vishanti, no longer needing someone to lead their forces, obliged and reset Strange to the state he was before the war started. They sealed his General Strange persona away in a crystal in case they needed him later. [82] Exhausted from the war, Strange turned to the use of unpredictable Catastrophe Magic to increase his power. He later claimed to have supplemented it with so-called Chaos Magic , though still later he would claim that there was no such thing. In any event, Strange eventually regained the patronage of the Principalities, and his power was restored to their height. [ citation needed ]

The Order [ ]

The Dread Dormammu returned to attack Strange at this point, using the mutant Jonathon White and Strange's ally Topaz against him. Strange drove off his old foe and magically guided another surgeon to save Topaz from Dormammu's attack. Strange then faced the return of his old enemy Yandroth , the techno-mage. Strange, Namor, Hulk, and the Surfer united to oppose Yandroth's attacks on the Earth, but the four began to quarrel amongst themselves. Yandroth seemed to perish in the final conflict, and as a final curse, used Earth's magical energy to bind the Defenders together, forcing them to reunite against all future threats to Earth, regardless of their other concerns. Other former Defenders came to their aid at times, and though irked by the cause, was nonetheless touched to see the team reunited. The curse magnified the egos of the cursed quartet, however, until they became mentally unstable. They then became the Order, seeking to end all threats to the Earth by taking control of it. Other heroes, including Clea, fought them, and the energies unleashed by the battle were harnessed to resurrect and further empower Yandroth. Coming to their senses, the Defenders stopped fighting, and Yandroth was reduced back to his human form, defeated, and imprisoned. [83]

Shaken by the ordeal, Strange cut himself off from the superhero community. Strange made the idealistic mystic Topaz his fifth known disciple but kept her at an emotional distance. When the power of the Kale family Tome of Zhered-Na unleashed the Hellphyr , a monster that attacked mystics, Topaz joined Jennifer Kale and Satana in meeting the threat. She ultimately decided to leave Strange's side to join the other two in guarding the tome. [84]

Dead Girl [ ]

Afterwards, Strange recruited the mutant Dead Girl to help him investigate the Pitiful One 's attempt to resurrect a number of hell-bound villains. During this time he came into conflict with the spirit of his old master, the Ancient One, who had apparently been relegated to a level of Hell for petty misuses of his power. [85] Strange was able to neutralize the threat, and was merciful to his old master. While Strange enjoyed a brief flirtation with Dead Girl, Wong grew concerned over the Doctor's health, particularly his failing memory. [86]

House of M [ ]

When the Scarlet Witch suffered a catastrophic mental break-down Doctor Strange used the Eye of Agamotto to stop her with a memory so terrible she collapsed from it and ended the chaos she was inadvertently causing. The frail Wanda was taken to Genosha by her grieving father, Magneto. Desperate, Magneto enlisted the aid of his old friend and enemy, Professor Charles Xavier, to help his mentally unstable daughter. Xavier, in turn, summoned Doctor Strange. Even their combined efforts were not enough to help her. They attempted to mend her shattered psyche and minimize the damage done by her reality-altering powers but were largely unsuccessful in their endeavor. Strange, having done all he could for Wanda, told the assembled Avengers and X-Men that together, he, Xavier and Emma Frost could shield the heroes from Wanda's power and went with the Avengers and X-Men to find Wanda. Due to the interference of her brother, Quicksilver , they failed, resulting in the warping of reality known as "the House of M ." [87]

After Emma Frost and Layla Miller joined forces to unlock his memories, Strange went with the heroes to Genosha to force Wanda to put the world back. Wanda changed the world back to its original form, but in the process depowered 90% of the entire mutant population. Surviving mutants and ex-mutants referred to this as "M-Day: The worst day in mutant history." Strange was unable to break the successfully wrought spell or even find Wanda with his powers afterward. Later, a troubled Strange claimed that, as his job was to prevent something exactly like the House of M and its aftermath, he had "failed completely". [88]

Stephen and Uatu: Kindred Spirits of Neutrality

Civil War [ ]

In a meeting of the Illuminati, Strange vehemently opposed the proposed Superhuman Registration Act , calling the actions it entailed "disgusting," and simply a means to give into people's fear and ignorance which would lead fellow heroes to fight to the death for their rights to oppose registration. He informed Iron Man and Mister Fantastic that they were never to call on him again before magically departing. [65]

Sometime later, while having had friends on both sides of the war, Strange went into seclusion in the Arctic, fasting and meditating nonstop for forty days. As Sorcerer Supreme he could not take sides in the matter, for his given duties did not include influencing the evolution of the superhuman role in society, especially since there was no clear right or wrong. He prayed for an outcome that would benefit mankind and spill the least amount of blood. [89] He later regretted his lack of involvement in the Civil War . After the conclusion of the War, Strange was granted immunity to registration [90] [ verification needed ] as a "post-human exemption", [91] yet the immunity did not extend to him openly breaking the Act with others. [90]

New Avengers [ ]

Following the Civil War, Doctor Strange housed the outlaw renegade Avengers in his Sanctum Sanctorum, which had an illusion cast on it to appear abandoned and deteriorated. [92] He aided the team on their missions such as disabling the Mighty Avengers with mental illusions, [93] teleporting them away from Elektra to the Silver Samurai while in Japan , [94] freeing Maya Lopez from the Hand 's magic and defeating their ninja, [95] saving their Ultron -virus infected plane, [96] and casting a series of spells helping to calm the panicking people in Manhattan after being cured by Iron Man from a Venom Virus . [97]

When Spider-Man came to seek his magical expertise in healing Aunt May , Strange tried to help Peter Parker by using the Hands of Death to send him around the entire world to consult others, but told Peter that even his magic couldn't help May now, or at least he was unable to use it to help her. [98] He also continued to fulfill his duties as Sorcerer Supreme, such as aiding the new roster of the Fantastic Four from preventing Eternity's death. [99]

World War Hulk [ ]

Dr. Strange was among the members of the Illuminati who, alarmed at the continuing destruction caused by the Hulk, agreed to exile the Hulk into space. [65] When the Hulk returned to Earth seeking vengeance, mistakenly believing them responsible for the explosion that killed millions on the planet Sakaar , Strange declined Iron Man's request to use magic to again banish the Hulk, arguing the Hulk would simply return again. He instead offered Iron Man the aid of the New Avengers to evacuate and help defend New York, which Stark gladly accepted. [100]

Strange entered the Hulk's mind, reminding them of their history and friendship, as well as insisting the bomb was not planted by the Illuminati. Just as the Hulk reverted to his Bruce Banner form, and a sympathetic Strange presented himself in a physical form, Banner turned back into the Hulk and crushed Strange's hands. Strange's crushed hands limited his magic abilities. [ citation needed ]

Strange invoked the power of Zom to battle the Hulk, drinking Zom's soul to become a semi-demonic version of himself with spiked maces for hands. However, the unfamiliar use of such vast dark magic weakened his control over his new powers, which caused Strange to almost kill civilians. The shaken Strange was overpowered by the Hulk, implanted with an Obedience Disk , and forced to first fight a giant, tentacled monster in the Madison Square Garden with the rest of the fallen heroes. He was then forced to battle the other Illuminati members, facing off against Black Bolt (actually a Skrull impostor) and attempted but failed to use what remained of his magic to stop him. The Sentry arrived in time to save the Illuminati, and Strange was freed, though his mind, body, and soul were all evidently scarred by this incident. [101]

Secret Invasion [ ]

The disturbed Iron Man, having received the Skrull Elektra 's corpse, summoned the other five Illuminati members to discuss the Skrull threat. The Illuminati were caught by surprise when the Black Bolt attending the meeting revealed himself to be a Skrull and attacked. Strange teleported the four of them out of there. The five Illuminati members then each went his own separate way, realizing that they had lost far more than just a world: they had lost their ability to trust. The Illuminati was essentially no more. [102]

Before the Skrull invasion was fully underway, Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum had been invaded by the crime syndicate of the super-villain the Hood , prompting Strange to use of darker magic than normal. This lapse prompted him to temporarily depart this plane to heal himself and to reflect on his worthiness to be Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. [103] Strange had lost both his mastery of the Mystic Arts and the Sanctum Sanctorum. [104]

Doctor Strange returned to Greenwich Village once more to combat a stampede from the Dream Realm , though he himself admitted he was in no shape to do battle with the beasts unleashed, due to his hands still being broken and his mystical energies at an all-time low. Daimon Hellstrom used hellfire to destroy Nightmare's beasts. [105]

Doctor Strange: Fallen

Dark Reign [ ]

A Doctor Strange from an earlier time period appeared (wearing the dark masked costume he had worn long ago to conceal his identity) with the other three original Defenders to engage his longtime rival Mordo, allied with Terrax , Tiger Shark , and Red Hulk . Two of the Elders of the Universe , the Grandmaster and the Collector had made a bet involving the teams of the original Defenders, for the Grandmaster, clashing with the newly formed team of Offenders , for the Collector. Strange had to work with his allies to fend off the sinister foursome if he was to save the life of Clea. Though Strange was eventually slain by the Red Hulk, Galactus defeated the Red Hulk, and the Collector decided to undo the deaths brought about. [106]

Doctor Strange was met by Thor, who told him of his need to heal Mjolnir . Strange summoned magics to pass through Thor, carrying away the Odinpower from him, and deposited it in Mjolnir. When it was done, the hammer was whole once more. [107]

Strange contacted Wiccan to find out if he was the one destined to be the next Sorcerer Supreme. He offered to make Wiccan his apprentice. After the Hood's demonic form approached them, Strange confronted Parker. The Hood was acting on the orders of the Dread Dormammu to slay Strange, and thus claim Strange's former role of Sorcerer Supreme. Dormammu had bestowed upon him the ability to locate Strange if Strange utilized magic. Strange teleported himself and Wiccan away, reaching the New Avengers and pleading for their aid. [104]

Ex-Master of the Mystic Arts

Strange and the New Avengers joined forces to combat the Hood and Dormammu. They followed the Eye of Agamotto to New Orleans to contact Daimon Hellstrom before the Hood could destroy him to prevent him from possibly rising to Strange's lost role. They struggled against the might of Dormammu, until Brother Voodoo , having been granted the power and gifts of the office of Sorcerer Supreme by the Eye of Agamotto and the Ancient One's spirit, intervened and confronted Dormammu himself, passing the initiation and dispelling him. [108] Though Strange did not escape the battle entirely unscathed, he retained the power to manipulate magic (though to a far lesser extent) while he was apparently redeemed in his own eyes somewhat to observe the new Doctor Voodoo battle supernatural menaces. [ citation needed ]

Heroic Age [ ]

When Agamotto was cast out of the Vishanti and had most of his powers stripped from him, he attacked the New Avengers in order to reclaim the Eye of Agamotto from Doctor Voodoo as it was the only artifact that could defeat him. Jericho used the Eye to defeat Agamotto, but the Eye was destroyed, and his life was lost in the process. Doctor Strange rejoined the New Avengers. He remained with them through the events of Fear Itself and the return of Norman Osborn 's Dark Avengers . He stood with the Avengers against the X-Men when the Phoenix Force returned to Earth, serving ably even without the full array of powers he had previously commanded. [ citation needed ]

Daniel Drumm , who had vowed revenge on Strange for the death of his brother, attacked the New Avengers shortly after Avengers vs. X-Men , when the team was distracted by Luke Cage 's announcement that he and his wife were stepping down. Drumm used his abilities to possess others to sow chaos, implicating Strange in the murders of Victoria Hand and Daimon Hellstrom. He eventually possessed the Avengers and New Avengers, using their abilities in his attempt to kill Strange. Stephen had to appeal to dark magic to defeat Drumm and save his friends. Afterward, the Ancient One appeared on the battlefield and commended Strange for saving the others without harming them, for using dark magic without losing control, and for continuing to act as hero and defender of the world. He restored Strange to his former position as Sorcerer Supreme and gave him the artifacts of the office, the Eye of Agamotto and the Cloak of Levitation , once again. [109]

Incursions [ ]

Shortly after becoming Sorcerer Supreme again, Strange was called upon for a meeting of the Illuminati once again. The Black Panther had experienced an event known as an "incursion" in which two universes collide with each other with each universes Earth as the point of impact, and had called on the Illuminati to try and find a solution to the problem. [110] Another incursion followed shortly after, and the Illuminati decided to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet to stop it, and Stephen supplied his gem. Captain America wielded the Gauntlet and managed to avert the incursion, but the Gauntlet was destroyed in the process. Due to his unwillingness to do whatever it took to stop the incursions, such as considering the destruction of another world to save their own, Captain America was voted out of the Illuminati and Stephen erased his memories of it. [111]

Infinity [ ]

When Thanos sent off his Cull Obsidian to Earth to target each of the Illuminati's members, Ebony Maw approached Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum to find what his leader sought. [112] Ebony Maw was able to influence Doctor Strange into telling him what he wanted. [113] The villain also used the Doctor to launch an attack on New York, forcing him to summon Shuma-Gorath from the ground. [114]

When each member of the Illuminati dispersed and searched for Thanos' Inhuman son it was the Doctor who found him. However, Maw wiped Strange's mind of his findings and kept his location to himself. [115] The search was interrupted by another incursion and Strange and the rest of the Illuminati traveled to the other universe, where they encountered the Builders of that universe, who revealed to Stephen and the Illuminati that his memories and mind had been manipulated. Upon returning, Stephen joined the Illuminati in liberating their headquarters at the Necropolis from Thanos' forces. [116]

Post-Infinity [ ]

Tired of watching others make choices while he did nothing, Dr. Strange resolved to use the full resources at his disposal as Sorcerer Supreme to find a way to stop the Incursions. Calling on the power of a tome of the darkest of black magics; the Blood Bible, Stephen traveled to the Sinner's Market in the mystic dimension, the Lost Lands , on a quest to find power. He was led to the Resolute Throne , where he sought to make a deal. The Throne deals in degrees of godhood, with a fifth of a man's soul buying him a fifth of the power of a god. There, Stephen made a deal to sell the entirety of his soul. [117] For a brief moment he tasted the power he sought, only for it to be yanked away, as the Throne declared him a bankrupt liar. He could not purchase the power he sought, since he lacked the full measure of a soul. [118]

Time Runs Out [ ]

Following an incursion that pitted the Illuminati against the heroes of the Great Society , Strange used the dark arts to unleash an eldtrich horror. The creature killed the Great Society, but before it could destroy their world he was knocked out by Iron Man , afraid of what Strange was conjuring. The Illuminati quarrelled over what to do next, and the arguments turned bloody after Namor took the matter out of their hands and destroyed the Great Society's Earth. When another incursion followed immediately after, the Illuminati resigned themselves to meet their ends. [119] [120]

Thirty seconds before the destruction of his world, Stephen Strange left Earth-616 and joined the cause of the Black Priests , having mastered the way in which they manifest their power to distort reality. He and the other Black Priests were encountered by Sunspot's Avengers in their way to find the responsible for the decay of the Multiverse and offered their help to defeat either of the two main players in this "Game of Worlds": Rabum Alal or the Ivory Kings. [13]

While the Multiversal Avengers went to confront the Ivory Kings, Strange went to Earth-1903990 with the Black Priests to utilize a Great Key that activated a doorway to gain access to the Library of Worlds to defeat Rabum Alal. They explored the Library of Worlds and encountered a Black Swan . The Swans were able to set a trap and destroy most of the Black Priests, with the exception of Doctor Strange, who was able to defend himself but was ultimately incapacitated. He was then brought before Rabum Alal, who was revealed to be Doctor Doom of Earth-616. [121]

Doom informed Strange of his origins as Rabum Alal and revealed his ultimate plan to defeat them: the different Molecule Men he had captured. In a last-ditch attempt to save the Multiverse, Doom took Strange and the Molecule Men to confront the Beyonders. [122] He was able to destroy them and harness all of their power using the regular Molecule Man as a conduit. [123] However, Doom's accomplishment cost the death of thousands of universes, leaving only a dozen. [122]

Secret Wars [ ]

When the Multiverse finally perished in the final incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610 , [124] Doom used the power of the Beyonders to salvage the remains of several realities and build a patchwork planet named Battleworld , which was ruled under his iron fist, with the help of Doctor Strange, who became Battleworld's sheriff and Doom's right hand, usually acting as Doom's voice in certain matters. [125]

Sheriff Strange to the left of God Emperor Doom

As eight years went by, Doom and Strange managed to twist the memories of their inhabitants, to the point they would no longer remember what had existed before Battleworld. Stephen created his own base, the Isle of Agamotto , a place of remembrance of his lost world. Five years after the creation of Battleworld, Strange found a vessel of unknown origin and kept it in the Isle, fearing something of great consequence was inside it, but not knowing it was the bodies of the few other survivors of Earth-616 in stasis. [125]

With the appearance of a similar vessel from which the survivors of Earth-1610 came out, [15] Strange directed his attention towards the one he kept on his own. Once he opened it, he freed the survivors, among which were Mr. Fantastic and Black Panther. After explaining to the fellow survivors what had transpired while they were in stasis, [125] Strange was summoned to a battle between the villainous survivors from Earth-1610 and the Thor Corps , Battleworld's police force. Doom remained unwilling to take part of the conflict until he saw Mr. Fantastic in the scene, he immediately teleported to Utopolis, and stopped the fray, demanding the newcomers to recognize his authority. To prevent Doom from prejudicially acting upon the interlopers, Stephen used his magic to teleport them away. Following the disappearance of the villains from Earth-1610 and the heroes from Earth-616, Doom confronted Strange for disobeying him and ultimately killed him after Stephen accused him of being afraid of Richards. [126]

Last Days of Magic [ ]

Following Doom's fall during which Mr. Fantastic acquired his power and rebuilt the Multiverse, Reed resurrected Doctor Strange, with his memories of Battleworld erased. [127] With a new lease on life, Strange continued protecting the normal world from magical threats. He would soon find himself challenged by the biggest threat to magic yet, the Empirikul , worshippers of science led by the Imperator , a being from another dimension hellbent on destroying magic throughout the different planes of existence of the universe. [128] The effects of the Empirikul's crusade, which consisted of killing Sorcerers Supremes and destroying magic energies, was felt in Strange's dimension in the form of failing spells or magical creatures acting strangely. [20]

Strange, Zelma, and Wong

The Empirikul eventually arrived at the Earth , attacking several magical landmarks and defeating magic users. [129] Strange himself was defeated, even after channeling all of Earth's magic in an attempt to subdue the Imperator, as a consequence of this, the Earth was depleted of most of its magic. [130] Only the intervention of old sorcerer Monako allowed Strange and his colleagues to escape from being burned alive in the front of the Sanctum Sanctorum. [131]

After traveling around the globe finding objects that contained the last traces of magic, Strange and the other magic users, including the Scarlet Witch, Magik , and Doctor Voodoo, [132] Strange returned to the Sanctum Sanctorum, which was still being raided by the Empirikul, to defeat the Imperator. [133] Strange joined forces with the Thing in the Cellar , a magical creature who was created from all of the pain Stephen suffered when using magic, and managed to defeat the inquisitors. [133]

During this time, Strange met Zelma Stanton , who was around for the entire battle against the Empirikul, and afterwards became Strange's librarian. [134] [135]

Magic eventually started to rekindle, and Doctor Strange began re-creating spells with the help of the Zelma [136] and began repairing the destroyed Sanctum Sanctorum with the help of Wong. During this time, Strange had a day-long encounter with his estranged wife, Clea, who wanted an official magical divorce, hoping that doing so would remove some magic burden from Stephen and allow him to tap into his full potential with the little power he had left. She even crafted a magical document that, when torn, would nullify any magical contract, but they ended up using it to tame a monster that was threatening Wong. With that taken care of, Stephen told Clea that he was not ready to annul their marriage and, therefore, the two remained connected, but as friends. [135] Afterwards, he helped the Punisher defeat a crackpot menace who was trying to use magical artifacts to cleanse New York City of foreigners by summoning a giant demonic leviathan. [137]

Loki: Sorcerer Supreme [ ]

Believing that Strange wasn't ready for the looming threats that were going to endanger the Earth, Loki targeted Stephen with the objective to prepare him. To this end, he tricked Strange with an elaborate illusion in which the Vishanti bequeathed the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme to the God of Mischief. [138] Stephen handed over to Loki all of his magical possessions, including the Sanctum Sanctorum. With his medical license revoked since he had stopped practicing, Stephen opted to open a veterinary clinic. [139] He also acquired a talking basset hound called 'Bats' . [140]

Void possesses Doctor Strange

Strange decided to soon oppose Loki after learning his successor was searching for a powerful spell called the Exile of Singhsoon, which Stephen had hidden inside Zelma's soul for safekeeping from anyone, including himself. After a confrontation with Loki resulted in Bats' accidental death, Strange decided to make preparations to for his second fight with Loki. [140] With the Sentry 's help, Strange gained power from Yggdrasill , [141] and used it to best Loki. However, Zelma cast a spell that canceled out all forms of magic for a few minutes in an attempt to have them reach a middle ground, but Loki used his natural godly superhuman strength to knock Strange out. Strange turned the tables when he unleashed the Void from the depths of the Sanctum Sanctorum. [142]

While possessing Stephen's body, the Void revealed the location of the Exile of Singhsoon. Loki excised it from Zelma and used it to consolidate all of Earth's striving magic into himself. He first separated Stephen from the Void, and then used the power boost to jump-start magic itself all over Earth, so to provide a temporary fix to the Empirikul's ravaging, his true objective behind his search for the spell. Strange and Loki joined forces and locked the Void back into the Sanctorum. When the dust settled, Loki saw himself forced to reveal his ploy regarding the Vishanti's illusion and the passing of mantle. After disclosing his intentions behind the ploy, Loki relinquished his role as Sorcerer Supreme back to Strange. Before being teleported away, Loki apologized for Bats' death, revealing he had returned the hound as a spectre. [138]

Damnation [ ]

After Las Vegas was eradicated by the Hydra Helicarriers during the Hydra takeover , Doctor Strange used his reclaimed magic to resurrect the people who had died. However, Mephisto opposed Strange, since he had already claimed the souls of those people. Mephisto then orchestrated the events which causes his demons to bring Strange into his " Hotel Inferno ". After Mephisto claimed the last remnants of Las Vegas, before its restoration, and the Hotel started to affect the people, including Black Panther , Captain Marvel , Falcon , Hawkeye , and Thor , who were turned into Ghost Rider -like creatures. Doctor Strange then fought Mephisto in a game of blackjack, in which if Strange won Mephisto would release the souls of those people and return them to Las Vegas, or if Mephisto won he would claim Strange's soul. Doctor Strange won, however by cheating, which was discovered by Mephisto and had Strange tortured. [21] Wong was then contacted by the ghost of Strange's dead dog Bats , who told him to help Doctor Strange, and Wong in return then summoned Blade , Doctor Voodoo, Elsa Bloodstone , Johnny Blaze, Iron Fist, and Man-Thing who then reformed the Midnight Sons . [143] After Wong and Bat's ghost were separated from the Midnight Sons, they were then confronted by Doctor Strange's body now turned Ghost Rider, but Bat's ghost was able to possess Strange's body. [144]

Doctor Strange was then rescued by Scarlet Witch, Clea and Loki and assisted him in helping the Avengers fighting the demons. However, it was revealed to be all an illusion and that Clea was actually Captain Marvel posing as her in order to trick Strange. Thankfully, Strange's soul reunited his dog's ghost in the Realm Between along with Dormammu and the souls claimed by Mephisto, while he used their bodies. Strange then met the souls of the Avengers and managed to return their souls to their bodies. [145] He then assisted the Avengers and the Midnight Sons in fighting Mephisto and preventing him from returning to his throne, which claimed by Johnny. Doctor Strange was able to defeat Mephisto, but the demon went anyway to his realm and was again defeated by the different Ghost Riders and sent him back to Earth where he was trapped at the top of the hotel. Then Strange and the other heroes left the now normal Las Vegas, while Wong remained in order to keep Mephisto at bay. [146]

Sorcerer Supreme of the Galaxy [ ]

At some point, after an encounter with an Elder God X'axal , Strange began experiencing a magical withdrawal. This ultimately resulted in a complete burnout, rendering Stephen unable to tap into the Earth's magic supply. After a meeting with Tony Stark , Strange took to the stars in search for alternative sources of arcane powers. [147] Early in his journey, he became a prisoner on the planet Grynda , where he met a young arachnologist called Kanna and the two decided to roam the galaxy together after folding the Gryndans invasion plans. [148] Eventually, the two landed on Tarnax II where they've encountered the Super-Skrull experimenting on the newly-restored Time Stone . Strange took the Stone from the Skrulls and concealed it from Kanna, using a memory-wipe spell. [149]

Strange's new garb

During their journey, Strange and Kanna came into conflict with the Majesdanians , as they tried to save a dwarf from Nidavellir named Eoffren . At this point, Strange had recovered his connection to magic enough to summon the Cloak of Levitation back to his side. The rescue resulted in Kanna becoming the Majesdanian prisoner, as they were preparing to invade the Earth. To save her, Eoffren gifted Strange his own Mystic Forge and taught him the art of mystic craftsmanship. With a new suit and a new weapon, the Scalpel of Strange, Stephen teleported onto the Majesdanian ship, quickly dispatching of the crew and freeing Kanna. The two later stopped the launched Majesdanian missile from reaching Earth, by conjuring a colossal seal of the Vishanti to shield the planet. [150]

The Two Doctors [ ]

After successfully stopping the Majesdanian invasion, Strange and Kanna returned to Bleecker Street, where they encountered another Stephen Strange. In the ensuing battle it was revealed that the Strange that remained on Earth was a disguised Casey Kinmont . [151]

Herald Supreme [ ]

Strange was approached in the Sanctum Sanctorum by the alien sorcerer Zoloz , whose home planet of Zarax was under threat from Galactus . After finding Strange's advice unhelpful, he stole all of Strange's magical artifacts and used them to banish Galactus to another dimension. [152]

In this alternate dimension, Galactus began to devour magical creatures like the Misan-Ha-Gorath , which began to fuse the concepts of science and magic. To mitigate the damage inflicted, Strange became Galactus' herald, [153] but fell into a trap laid by Dormammu and Mephisto to make Galactus their minion, [154] but Galactus was too powerful for Dormammu to control and consumed him.

Strange, Zoloz, and Strange's estranged wife, Clea , then assembled an army of magical and galactic-level heroes to battle Galactus, [155] but this was all secretly a suicide mission to have Galactus consume all of them so he would reach critical mass and be easier to destroy. [156] This also destroyed the entire universe, which Strange recreated with the help of Eternity and the Living Tribunal .

Strange made it so that he had imprisoned Zoloz until he was able to convince him to save his planet by becoming Galactus's herald. After this, he was confronted by Mephisto, who made him pay for his help by erasing himself from Clea's memories. [157]

Death of Doctor Strange [ ]

One day, Strange responded to a knock at his door late at night to find his old enemy Kaecilius , [158] who then attacked him and killed him with a dagger. Strange's body was later found by Zelma Stanton, Wong, and Doctor Voodoo. Baron Mordo also appeared and complained that someone robbed him of the chance to kill Strange. When extradimensional threats began overwhelming Earth due to Strange no longer maintaining a magical barrier that kept them at bay, a simulacrum Strange created in case something happened to him appeared and asked what year it was. [23]

His temporal duplicate later managed to resurrect him by using a regenerative healing spell on Kaecilius, who had foolishly given himself both Strange's soul and his hands, and he assisted his past counterpart in defeating the Three Mothers and Peregrine Child . This resurrection, however, would not last as Death chose to reclaim his soul. Before he disintegrated, Stephen told Clea (who'd regained her memories) that he was a fool for ever letting her go and made her the new Sorcerer Supreme, claiming there was no one else he could trust. [24]

Death's Servant [ ]

Stephen was given a chance by Death to be returned to life if he succeeded in stopping the Blasphemy Cartel from bringing back dead superhumans. Calling himself the Harvestman , Stephen clashed several times with Clea, before she figured out who he was. After the reveal, Clea was heartbroken about the pretense, but after hearing that he didn't want her to have hope in case he failed the mission, Clea calmed down and started plotting how to help him. [159]

Doctor Strange unleashing the might of his mystic forces

Sorcerer : Dr. Strange possesses a vast mastery of the mystic arts; his primary magical patrons are a group of entities known as "the Vishanti." The Vishanti are a trinity of godly beings comprised of Agamotto , Hoggoth , and Oshtur . Although he has, on rare occasions, called upon the power of demons such as Dormammu ; Strange more frequently did so before he realized Dormammu's true dark nature in the earlier issues. He has once stated that he can kill a mortal with the mere twitch of a finger. [ citation needed ]

• Infinite Longevity/Fearlessness : Dr. Strange's lifespan has been extended and his fear of dying subsided in a manner similar to that of his mentor the Ancient One , due to a successful contest against Death . Though he can still be killed and even physically wounded, he cannot succumb to any medical diseases, nor does he age. However, he still requires food, water, oxygen, and sleep, the same as a normal human. Strange passed a test by the Ancient One and defeated Death, or more accurately, accepted Death. [160] As a result, from that moment forward, Doc stopped aging. "Death may come only from without, in battle-- and not from within." The Ancient One had once passed the same test himself and lived 600 years. From that moment forward, a glowing ankh appears on Doc's forehead when he is in a situation of great danger and his death is imminent, "when Strange most needs a reaffirmation of life." [31]
• Energy Blasts / Mystic Bolts : [161] [21] [162] Capable of destroying moons and planets. He has once destroyed an entire dimension using the Eye of Agamotto
• Astral Projection : Doctor Strange can release his astral form from his body, instantaneously and at will. In this form he does not need to breathe, eat, drink or sleep, is unrestricted by physical laws (for example, Strange has flown beyond Earth's atmosphere, defying gravity with ease to speak with Iron Man), is invisible (though can be seen by any if he wished it so), intangible, and incapable of being harmed by all but the most powerful and rigorous of mystic means. As physical laws are meaningless on the astral plane, Strange is able to use it to traverse at virtually any speed desirable (Strange has reached to St. Louis, Missouri from his Sanctum Sanctorum in Greenwich Village, New York in "a few brief seconds" thus, [163] as well as traveling at the "speed of thought" through outer space. [164] )
• Banishment : Dr. Strange has banished many types of creatures and humans to other dimensions, but the extent of this is only possible as long as the 'Banish-ers' magic is greater than that of the 'Banish-ees' magic during the banishment. [ citation needed ]
• Conjuring of Objects [ citation needed ]
• Transmutation: Dr. Strange has showcased the ability to molecularly alter and convert an object into another of his choosing using spells.' [ citation needed ]
• Telepathy : Dr. Strange can psychically communicate and read minds These abilities can be amplified by mystic energy (as against Moondragon ) and/or the Eye of Agamotto (done countless times) to afford Stephen incredibly powerful psychic abilities. [165] He has been able to telepathically overpower Scarlet Witch via the Eye of Agamotto, as well as defeat Moondragon in a mental battle
• Telekinesis : Dr. Strange can mentally manipulate his environment through the use of psionics without physically interacting with it. However, it is much more common for Strange to rely on magical manipulation rather than psionic. [ citation needed ]
• Flight : Doctor Strange can fly using magical energy but has since abandoned it. (Presumably choosing to rely on the Cape of Levitation instead.) [ citation needed ]
• Protective Shields : Using the being Seraphim , as well as the Eye of Agamotto, Dr. Strange can shield himself or his allies. Doctor Strange is so powerful that his energy shields can even protect him from the full power of a supernova (which he created), [166] as well as planetary destruction
• Hypnotism [ citation needed ]
• Illusions : Dr. Strange has the ability to magically create illusions and cause others to experience things that aren't real, using spells to do so. [ citation needed ]
• Intangibility : Dr. Strange has the ability to become invisible or near invisible and phase through solid material. [ citation needed ]
• Time Manipulation : Strange has frozen, slowed, and traveled through time. This magic is enacted only through extreme concentration. [167]
• Elemental Manipulation: Dr. Strange can manipulate and control the elemental forces. [ citation needed ]
• Teleportation : Dr. Strange can teleport himself and others to any place of his choosing through the use of magic. It is also stated he can move at the "speed of thought" through his astral form. [ citation needed ]
• Dimensional Travel : In addition to his ability to teleport across a single plane, Dr. Strange has also showcased the ability to travel between dimensional planes and access alternate dimensions. For example, he was able to willingly travel to the Dark Dimension. [ citation needed ]
• Universal Awareness : By performing meditation, Dr. Strange has sensed anomalies in time and space, allowing him to protect against time travelers, extra-dimensional invaders (Example: |Dormammu , Nightmare ), and other extraterrestrial threats. [ citation needed ]
• Various other spells : These spells seem to be quicker to perform but lesser in power than spells using divine energy. Strange has used his magics altogether to alter his clothing through something akin to minor molecular control, control and manipulate elements, matter manipulation, soul manipulation, warping reality, absorbing magic, time manipulation, magic sleep, etc.
• Dr. Strange has also been shown to amass as much wealth/gold as he desires using magic, as he has done to pay debts he owed. [ citation needed ]

The Words: Doctor Strange has become an expert in the Black Priests 's ability to use language to distort reality, becoming even more capable than the Black Priests themselves in a short amount of time. Each "word" is a symbol which means "something." The addition of another symbol can change the meaning of that "something." Doctor Strange stated this method to be akin to replacement cipher . This way, he can distort the reality in different ways, depending how many symbols are said and in which order. Some of the features achieved by the use of Words include:

• Energy Blasts [168]
• Pyrokinesis [168]
• Cryokinesis [13]
• Organic Disintegration [168]
• Paralysis [13]
• Reality Warping
• Chaos Magic

Divine Sources: Dr. Strange can channel the extra-dimensional energy of mystical and non-mystical beings in multiple dimensions (known as Principalities) to empower his spells. This can take the form of standard spells ("Crimson Bands of Cyttorak ") or just state what he wants to occur and channeling some being to make it happen. It is unknown at this time what debt, if any, he incurs by invoking the powers that be. There is no strict quid pro quo (as the simple acknowledgment and invoking of the entity increases the entity's own powers, inexplicably), though some entities will feel he is obliged to heed their call when they need help in their conflicts as did the Vishanti . This ability to be a conduit to multiversal power sources has given rise to the phrase "Dr. Strange is as powerful as the god he invokes." Doctor Strange's powers typically come from one of three divine sources: The Vishanti (a trinity formed of Hoggoth , Oshtur , and Agamotto ), the Octessence (a group of eight beings, consisting of Balthakk, Cyttorak, Farallah, Ikonn, Krakkan, Raggadorr, Valtorr, and Watoomb) and other beings who owe him a debt (this includes Satannish and even Dormammu ). However, certain abilities of his stem from more obscure sources, such as the Faltine, the Seraphim, Cinnibus, Sheol, Ikthalon, Denak, Cyndriarr, Munnopor, Morpheus, Dyzakk, the Olympian deities (such as Poseidon and Hades) and others. [ citation needed ]

Darkness of the Divine Conduit (Black Magic): By sheer force of will "take" the power of another entity. This does not require the use of a spell. He used this ability against Arioch and Shuma-Gorath. The fact that Stephen can do this is a testament to his incredible willpower and strength of mind. This is considered black magic and as such he rarely employs this. Also, when taking the powers of celestial entities, he absorbs the mind and assumes their duties and roles in the dimension in which they exist. If his will falters, he can lose all sense of self. [ citation needed ]

Although Dr. Strange primarily uses spells that are considered 'white magic', he will use spells from other disciplines such as black magic, elemental magic, and catastrophe magic when necessary. [ citation needed ]

Dr. Strange's powers are all mystical but take several forms. Main manifestations include:

• It is said that he cannot use magic that can replicate anything discovered by human science. [169]
• By force of will, Dr. Strange can "take" the power of another entity. This does not require the use of a spell. He uses this ability against Captain Universe as well as against Arioch and Shuma-Gorath in Strange Tales (Vol. 2) . Strange also uses this to drain the Wrecking Crew of the Asgardian magic they had been infused by Karnilla , though this causes him great mental agony and takes a long time. This is considered black magic and as such, he rarely employs this. Also, when taking the powers of entities, he can absorb their mind and assume their duties and roles in the dimension in which they exist. But, if his will falters, he can lose all sense of self. [ citation needed ]
• Dr. Strange also became proficient in Black Magic under the tutelage of Kaluu, including using the necromantic energy released in death for various effects. After he purged Shuma-Gorath from himself, he has since stopped using black magic. [170]
• For a brief period, research from the Vishanti library led Strange to tap into "catastrophe magic" by invoking a mystical alignment of all the planets, but this source of magic was limited, and he ceased using it specifically as a source of his power. [ citation needed ]
• Strange's magical powers at their greatest peak exceeds that of even the Watcher Uatu and rivals that of other great beings, such as Galactus or Celestials . [ citation needed ]

Former Expert Surgeon/Surgical Consultant: Strange holds an M.D. in neurosurgery and was once considered one of the foremost experts in his field. However, the nerve damage he suffered in his car crash severely compromised the manual dexterity in his hands, preventing him from performing surgery except when temporarily supplemented by magic.

Even without magic, Strange retains his medical knowledge. He still practices medicine, [171] was the Illuminati's surgeon, [111] and can guide other less skilled, yet un-maimed surgeons through intense effort, and is still capable of serving as a consultant. [ citation needed ]

Expert Occultist & Magical Knowledge: During his studies which continued until recently Dr. Strange has gain expert awareness on cults and the extra-dimensional entities they worship, this knowledge as of yet far exceeds any on Earth in the Marvel Universe. [ citation needed ]

Expert Strategist: Though Stephen seems to suffer from an impulsive nature, instinctively jumping into situations of life-or-death, it's apparent that he works best this way possessing considerable strategic skills, which has been employed in leadership structures, and spontaneous situations, all of which is a necessity in the random environment of Mysticism. [ citation needed ]

Science-Based Weakness: It has been said Strange's power is weaker against strictly science-based opponents. [ citation needed ]

Incantations and Gestures Dependency: Strange also depends on spoken incantations, mystical gesturing, and his arcane artifacts in his duties; likely these can be counted as weaknesses. Strange has been incapacitated various times by being gagged and bound, preventing him from uttering arcane invocations or performing mystic gestures. The Hulk breaking his hands greatly crippled his magic ability. [101]

Human Factor: Another weakness is that Strange, despite all his spells and magical training, is only human physically. Hence, if not taking proper care or defenses, Strange can be overpowered by mere blows, energy attacks, or gas. While technically immortal per se, he still must eat, sleep and breathe in order to survive. [ citation needed ]

Astro-Limits: Such is the skill and mastery of Doctor Strange that he is capable of spending up to 24 hours upon the astral plane before he must rejoin his ethereal form with his physical one, lest succumb to corporeal deterioration leading to bodily death and eternal suspension as a spirit. [44] The physical form remains in an inert, death-like trance, vulnerable to both physical and magical forms of harm while the astral form is absent. If harm were to befall his physical form while he was in his astral form, he would be stranded in his wraith-like state. Though Strange has only his personal abilities in his astral form, the Ring of the Ancient One/Ring (of Full Power) can grant him access to the same resources he possesses in his physical body; however, certain writers and editors appear to have portrayed Strange in an astral form capable of feats beyond his personal abilities even without the Ring. [ citation needed ] According to Baron Mordo, the intense atomic radiation of the sun's core can change the composition of astral forms. [173]

Magic-Induced Physical Changes: A fact not known by many people is that the use of magic takes a physical toll on its user. During his first lessons, Stephen vomited for three days straight because of this. As years went by, Strange's body changed so much his stomach can't even accept human food and can only ingest that which would kill a normal person. [174]

Paraphernalia

• Normally wears the Cloak of Levitation , the Eye of Agamotto , and the Orb of Agamotto . He possesses a wide array of arcane texts, artifacts, and relics.

Strange's own power is often amplified by the numerous magical artifacts that are in his possession or by artifacts that he uses in the course of his adventures. The three artifacts he carries with him at all times are the Eye of Agamotto, the Cloak of Levitation , and the yellow sash tied around his waist. At one point, due to his evoking Zom 's dark power, he deemed himself no longer worthy of the office of Sorcerer Supreme and passed the responsibility of choosing the next one to the spirit of the Ancient One; Strange loses at least his principal magical items and old costume to Brother Voodoo , the new Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth dimension and prime reality, but after recovering his office they have been recovered.

• The Eye of Agamotto (which resides within the Amulet of Agamotto worn at Dr. Strange's throat) is a powerful and valued artifact that has many functions. Using the Eye, Strange can see through any lie, deception, or illusion, send the eye out at light speed to intercept and absorb massive amounts of any type of energy and free others who are trapped in their own illusions. It is often used to amplify his mind's eye, giving psychic abilities that rival the most powerful of telepaths. It is also often used to play back an area's past events, lift beings weighing thousands of pounds into the air telekinetically, and open dimensional portals, as well as placing beings in suspended animation. The Eye can track beings by their psychic or magical emissions. The light given off by the Eye also weakens a variety of evil mystical beings, such as demons, devils, undead beings, dark extra dimensional entities, and even sufficiently corrupt human practitioners of dark magic. When used offensively, no being can withstand its light for long; due to its lethal effect, it is often used as a weapon of last resort. The Eye appears to be dimensionally linked to the Orb of Agamotto, and is presented to the current Sorcerer or Sorceress Supreme to aid them in their great duties. The amulet can only be used by a being with a pure heart and a clean soul.
• The Cloak of Levitation allows him to fly (at roughly 25 miles per hour for indeterminate lengths of time), and responds to his thoughts. Strange has used it many times as a "third set of hands" to attack a foe when his own body has been incapacitated. The Cloak is nearly indestructible, often escaping damage during even the most violent confrontations. The cloak has acted independently from Strange as though it has a will of its own, as well as being quasi-sentient to some degree. The cloak has been nearly destroyed on at least three occasions:
• Strange Tales (vol. 1) #157 — During a battle with Zom at Stonehenge . Strange was able to reconstruct it in a display of power to prove to The Living Tribunal that Strange was worthy to set right the cosmic events recently unleashed
• Doctor Strange vol. 2, #77 — During a battle with the demon Khat while Strange was in the slow decline of his white-magical powers. The cloak was repaired by Enitharmon the Weaver, the former master of Strange's second apprentice, Rintrah. While the damage to the Cloak on this occasion was not as severe as previously, Strange was unable to repair it himself
• The third instance is convoluted. During his attempt to garner a new power-base for himself, after foregoing the powers and protections of the Vishanti, Strange went underground to create his new power forge, and when he was finished he was rejuvenated, younger-looking and wearing a new costume (including a mystical black body suit) and he had transformed the Cloak into something more resembling a Kimono or robe [177] however, soon he was drafted into the War of the Seven Spheres by the Vishanti. After battling for five thousand years in another dimension, Strange was returned to Earth (at a time mere months from when he was spirited away) a tattered shambles. [178] His magical abilities depleted and his new Robe/Cloak shredded. He soon incorporated elements of the cloak into what would be called the "Overcoat of Levitation"; a red trench coat with the Cloak's gold trim along the collar. He soon returned, however, to his traditional Cloak.
• The Sash of Dr. Strange, worn around Strange's waist, this enchanted yellow sash can be extended ten times its normal length. [40]
• The Orb of Agamotto , a large crystal ball which he uses daily to monitor the surrounding dimensions and his own world for trouble;
• The Wand of Watoomb , which amplifies his power and absorbs mystical energy that can be utilized for a variety of effects, such as reopening dimensional portals and firing mystic bolts; a power-item that can be divided into two separate, though powerless, parts, and can restructure reality itself when combined with other mystical objects (Currently lost in another reality due to the meddling of Warren Traveler of the House of M )
• The Book of the Vishanti , which contains some of the multiverse's most powerful and secret spells and counterspells for white magic, opposed to the dark arts of the Darkhold
• The Yggdrasil Staff , a wooden staff forged from Yggdrasil that greatly boosts his magic power but also risks damaging his body. [179]

He owns countless other artifacts he can bring out in times of need. Among them include:

• The Hands of the Dead , a highly powerful item created fifteen centuries ago, that allows Strange and others to "enter the tides of time and space, travel the world in the blink of an eye, even be in several places at the same time" though can be damaging to one's non-material self if unused to such travel; used for Peter Parker in One More Day
• The Atlantean Dreamwave , used by Strange to explore the nightmares of John Blaze
• The Book of Demonicus , used by Strange to gain information on Avarrish.
• The Book of Eibon , during the days of Hyperborea, about 750,200 years ago, it was the time of the wizard Eibon, greatest wizard of Hyperborea. He wrote his knowledge down in what became known to mankind as 'the Book of Eibon'. Over the millennia the Book of Eibon was owned by many sorcerers and collectors. It came into the hands of the Ancient One at one time, who passed the book on to his disciple Dr. Stephen Strange, who considers it one of his most treasured artifacts, though stolen by Urthona, yet was restored by Agamotto
• The Brazier of Bom'Galiath , used by Strange to enable Eric Masterson to travel to Mephisto's Hell
• The Tome of Oshtur , an ancient book of long-lost spells written by Oshtur
• The Serum of the Seraphim , an all-purpose elixir capable of curing both mystic and non-mystic ailments, described as "the most potent medicine known to the occult"; the serum is so powerful that only a few ounces are needed. It is usually kept in tiny ornate containers holding just a few ounces. Any being drinking this serum is instantly returned to his full health and has all of his wounds healed. Any magical fungus, physical curses (like blindness), or diseases are held in check, then slowly cured over a few days time; either Strange has run out of the Serum recently or its powers have limits: it could not be used apparently to heal Wong's brain cancer or mend Strange's shattered hands
• The Scrolls of Watoomb , a precious source of magical knowledge written by Watoomb in an unidentified past, giving their user quicker and safer control over the Winds of Watoomb, as well as a greater power to the Winds; the Scrolls also increased the power of the sorcerer wielding them
• The Ring of the Ancient One , which can be used to allow Doctor Strange to do anything he is capable of in physical form while astrally projecting, as well as to take on the form of the Ancient One himself
• The Crystal of Kadavus - The Crystal is a fist-sized, diamond-like gemstone that is cut to resemble a skull. When using the proper incantation and exposing it to the light of a full moon, it focuses dimensional forces. When this focused beam is aimed at a magical item it is completely restored to full power, even if the item had previously been drained of its magic powers or “destroyed”. This procedure must be repeated for at least two nights of the full moon before the item is restored to full power. The Crystal has been used to restore or contain the power of the Wand of Watoomb.
• The Eye of Zartra , an enchanted "eldritch gem" plucked by Prince Namor from the Sword of Kamuu (thus halving its power) and given as a token of friendship to Strange; enhances the power of the ancient Atlantean Sword of Kammu and provides the Sword's user with immunity to magic
• The Cauldron of the Cosmos , kept in the Meditation Chamber and allowing Strange to "dwell upon the immutable mysteries of the universe" for hours, used basically for consultation and scrying
• The Oculus Oroboros - The Oculus Oroboros is one of the most powerful, maybe 'the' most powerful conduit for elemental magick ever; gathers elemental magical energy and stores it to be used again at will. For centuries it was hidden for the senses of magicians by a cloaking spell, till the day that archaeologist disturbed it, and it was resurfaced again. The Oculus was collected by Strange's ethereal construct Strange during the time that he was searching for amulets of Earthbound magick to fuel his new power source; depicts a snake eating its own tail.
• The Gaea Shard , a crystal containing a sliver of the essence of the Elder Goddess Gaea, wielded by Dr. Strange against the Undying Ones. [180]
• The Hand of the Vishanti , capable of locating others by helping them expel their ethereal form and given to Peter Parker in order for him to track down Shade through Peter entering the Astral Plane; this amulet has the appearance of a simple stone carving resembling a hand; the hand makes it easier to transfer towards the astral plane, and holds a link so the wielder can find its way back. [181]
• The Jewel of Transhypnosis , owned by the Ancient One, can teleport its wielder into another dimension by focusing their concentration upon it and has the power to transform matter into imagination.
• The Kartkuthi , a book held by Dr. Strange, one passage was read by Wong to liberate Strange's astral self when it had been trapped by a mystic sword of the Hand with which he had been impaled; Strange finished the spell to release his astral form and help the Avengers win the day by freeing Maya. [95]
• The Iris of the All-Seeing Oracle , a summoning tool kept in the Sanctum Sanctorum used to scry upon specific locations and persons; This 8 foot diameter, circular device, with what looks like a mirror in the middle, hangs in Doctor Strange's mansion. It is a secondary scrying device that Strange or his friends use when the Orb of Agamotto is inaccessible; the Iris allows two-way audio-visual communications with another mage of the user's choosing anywhere on Earth. One must know the proper incantation to use it.
• The Oracle of Agamotto , a backup device used by Doctor Strange after the Orb was broken and before Clea mended it
• The Orb of Snnnr , used by Dr. Strange to communicate with the Pitiful One. [182]
• Otkid's Elixir , an immensely powerful potion able to cure all diseases on Earth that "has the power to erase what troubles the mind of man"; stolen from Otkid by Dr. Strange, destroyed by Nicodemus West ; one drop was saved and used by Strange to cure Wong of brain cancer. [172]
• The Scroll of Eternity , kept for ages by the Aged Genghis (who gave it to Strange), it holds a spell that opens a gate to a mystic realm close to Eternity; it holds the name of Eternity and it can assume that the spell, when used properly, will indeed transport the caster to Eternity, but when only the slightest mistake is made, this spell will open a gate to a world ruled by a demon who is come to be known as the Demon in the Mask, the Realm of Eternal Madness
• The Sword of the Ultimate Shadow , a magical sword that is able to inflict great physical pain through the astral body, pain that cannot be stopped by mystical energies, even those as potent as the Shield of the Seraphim; once used by Strange's evil double from the Infinity War and is now again stored, protected by spells in his Sanctum Sanctorum.
• The Star of Capistan , a ruby larger than any other existent, its sentience and wicked will of its own corrupted Strange, yet the Sorcerer Supreme, with a Eye of Agamotto having failed him, and his participation in the Order weakening his own sanity, used the Star as his amulet instead; the Star was sensitive to human brainwaves on a global and possibly even cosmic scale; Strange reverted to the Eye shortly, with the Star's current whereabouts unknown, though it is likely hidden, in the Sanctum Sanctorum or elsewhere due to its lethal and sinister nature
• The Purple Gem , one of the many enchanted gems of power from the Purple Dimension of Aggamon passed down to Strange through the late Ancient One; a device to bridge the dimensions, it provides a means to enter (or become trapped in) the Purple Dimension, can amplify and focus the Eye of Agamotto's power, entrap an opponent, though ancient and cunning masters of Asgardian magic such as the god Loki resisted being sent to the Purple Dimension (or if he was actually sent there, he was able to return instantaneously under his own power) and the conjured portal was shattered by one gesture; said by Strange to have even greater hidden potential, and unlocks more of its vast power when used with a Dimensional Energy incantation that calls on Aggamon's strength.
• The Staff of Dravid , used by Doctor Strange in battle with Wandor.
• The Talisman of Abraxas , an amulet Doctor Strange gave to Namor the Sub-Mariner to palliate his personality shifts
• The Wands of Satannish , objects kept by Strange within the Nisanti cabinet
• The Diary of Kenneth Ward (who told Doctor Strange of his encounter with traces of the Undying Ones in a hidden Himalayan valley), kept by Strange in his Sanctum Sanctorum's library, containing the location of the valley. [183]
• Two mirrors, needed for a "radical spell" used to renew the enchanted barrier around the Sanctum Sanctorum
• A magic amulet given to him by the Ancient One in Strange's very first issue, Strange Tales Vol 1 110 , used to call upon his master even in spirit form to prevent a man from shooting him; the Ancient One placed a hypnotic spell on the man to stop him
• An enchanted deck of tarot cards known as the First Tarot Deck utilized by Doctor Strange with his subconscious mind after the original Defenders had disbanded, to choose the best heroes to handle the problem for the Secret Defenders ; the heroes would go each their separate ways after the problem was solved; the Deck was used by Ian McNee to profile magic and its users in the Marvel Tarot
• An magical amulet given to Eric Masterson by Strange to shield him from detection from the demons in Mephisto's Hell; lost in Hell
• Mystic ruby crystals given to Valkyrie by Doctor Strange to be used to “point the way” to the Hulk and Namor ; the crystals appear to flash with bright light when they are in proximity to either one, as well as spinning around in such a fashion its pointed edge points to whichever direction the Hulk and Namor is currently at
• Two Gems That Are One , magical jewels stolen from Dr. Strange by Urthona. [184]

Dr. Strange with the Soul Gem

As a result of being a member of the Illuminati, he has also come into possession of the Soul Gem of the Infinity Gauntlet , though he has sworn not to ever use it or to reveal its location, having lost since lost his soul to it, despite its hunger for such ethereal forces. Strange also once kept the Book of the Darkhold in his library of the Sanctum Sanctorum, using it to invoke the Montesi Formula and destroy all vampires in the Marvel Universe, as well as using it among his other items in an attempt to defeat Adam Warlock but it has since been removed. Strange was also in possession of the virtually indestructible sword Dragonfang , capable of destroying certain mystic barriers as well as absorbing magic when in contact with blood; Dragonfang was carved from the tusk of an extradimensional dragon by an Oriental wizard named Kahji-Da and fallen into the possession of the Ancient One , who in turn passed it down to his disciple, Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange then passed it onto Valkyrie; during the events of Ragnarok, she fell in battle and the sword got picked up by Lady Sif , lover of Thor, though Sif, too, eventually fell before Asgard's demise. Valkyrie has not yet been revived, as shown in Mystic Arcana .

A desperate Strange was forced to use a spell to destroy all his magical artifacts to prevent the wicked Urthona from obtaining them, even his Orb of Agamotto (though the Darkhold was unable to be destroyed even by Strange's magic). However, it is later revealed that Agamotto himself had teleported the artifacts to his own realm, and Strange later retrieved them from him, months later.

Dr. Strange shrunk his talismans and hid them behind the Eye of Agamotto. He restored them to their size when he was forced to confront the Infinity Gauntlet God-made Adam Warlock. The Scrolls of Watoomb were really useful to cancel the effects of the Gem of Space, the Winds of Watoomb recalled reading the Scrolls enabled Strange, Pip, and Gamora to cover a distance of light-years in few seconds. Shortly later, Strange had to use all the talismans to increase his own powers and match, even if only for a few moments, the power of Adam Warlock. After the fight, Strange went back home and put the scrolls and the other talismans in their right place in his room. [185]

Finally, his Sanctum Sanctorum, due to the magic imbued within it, can be thought of as an artifact itself. The Sanctum consistently has a circular window with three swooping lines; this design has stayed with the building despite the window's destruction on many occasions. The design is actually the Seal of the Vishanti found in the window of Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum; it protects the Sanctorum from most supernatural (and even most non-mystical) invaders, also called "Window of the Worlds," or the Anomaly Rue. [40] This seal has failed in barring out Hiroim the Shadow Priest, when he utilized the ancient power of the Shadow Elders (though Hiroim was not truly evil, but grieving and angered). Certain members of the New Avengers appear to acknowledge this, and Chemistro of the Hood's army, though possessing no such power to directly break that of the Vishanti 's, was able to change the chemical composition of the wood that held the seal to break it.

The Iron Mage

Scalpel of Strange : An enchanted sword that Stephen forged himself. It can tear holes in reality, allowing Stephen to teleport extremely long distances. [151]

Transportation

• Dr. Strange was the subject of a 1978 made-for-television film produced through Universal Television Studios and transmitted by the CBS Television Network, which starred Peter Hooten as Dr. Stephen Strange (described within as a young psychiatry resident rather than an experienced surgeon) alongside Clyde Kusatsu as Wong, with Anne-Marie Martin as Clea Lake; the film also co-starred John Mills as Thomas Lindmer (a character created specifically for the film) and Michael Ansara (who was not credited) as the voice of the Ancient One, and all acted versus Jessica Walter as the evil Morgan Le Fey. Philip DeGuere Jr., better known for creating and producing Simon & Simon, wrote and directed the said film. (The film's setting continuum is Earth-96173 .)
• The mansion where Dr. Strange lives, his Sanctum Sanctorum , is located at 177A Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village , New York City , New York which in this universe was the actual address of the apartment building in which the series writer at that time actually lived.

Marvel Value Stamp #13

• Doctor Mordrid (1992), a film starring Jeffrey Combs as the titular hero, was originally developed as a feature film by Full Moon Entertainment about Dr. Strange. However, rights to the character and name were lost, and the movie was reworked -- though fans of the comics character can easily see the similarities.
• Doctor Strange shares similar hand gesture with Spider-Man, who was also co-created by Steve Ditko , sticking out their thumb, pointing and pinky fingers. This was also acknowledged by the characters themselves in Spider-Man: Fever #3 .
• According to Araña , this is due to spider-magic existing before the occult. [187]
• Dr. Strange and the Fantastic Four are mentioned in the song Superbird on the album "Electric Music for the Mind and Body", by Country Joe and the Fish (Vanguard VSD 79244; released January 1967).
• Strange is also mentioned in Pink Floyd's song Cymbaline on the album "More" (released July 27, 1968), and in T. Rex song Mambo Sun on the album "Electric Warrior" (released September 1971).
• Dr. Strange appears on the cover of Pink Floyd's album A Saucerful of Secrets (released June 29, 1968), and on the covers of the Al Stewart albums Past Present and Future (levitating into a dimensional portal) and Modern Times .
• Allusions to Dr. Strange appear in Tom Wolfe's non-fiction book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968). Wolfe himself made a cameo appearance in Doctor Strange #180 (May 1969).
• In Jean-Luc Godard's film Sympathy for the Devil (1968), the camera pans across a Dr. Strange comic in the leftist bookstore.
• At the beginning of his run in Doctor Strange , when Stephen lost the title of Sorcerer Supreme to Loki, writer Donny Cates had him become a veterinarian as sort of an homage to the profession. Cates' cat Autumn had died shortly before he was assigned to Doctor Strange , and he looked up to the vets that had treated her before she ultimately passed away. Autumn's death additionally inspired that of Strange's friend, the talking dog Bats . [188]
• Stephen's blood type is B Positive. [189]
• Doctor Strange was the first one able to discover that the Black Suit Spider-Man had gotten after the Secret Wars , was alive and controlling Spider-Man. However, he didn't reveal this to anyone, since he promised the symbiote that he would keep its secret. [190]
• His alias as "Iron Mage", [3] might be reference to the character of the same name from Ptolus: City by the Spire from Dungeons & Dragons , which was adapted in comic book form by Marvel Comics.
• In Tarot #3 the two halves of Doctor Strange merged with the halves of Scarlet Witch and Silver Surfer to create Scarlet Strange and Doctor Surf .
• 1732 appearance(s) of Stephen Strange (Earth-616)
• 28 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Stephen Strange (Earth-616)
• 224 minor appearance(s) of Stephen Strange (Earth-616)
• 424 mention(s) of Stephen Strange (Earth-616)
• 33 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Stephen Strange (Earth-616)
• 1751 image(s) of Stephen Strange (Earth-616)
• 225 quotation(s) by or about Stephen Strange (Earth-616)
• 21 victim(s) killed by Stephen Strange (Earth-616)
• 135 item(s) used/owned by Stephen Strange (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Stephen Strange on Marvel.com
• Stephen Strange on Wikipedia.org
• Spells and Phrases
• Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum in 3D: http://www.marvel.com/videos/Dr._Strange%27s_Sanctum_San
• The Lesser Book of the Vishanti , a companion to Dr. Strange comics compiled by Catherine and Nagasiva Yronwode
• OHOTMU Marvel Knights 2005
• The Doctor Strange FAQ at NeilAlien.com .
• The Grand Comics Database
• Marvel.com's extensive Dr. Strange Bio
• Youngquist, Jeff, & Grünwald, Jennifer , eds., Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook (Marvel Publishing, 2006), p. 18 (unnumbered)
• Gallery of Dr. Strange Original Art
• Dr. Strange Gallery (Photon Torpedoes)
• Dr Strange: Curriculum Vitae of a Mad Scientist
• Stephen Strange at the Collinsport Ghost Society
• ↑ Micronauts #35
• ↑ Strange (Vol. 3) #1
• ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Savage Avengers #9
• ↑ Hulk (Vol. 2) #10
• ↑ Avengers (Vol. 8) #33
• ↑ 6.0 6.1 Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #11
• ↑ Ghost Rider (Vol. 9) #7
• ↑ New Avengers #37
• ↑ Marvel Comics Presents (Vol. 2) #1
• ↑ Defenders (Vol. 2) #5
• ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Doctor Strange: The Oath #2
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 2) #16.1
• ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #27
• ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 Defenders: Strange Heroes #1
• ↑ 15.0 15.1 Secret Wars #2
• ↑ 16.0 16.1 Doctor Strange #183
• ↑ Doctor Strange: The Oath #3 – 5
• ↑ Valkyrie: Jane Foster #8
• ↑ Savage Avengers #12
• ↑ 20.0 20.1 Doctor Strange (Vol. 4) #3
• ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Doctor Strange #386
• ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #9  ; Rintrah 's profile
• ↑ 23.0 23.1 Death of Doctor Strange #1
• ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Death of Doctor Strange #5
• ↑ 25.0 25.1 Strange (Vol. 3) #10
• ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 26.5 Strange Tales #115
• ↑ 27.0 27.1 Strange Tales #116
• ↑ Doctor Strange #176 's cover
• ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3
• ↑ Excalibur (Vol. 3) #14
• ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #45
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #40
• ↑ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #10
• ↑ 34.0 34.1 Strange Tales #114
• ↑ 35.0 35.1 Strange Tales #136
• ↑ Strange Tales #118
• ↑ Strange Tales #119
• ↑ Strange Tales #120
• ↑ Strange Tales #124
• ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 Strange Tales #110
• ↑ Strange Tales #122
• ↑ Strange Tales #111
• ↑ Strange Tales #117
• ↑ 44.0 44.1 Strange Tales #121
• ↑ Strange Tales #125
• ↑ Strange Tales #123
• ↑ Journey Into Mystery #108
• ↑ Strange Tales #126
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #72
• ↑ Strange Tales #127
• ↑ Strange Tales #134 – 136
• ↑ Strange Tales #139
• ↑ Strange Tales #140 – 141
• ↑ Strange Tales #146
• ↑ Fantastic Four Annual #3
• ↑ Strange Tales #150 – 151
• ↑ Strange Tales #152 – 155
• ↑ Doctor Strange #171 – 173
• ↑ Doctor Strange #174
• ↑ Doctor Strange #175
• ↑ Sub-Mariner #22
• ↑ Incredible Hulk #126
• ↑ Defenders #1
• ↑ Defenders #3
• ↑ 65.0 65.1 65.2 New Avengers: Illuminati #1
• ↑ 66.0 66.1 New Avengers: Illuminati (Vol. 2) #1
• ↑ Marvel Premiere #9 – 12
• ↑ Defenders #4
• ↑ Defenders #14
• ↑ Defenders #46
• ↑ Defenders #33 – 38
• ↑ 72.0 72.1 Defenders Annual #1
• ↑ Defenders #31 – 35
• ↑ Defenders #42 – 46
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #72 – 73
• ↑ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #3
• ↑ X-Men Annual #4
• ↑ Incredible Hulk #371
• ↑ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #48 – 49
• ↑ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #58 – 59
• ↑ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #60 – 61
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 6) #6
• ↑ The Order #1 – 6
• ↑ Witches #1 – 4
• ↑ However, later official information in the most recent edition of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe indicates the possibility that this was an impostor, just like the Mockingbird in "Hell" was later found out to be another's soul.
• ↑ X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl #1 – 5
• ↑ House of M #1
• ↑ House of M #8
• ↑ Civil War #3
• ↑ 90.0 90.1 Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1  ; Doctor Strange's entry
• ↑ Civil War Files #1  ; Civil War Files
• ↑ New Avengers #28
• ↑ New Avengers #29
• ↑ New Avengers #27
• ↑ 95.0 95.1 New Avengers #31
• ↑ New Avengers #32
• ↑ New Avengers #36
• ↑ Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24
• ↑ Fantastic Four #550
• ↑ World War Hulk #1
• ↑ 101.0 101.1 World War Hulk #3
• ↑ New Avengers: Illuminati (Vol. 2) #5
• ↑ New Avengers Annual #2
• ↑ 104.0 104.1 New Avengers #51
• ↑ Last Defenders #3
• ↑ Hulk (Vol. 2) #10 – 12
• ↑ Thor #602
• ↑ New Avengers #53 – 55
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 2) #34
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #1
• ↑ 111.0 111.1 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #3
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #8
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #9
• ↑ Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #2
• ↑ Infinity #3
• ↑ Infinity #6
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #14
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #20
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #22
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #23
• ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 3) #31
• ↑ 122.0 122.1 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #33
• ↑ Secret Wars #5
• ↑ Secret Wars #1
• ↑ 125.0 125.1 125.2 Secret Wars #3
• ↑ Secret Wars #4
• ↑ All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe #1
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 4) #1
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 4) #5
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 4) #6
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 4) #7
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 4) #8
• ↑ 133.0 133.1 Doctor Strange (Vol. 4) #10
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 4) #1 – 10
• ↑ 135.0 135.1 Doctor Strange Annual (Vol. 2) #1
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 4) #11
• ↑ Doctor Strange / Punisher: Magic Bullets Infinite Comic #1 – 8
• ↑ 138.0 138.1 Doctor Strange #385
• ↑ Doctor Strange #381
• ↑ 140.0 140.1 Doctor Strange #382
• ↑ Doctor Strange #383
• ↑ Doctor Strange #384
• ↑ Doctor Strange: Damnation #1
• ↑ Doctor Strange: Damnation #2 – 3
• ↑ Doctor Strange #387 – 389
• ↑ Doctor Strange: Damnation #4
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 5) #1
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 5) #2
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 5) #3
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 5) #4
• ↑ 151.0 151.1 151.2 Doctor Strange (Vol. 5) #5
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 5) #12
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 5) #13
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 5) #14
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 5) #15
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 5) #16
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 5) #17
• ↑ Death of Doctor Strange #4
• ↑ Strange (Vol. 3) #1 – 7
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #4
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #19
• ↑ Doctor Strange #387
• ↑ Giant-Size Defenders #2
• ↑ Defenders #29
• ↑ Infinity Abyss #3
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #27
• ↑ Incredible Hulks #635
• ↑ 168.0 168.1 168.2 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #13
• ↑ Doctor Strange: The Oath #1 – 5
• ↑ In the Black Magic saga in Strange Tales (vol. 2)
• ↑ Captain Marvel (Vol. 10) #27
• ↑ 172.0 172.1 Doctor Strange: The Oath #5
• ↑ Strange Tales #134
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 4) #4
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 6) #9
• ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 5) #11
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #76
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #80
• ↑ Doctor Strange #383 – 384
• ↑ Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #41
• ↑ Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #42
• ↑ X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl #1
• ↑ Defenders #5
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #81
• ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #36
• ↑ Savage Avengers #10
• ↑ Spider-Man (Vol. 4) #2
• ↑ Richards, Dave (20 December 2017) To Defeat Loki, Donny Cates Teams Doctor Strange with… The Sentry? CBR.com . Retrieved on 26 December 2017.
• ↑ Doctor Strange: The Oath #1
• ↑ Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality #3
• ↑ Defenders: Strange Heroes #1
• ↑ Defenders: Strange Heroes Vol 1 1
• 1 Nathan Summers (Earth-616)
• 2 Madelyne Pryor (Earth-616)
• 3 Mutant Power Level Classification

Screen Rant

Doctor strange’s complete mcu timeline explained.

Benedict Cumberbatch has portrayed Doctor Stephen Strange since his eponymous 2016 film, Doctor Strange, and has been on quite the journey in the MCU.

• Doctor Strange has played a pivotal role in the MCU's Multiverse Saga and is set for an exciting future.
• Benedict Cumberbatch has appeared in various MCU projects, including a solo double-bill, two Avengers films, and the MCU's What If...? series.
• Doctor Strange's backstory includes a tragic past, a stellar medical career, and his journey into the depths of the MCU's Mystic Arts.

Since 2016's Doctor Strange , Benedict Cumberbatch's Master of the Mystic Arts has embarked on some incredible adventures in the MCU . Adapted from Marvel Comics' Doctor Stephen Strange, who debuted in 1963's Strange Tales #110 , Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange has been a core character in the MCU since his debut in Phase 3. Despite being introduced later than many of the MCU's other cornerstone heroes, Doctor Strange played a pivotal role in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame , and has become one of the most important figures in the MCU's Multiverse Saga, setting himself up for an even more exciting future.

As well as leading two solo projects in the MCU, 2016's Doctor Strange and 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , Benedict Cumberbatch has also appeared in a number of other stories. Doctor Strange was crucial to Infinity War and Endgame , and has also made appearances in Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: No Way Home , and has been central to the multiverse-spanning stories of Marvel Studios' What If...? anthology series. Following the conclusion of the MCU's Infinity Saga, Doctor Strange has led the charge into the Multiverse Saga , and his backstory has given the MCU some of its most impressive moments.

All 7 Doctor Strange Costumes In The MCU, Ranked

18 a tragic accident inspires stephen strange to become a doctor (1970s/1980s), doctor strange in the multiverse of madness (2022).

Not much is known about Stephen Strange's early life, though based on Benedict Cumberbatch's own age, it could be assumed that Strange was born in the 1970s. Despite nothing being known about his upbringing, a short exchange with his multiversal variant in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness revealed that Strange had a sister, Donna . In their childhood, Donna drowned after falling into a frozen lake, and it was Strange's inability to save his sister that inspired him to become a doctor .

17 Stephen Strange’s Photographic Memory Helps Him Excel At Medical School (1990s)

Doctor strange (2016).

Presumably in the 1990s, Stephen Strange attended medical school at Columbia University, a popular alma mater for Marvel's superheroes. Helped along by his photographic memory, Stephen Strange excelled in medical school, graduating with his MD and PhD simultaneously . He learned all the technical aspects of his prospective job incredibly quickly, but spent years repeating behaviors and learning new ones in order to become the best doctor he could possibly be, inspired all the way by his sister's tragic demise.

Doctor Strange

16 stephen strange & christine palmer meet & briefly date (2000s), doctor strange (2016) & doctor strange in the multiverse of madness (2022).

While working in the ER Department of Metro-General Hospital in New York City, Strange met fellow surgeon Christine Palmer. Since Strange had begun specializing in neurological surgery, focusing his research on the formation of new nerve cells, Strange and Palmer invented a new laminectomy procedure. The pair began dating, but Strange's arrogance and focus on his work drove them apart, though they remained close friends . In an alternate universe detailed in What If...? , Palmer's relationship with Strange ended in her tragic death, marking an Absolute Point that Strange tried vehemently to break.

Rachel McAdams played Christine Palmer in Doctor Strange and its sequel, and also appeared as Palmer's Earth-838 variant and a version of the character in What If...?.

15 Stephen Strange Works Behind The Scenes Of The MCU (2012-2016)

Captain america: the winter soldier (2014) & avengers: endgame (2019).

Although not seen on-screen prior to Doctor Strange , Stephen Strange worked as an expert in his field throughout the entire history of the MCU. 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier revealed that Strange was one of HYDRA's targets for Project Insight, suggesting his work in neurosurgery may have, somehow, posed a threat to HYDRA. During Avengers: Endgame's Time Heist, Bruce Banner's Smart Hulk met the Ancient One in 2012 during the Battle of New York, who revealed that Strange was performing surgery in the city while the Avengers were fighting Loki, reinforcing his dedication to his job.

14 Doctor Strange’s Accident Ends His Medical Career (2016)

In 2016, after successfully performing an operation and saving another patient who'd been shot, Strange prepared himself to speak at an American Neurological Association dinner. On the drive there, Strange canvassed three prospective new patients, but ended up crashing his car while distracted from the road. Although his life had been saved in surgery that lasted eleven hours, Strange's hands suffered permanent nerve damage, making it impossible for him to continue his surgical career . Strange searched for a cure, and began physical therapy, but was met with several dead ends.

13 Doctor Strange Travels To Kamar-Taj & Meets The Ancient One (2016)

Strange was recommended to travel to Kamar-Taj by paraplegic Jonathan Pangborn, who used magic to enable himself to walk. Journeying to Kathmandu, Strange eventually found Kamar-Taj and met Baron Mordo and the Ancient One , with the latter opening his eyes to the true magnitude of the universe and its energies. Strange began training in the Mystic Arts, not only regaining some use of his hands in the process, but also learning about the Time Stone and other dimensions . During this time, Strange built a close friendship with Wong, Kamar-Taj's librarian, who would later become Sorcerer Supreme.

Every Type Of Magic In The MCU & Which Is Most Powerful

12 doctor strange battles kaecilius & dormammu with the time stone (2017).

While still studying at Kamar-Taj, Strange found himself in New York's Sanctum Sanctorum, where he witnessed Kaecilius, an agent of the Dark Dimension's ruler, Dormammu , murdering the Sanctum's Master, Daniel Drumm. Strange fought Kaecilius and his zealots on several occasions, though managed to outsmart them with the help of the Cloak of Levitation and the Ancient One. Following the Ancient One's death, Strange used the Time Stone to reverse damage Kaecilius had done in Hong Kong , before meeting Dormammu and trapping the entity in a loop until Kaecilius was taken from the Earth.

11 Doctor Strange Helps Thor & Loki Find Odin (2017)

Thor: ragnarok (2017).

After saving the world from the dangers of the Dark Dimension, Doctor Strange began to keep a list of potential threats to reality, which included the Asgardian God of Mischief Loki. When Thor and Loki traveled to Earth to retrieve their father, Odin, Doctor Strange intercepted them. However, upon learning that Thor and Loki would promptly return to Asgard after finding Odin, Strange decided to help their quest, pointing them in the direction of Norway . During this time, Doctor Strange also emplored Wong to teach him about the Infinity Stones.

10 Doctor Strange & Wong Battle Kalkartho (2018)

Avengers: infinity war: the heroes' journey (2018).

As detailed in the Avengers: Infinity War: The Heroes' Journey book, which acted as a prologue to Avengers: Infinity War , Strange was plagued by visions of a tentacled creature named Kalkartho attacking Earth. In an effort to stop Kalkartho's attack, Strange and Wong opened a portal to the Magenta Dimension to use the Bonds of Baelzar, trapping the creature. They traveled to the moon in their astral forms to distract Kalkartho, but ended up fighting it back in the New York Sanctum, though Kalkartho was thankfully pulled into the Magenta Dimension, despite both Wong and Strange almost meeting their ends.

9 Doctor Strange Teams Up With Iron Man & Spider-Man To Fight Ebony Maw (2018)

Avengers: infinity war (2018).

In 2018, Bruce Banner crashed into the Sanctum Sanctorum with news of the Mad Titan Thanos' impending attack. Doctor Strange collected Tony Stark, who Strange and Wong informed of the Infinity Stones. The heroes were soon approached by Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian, two members of Thanos' Black Order , who attempted to steal the Time Stone. Strange was tortured aboard Ebony Maw's ship, but Maw was blasted out into space by the combined efforts of Iron Man and Peter Parker's Spider-Man . Together, the trio traveled to Titan, hoping to have the upper hand by bringing the fight to him.

8 Doctor Strange Battles Thanos On Titan, But Gives Up The Time Stone & Is Killed (2018)

After meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy on Titan, Strange looked into 14 million possible futures, but only witnessed one in which the Avengers defeated Thanos. When Thanos arrived, the heroes fought him valiantly while trying to relinquish the Infinity Gauntlet. Doctor Strange and Thanos' battle in Infinity War was beautiful, with Strange using the Mirror Dimension, butterflies, and multiplications of himself to try and defeat the villain . However, Strange eventually gave Thanos the Time Stone in exchange for Stark's life, which allowed Thanos to complete his quest and wipe out half the population of the universe, including Strange himself.

Infinity War's Best Fight Scene Still Hasn't Been Beaten 5 Years Later

7 doctor strange returns for the battle of earth (2023), avengers: endgame (2019).

After the five-year-long Blip, the surviving Avengers embarked on the Time Heist to retrieve the Infinity Stones and bring back everyone Thanos had killed. They were successful, but 2014's Thanos attacked Avengers HQ only moments later. Facing the Mad Titan and his armies would have been an impossible task for the few Avengers present, but Doctor Strange opened portals across the cosmos to allow all the returned heroes to join the fight in Endgame's Battle of Earth . Strange revealed that Tony Stark would need to sacrifice himself, as he had foreseen, and he was later present at Stark's funeral.

6 Doctor Strange Tries To Help Spider-Man, But Makes Everyone Forget Him Instead (2024)

Spider-man: no way home (2021).

Doctor Strange returned after five years to find that Wong had become the Sorcerer Supreme in his absence. Strange's inferiority complex perhaps drove him to make rash decisions when Peter Parker arrived in the wake of his identity being revealed , as Parker hoped to make everyone forget him. Strange botched the initial spell, instead pulling multiversal villains who knew Peter Parker's identity into the MCU, and though Strange wanted to send them back to their deaths, Spider-Man refused. Later, Parker urged Strange to complete the spell, saving the multiverse, but making everyone forget Spider-Man's identity in the process.

5 Doctor Strange Meets America Chavez & Battles The Scarlet Witch (2025)

Shortly after his experiences with Spider-Man, Doctor Strange attended the wedding of Christine Palmer, though was interrupted during the reception by Gargantos' attack on America Chavez, a multiversal traveler . Strange and Wong defeated Gargantos, and after learning of America Chavez's ability, thought that she would be safe under Wanda Maximoff's protection. However, Maximoff's Scarlet Witch had actually been the one chasing Chavez across the multiverse, hoping to steal her power, so Strange reaching out for her help only brought the Scarlet Witch's wrath down on Kamar-Taj , where Chavez had been given refuge.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness continued on from the ending of WandaVision , which saw the Scarlet Witch using the Darkhold to try and find her sons, Billy and Tommy Maximoff, in another reality of the multiverse.

Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness

4 america chavez & doctor strange travel to alternate realities (2025).

During battle with the Scarlet Witch, America Chavez opened a portal through the multiverse that she and Doctor Strange jumped into. The pair blasted through several different realities in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , including one inhabited by dinosaurs, one in which HYDRA won, an underwater universe, a reality made entirely of paint, and one which was animated, before finding themselves in Earth-838. There, Strange and Chavez were taken captive by the Illuminati, a team comprising the leaders of other superhero groups, but the Scarlet Witch found them , killed the Illuminati's members and took Chavez back to Earth-616.

Earth-838's Illuminati included Reed Richards' Mister Fantastic, Charles Xavier's Professor X, Maria Rambeau's Captain Marvel, Peggy Carter's Captain Carter, Black Bolt, and Baron Mordo, the Sorcerer Supreme.

3 Doctor Strange Experiments With The Darkhold (2025)

While the Scarlet Witch took America Chavez back home, she sent Doctor Strange and a variant of Christine Palmer to a reality ravaged by an incursion. Strange met his own variant, who had become corrupted by the Darkhold , similarly to the Scarlet Witch. After a brief skirmish, Sinister Strange was defeated, but the original Strange decided to use the Darkhold to dream-walk into the corpse of another of his variants, allowing him to help Chavez fight the Scarlet Witch in his original reality. This perversion of nature left Strange with a third eye, akin to his more evil variant.

2 Doctor Strange Causes An Incursion & Meets Clea (2025)

At some point during the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , Doctor Strange caused an incursion, which, if left unchecked, has the potential to destroy the multiverse. Strange was given this warning, and called up to help, by Clea, a mysterious sorceress who appeared to him on the street. Clea sliced open a portal into the Dark Dimension, and the pair jumped through together, presumably to deal with Strange's incursion. Charlize Theron played Clea in Multiverse of Madness , adapted from Doctor Strange's love interest, and eventually wife, from Marvel Comics.

Clea's Existence Means Dormammu's SISTER Can Be Doctor Strange 3's Villain

1 doctor strange will be returning in doctor strange 3, doctor strange 3 (tbd).

Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange 3 hasn't yet been officially confirmed, but since Doctor Strange is playing such a pivotal role in the expansion of the MCU's Multiverse Saga, it's likely the trilogy-capper will release prior to, or between, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars . Recent speculation has suggested that Doctor Strange 3 may adapt Marvel Comics' intense Time Runs Out storyline , which immediately preceded 2015's Secret Wars event. This would make the potential sequel one of the most important Multiverse Saga projects, and allow Doctor Strange to continue to change the landscape of the MCU.

Doctor Strange 3 doesn't yet have a scheduled release date.

Key Release Dates

Captain america: brave new world, marvel's fantastic four, marvel's thunderbolts, blade (2025), avengers: the kang dynasty, avengers: secret wars.

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Doctor Strange (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

• View history

Stephen Vincent Strange, M.D. Ph.D is a superhero and a major character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe .

He is a powerful sorcerer and leading member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts. He used to be brilliant yet arrogant neurosurgeon before suffering a car accident that resulted in his hands being crippled. When Western medicine failed to restore his hands, Strange embarked on a journey that led him to the Masters of the Mystic Arts as well as the discovery of magic and alternate dimensions. And after saving the world from Dormammu and Kaecilius, he became more polite, more calmer, very smart than ever before.

When the Asgardian gods Thor and Loki came to Earth looking for their father Odin , Strange aided them by revealing his location. A year later, the Black Order invaded Earth to retrieve the Time Stone from Strange to deliver to their master, the titan Thanos . Strange was defeated by Ebony Maw and taken to his ship, but he was rescued by Iron-Man and Spider-Man in space. They reached the planet Titan, where they joined forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy and confronted Thanos. Thanos overpowered Strange in a battle and took the Time Stone. Upon retrieving the rest of the Infinity Stones, Thanos performed the Infinity Snap and killed half of all life in the universe, including Strange.

Five years later, Hulk revived Strange by reversing the Infinity Snap, and he summoned the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Wakandan armies, the Masters of the Mystic Arts, the Einherjar, the Ravagers and all their allies in the final battle against the past version of Thanos and his armies. Strange signaled Iron-Man about the latter's sacrifice by disintegrating Thanos' army, having foreseen during the battle on Titan. Strange would later attend Iron-Man's army, but loose the Sorcerer Supreme title to Wong due to his long absence.

A year later, when Spider-Man's identity was exposed as Peter Parker, he approached Strange and asked him to make it so his identity was never revealed. During the spell, the death of He Who Remains resulted in the multiversal barriers breaking out, and several enemies of alternate Spider-Men from different realities arrived. Strange opted to send them back for them to meet their fates and die fighting their reality's Spider-Men, but Spider-Man refused and trapped Strange in the Mirror Dimension after a brief fight. By the time Ned Leeds brings Strange back, the Spider-Men from the realities of the villains have arrived to help Spider-Man stop them. Upon their defeat, Strange reluctantly makes everyone, including himself, forget about Peter Parker entirely upon the latter's request.

He is portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch , who also portrays and voices different versions of the character in the series, and also played Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock and voiced Classified in Penguins of Madagascar and The Grinch in the 2018 film of the same name.

• 1 Personality
• 2.1.1 Former Powers
• 2.2 Abilities
• 2.3 Equipment
• 3.3 Enemies
• 6 External Links
• 7 Navigation

Personality [ ]

Prior to his accident, Strange had a massive ego that fueled his career. Strange only took on patients that he believed would help benefit his status, even refusing to heal a US Army Colonel's back. His work was also driven by a desire to control death and time, which led him to refuse even looking into any patient he perceived to have little chance of recovery. This, however, changed after the accident, which left Strange a broken man. After the accident, he blamed the doctors for ruining his life, refusing to accept that he did it to himself due to not paying attention to the road. Upon visiting Kamar-Taj, Strange initially maintained his narrow-minded arrogance and stubbornly refused to believe that the Ancient One was telling the truth, until she forcibly demonstrated astral projection and sent him across multiple dimensions to prove her point. He also disliked being called "Mister Strange", insisting that he be called "Stephen" or "Doctor Strange" depending on who he was talking to, despite the fact that, as the Ancient One pointed out, he technically wasn't a doctor anymore.

Despite his initial arrogance, Strange is a very hard worker, which is how he is able to progress in his studies of the arcane arts so smoothly. He even admitted to the Ancient One that he became a successful neurosurgeon through years of study and practice rather than any natural talent. Strange has also shown extreme determination; he spent most of his money in seven different surgeries to attempt to heal his hands, then remained outside of Kamar-Taj's front door for five hours after being initially thrown out. He even allowed himself to be killed by Dormammu countless times until Dormammu gave into his demands.

Through his training with the Ancient One, Strange gained a newfound appreciation for the natural order of things due to his studies of the Mystic Arts, and became more humble. However, this is not to say he was a completely changed man; he retained a cocky attitude when dealing with people and things, as seen in how he behaved when he went to borrow books from Wong. This, coupled with his inquisitiveness and willingness to break rules, made him an odd one in Kamar-Taj and constantly an eyesore to many of his peers. However, due to this nature of his, he was also more willing to compromise and be somewhat flexible with his principles, quickly accepting that the Ancient One broke her own rules to do what was deemed necessary to protect the world, and he had to be willing to do so himself, which, when combined with his natural talent in the Mystic Arts, had the Ancient One name him as the Master of the New York Sanctum Sanctorum, despite his relative lack of training and inexperience.

Having trained as a doctor, Strange is a pacifist and tries to avoid hurting people, as it goes against the Hippocratic oath. He was disgusted by his actions in killing Lucian, despite it being in self-defense and accidental, stating he became a doctor to save lives, not take them. However, neither the Ancient One nor Karl Mordo were especially sympathetic towards this, with the former stating it was his towering ego and delusion that he could control death itself that made him become a doctor and the latter simply calling him a coward for not having the spine to do what has to be done. Nevertheless, Strange claimed that there were other ways to defeat their enemies, a claim he ultimately proved correct by defeating both Kaecillius and Dormammu without killing either of them.

Ultimately, Strange has always had good intentions, despite coming off as arrogant and selfish. After his talk with Kaecillius, Strange began to see his own failings reflected in Kaecillius and started showing signs of self-improvement. He repeatedly and genuinely apologized for his past treatment of Christine Palmer and showed a newfound trust in former rival Nicodemus West. During his talk with the Ancient One before her death, he admitted that his fear of failure is what pushed him to be a successful neurosurgeon. However, the Ancient One stated that his fear is exactly what kept him from greatness, as well as learning the simplest and most important lesson of all; it's not about him. Strange took this very much to heart, and when he faced Dormammu, he showed strong selflessness, allowing himself to be killed over and over in order to keep Dormammu trapped in the time loop so mankind could live and came to stop fearing failure.

Despite his tremendous maturity, Strange maintains some of his old habits such as making sarcastic comments and jokes when talking to others, similar to Tony Stark and Peter Quill . Whilst he compensates his lack of experience by further using the powerful magical relics at his disposal and his intelligence allows him to imagine unorthodox solutions to problems, Strange has also learned to comprehend his limits, and despite his success at the hands of Dormammu's defeat, he has begun to realize the natural order should not be entirely disturbed, the same reason why Mordo left the Mystic Arts and vows to never use the Eye of Agamotto until he is fully prepared. This was his second greatest lesson to learn - that time is beyond even his control. He also retains his meticulous and diligence by forming a watchlist of individuals that might pose a threat to Earth. However, his flexibility is his greatest strength in this regard as, even though he wants to be rid of these individuals, he was willing to help Thor locate Odin so he and Loki would return to Asgard.

Powers & Abilities [ ]

• Eldritch Magic Manipulation: Strange is able to create, shape and manipulate Eldritch Magic. He demonstrated the ability to form Eldritch Whips and Mandalas of Light. During the battle with Thanos, Strange demonstrated being able to conjure platforms for his allies to walk upon, as shown when Peter Quill jumped across them to attack Thanos. Additionally, he was able to craft a sword from Eldritch magic, as well as create powerful mystical energy bolts.
• Flight: By using the Cloak of Levitation; Strange is able to levitate, hover and fly in the air even without the presence of wind. The Cloak can greatly lessen the impact of falling from great heights by effortlessly reducing his speed. In regards to speed, Strange was able to fly above the Hong Kong skyline to reach the portal into the Dark Dimension in a matter of seconds.
• Teleportation: By using a Sling Ring; Strange is able to open a fiery portal to another location, gaining ability to move across both the physical world and the dimensional Multiverse. He can also make portals small enough to reach through and grab several books from Wong's library. Additionally, while in the New York Sanctum, he was able to seamlessly transport himself and Thor around the building with ease, which was heavily disorienting to the Asgardian.
• Interdimensional Travel: By using a Sling Ring; Strange can travel between different dimensions and universes, crossing over different planes of existence or traveling across various forms of reality.
• Astral Projection: Strange is capable of separating his astral spirit from his body, gaining access to the Astral Dimension, with him thus notably managing to assist Christine Palmer in operating his physical body, and to speak to the Ancient One's spirit before her clinical death. He also had Christine defibrillate his body to cause his Astral form to send out a blast of energy while grappling with Lucian's Astral form, which killed him.
• Transmutation: Strange can alter the forms of other objects or matter. During Strange's meeting with Thor, he was able to turn a cup of tea, into a mug of beer, after Thor said he does not drink tea. The mug, which Thor suddenly found in his hand in the place of the tea cup, was also able to magically refill itself, much to the pleasant surprise of Thor. Strange was also able to transmute a singularity sent by Thanos, with the Space Stone, into multitudes of blue butterflies.
• Conjuration: Strange was able to hide the Time Stone after (secretly) removing it from the Eye of Agamotto and later made it appear between his fingers to give to Thanos.
• Dimensional Warping: Strange was capable of conjuring a construct of the Mirror Dimension in the form of crystalline fractals that acted as a shield, absorbing an energy beam from the Power Stone and was also able to send the fractals at Thanos.
• Wind Spell: Strange was able to conjure a wave of golden light that cleared the street of smoke and debris after Ebony Maw's Q-Ship landed in Greenwich Village, while also stopping the destructive windstorm the ship was causing. The smoke was expelled from the street and towards the sky. Strange once again used this spell to hold back the lake outside the Avengers base from rushing into the battlefield after its foundations were breached, gathering the water into a funnel and pushing it away.
• Protection Spell: Strange was able to cast a protection spell on the Eye of Agamotto in order to prevent it from being stolen by Ebony Maw, so it will burn anyone that attempts to take it, making it impossible to remove it, unless the spell was removed, even if he was killed.
• Binding Spell: During the Battle of Titan, Strange conjured dark red metallic bands to restrain Thanos's hand so he couldn't use the power of the Infinity Gauntlet. The bands were much stronger than the usual Eldritch Whip he uses to restrain enemies, notably able to restrict Thanos's use of the Gauntlet for a considerable period of time.
• Duplication Spell: During the Battle of Titan, Strange was able to create dozens of copies of himself to attack Thanos with their Eldritch Whips.
• Earth Swallowing Spell: During the battle with Thanos' army on Earth, Doctor Strange opened up numerous chasms in the earth, producing glowing purple tendrils of energy that forcefully lifted up Thanos' Outriders and dragged them into the ground before resealing themselves and vanishing.
• Reality Warping: Doctor Strange was able to perform a spell to make everyone forget that Peter Parker was actually Spider-Man, one that cracked open the multiverse itself when it was corrupted, resulting in villains who knew Spider-Man's true identity to arrive from two different alternate realities as well as two alternate Peter Parkers. After the corrupted spell was later released by the Green Goblin, it resulted in everyone who knew Peter's identity starting to cross over, although Strange managed to contain it briefly. Later, Strange cast a spell to make everyone forget the existence of Peter Parker, something that affected Strange himself. The spell was so powerful that, in Strange's own words, it was as if Peter Parker had never existed at all to the rest of the world.

Former Powers [ ]

• Chronokinesis: Via the Time Stone; Strange can manipulate the timeline. He is able to control the flow of time, be it on a small or massive scale, notably to turn back something to a previous state, to accelerate its time in order to apply changes that have not happened yet, or to lock it in a time loop, resetting its state until he stops its effect. He first tested the ability on an apple, rewinding time on it to make it whole and then forwarding time to make it eaten down to its core, despite not actually eating it to that point before hand. He even used it to make an almost holographic reconstruction of the stolen page of the Book of Cagliostro and read from it, though he seemed to be unable to make the page real and only could reveal what had been their before. He notably used this ability to trap even Dormammu himself in the same moment, which would reset each time Dormammu killed Strange and keep Dormammu from leaving his dimension to invade Earth.
• Precognition: Strange was capable of looking into the future and seeing millions of possible timelines in order to predict how a situation would turn out. However, he could not reveal his knowledge of what the future he saw where victory was achieved as Strange told Tony Stark or it wouldn't come to pass.

Abilities [ ]

• Master Physician: Strange is one of the world's most renowned neurosurgeons. His skill allowed him to perform nearly any form of operation with little to no mechanical assistance flawlessly. He perfect record and reputation with the craft reached such a point that ultimately, he developed a penchant for undertaking only the most challenging of operations, in order to boost his huge ego. Indeed, his skills are so impressive, that Stange was targeted by HYDRA's Project Insight as a potential threat long before he ever became a sorcerer.
• Multilingualism: Strange is is capable of fluently speaking English and Sanskrit; which made him able to read the Book of Cagliostro.
• Eidetic Memory: Strange's photographic memory and perfect recall had originally greatly aided him in medical school, helping him earn his MD and PhD simultaneously. During his mystic arts studies in Kamar-Taj, Steve managed to master entering the Astral Dimension despite Wong not believing him to be ready, and Strange later greatly impressed Karl Mordo with how quickly the former was able to understand how to use the Eye of Agamotto after reading a portion of the Book of Cagliostro's instructions only once.
• Master Tactician: Strange is also quite skilled at being able to manipulate his enemies and take advantage of the terrain. He utilized the shock paddles via Christine Palmer to channel deadly amounts of electricity from his physical body into his astral form into the astral form and consequently the body of the Zealot he was battling, electrocuting and killing him in the process. He even managed to successfully defeat Dormammu without killing him by continuously trapping him in a time loop until the demon gave into his demands. This shows Strange's ability to think on his feet, a talent he likely developed during his days as a neurosurgeon.
• Expert Hand-To-Hand Combatant/Martial Artist: Strange, after being trained by both the Ancient One and Karl Mordo, gained some skill in martial arts, able to ultimately defeat and kill the Zealot Lucian, and to even hold his own relatively well against the far more experienced Master Kaecilius and Thanos.
• Expert Swordsman: Strange displayed considerable skill in swordsmanship, as he chose to craft a sword with Eldritch Magic to use as a melee weapon to combat Thanos and alongside Drax using his knives, proved to be able to fight against the Titan, fending off Thanos longer than Drax.

Equipment [ ]

• Cloak of Levitation : A mantle that enables Doctor Strange to levitate and hover in the air. It appears to be sentient and can move on its own power, causing it to move and flap in the air without the presence of wind. Offensively, the cloak's ability to move and fly with or without a wearer allows it to grab, lift, tackle or send opponents flying through the air. The cloak often assists Strange in combat by protecting him from enemy attacks.
• Eye of Agamotto : An ancient relic with a number of mystical properties, especially time manipulation in the user's immediate vicinity and on specific areas or targets. It is able to do so since it contains the Time Stone.
• Sling Ring : A mystical object which enables the wearer to open a portal to another location.

Relationships [ ]

• Strange's origin in the comics is the same as the film, in which his hands get injured in a car accident, prompting him to seek out the Ancient One.
• In the Japanese dubbed version, he is voiced by Satoshi Mikami .
• Joaquin Phoenix, Ethan Hawke, Johnny Depp, Jared Leto, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Hardy, Collin Farrell, Oscar Isaac, Ewan McGregor, Keanu Reeves, Ryan Gosling, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Matthew McConaughey, Jack Huston, and Justin Theroux were all considered for the role before Benedict Cumberbatch was cast.
• He was considered to appear in WandaVision , but the idea was scrapped.
• Many fans questioned how complete Strange's spell was in erasing Peter's identity affected his memory in No Way Home. In Multiverse of Madness, it's noted Strange remembers being Spider-Man's ally and how his powers worked, along with the fact the Multiverse was in danger, meaning that he remembers casting the spell, but not the reason why.
• This version of Strange was mentioned by Miguel O'Hara in the non-MCU animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse . Also, he's the only non-Spider-Man superhero mentioned in the movie.

External Links [ ]

• Doctor Strange on the Wikipedia
• Doctor Strange on the Disney Wiki
• Doctor Strange on the Marvel Wiki
• Doctor Strange on the Marvel Movies Wiki
• Doctor Strange on the Near Pure Good Wiki
• Doctor Strange on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki

Navigation [ ]

• 1 King Baldwin IV
• 2 Mariko Toda
• 3 Yoshi Toranaga

All Of Doctor Strange's Powers And Abilities Explained

Doctor Stephen Strange is among the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the Sorcerer Supreme, he's tasked with safeguarding Earth from magical threats and beings of immense power. Take Dormammu, the big bad from his 2016 eponymous film, "Doctor Strange." Inside his native Dark Dimension, he's a being of uncharted power, capable of absolute mastery of existence within. When Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) summons the Destroyer of Worlds with the missing pages of the Book of Cagliostro, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is able to defeat him with a bit of trickery and a piece of costume jewelry.

Alright, in fairness, that was actually the Eye of Agamotto, which contains the Time Stone, but perhaps that is better way of making the point. Strange, a mere mortal with only months worth of magical training, is able to wield an Infinity Stone in order to defeat an extra-dimensional, god-tier being. Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), is part Celestial and couldn't wield the Power Stone unaided, relying on Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), and Rocket (Bradley Cooper) to help distribute the burden of its energy. 

Like the late Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), aka Iron Man, we've wondered what is Doctor Strange's job exactly, besides making balloon animals? Strange says it's to protect reality, which got us wondering exactly how he's able to take on such a monumental task. After much pondering, we've come up with a list of everything we've seen him do in the MCU. These are all of Doctor Strange's powers and abilities, explained.

Astral projection

One of the first acts of magic to which Stephen Strange bears witness is his astral form being pushed out of his physical body by the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) at Kamar-Taj . At first, he thinks he's been drugged and asks his host what was in the tea he'd just drank, assuming it was a hallucinogen like the mushroom psilocybin. She assures him it's just tea, with a bit of honey, before taking him on an incredible, mind-bending journey — and subsequently kicking him out on his butt. 

During his training, Doctor Strange takes advantage of astral projection to increase his knowledge in a unique form of studying: he reads the ancient tomes at his disposal while his physical form sleeps. He advances so quickly that Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is surprised at the "litany of spells" he was able to master in order to use the Eye of Agamotto. Strange's explanation is his photographic memory, which enabled him to earn an MD and PhD simultaneously. We're guessing that his mind continuing to work while his body rests had a little bit to do with it as well. Of course, Stephen wasn't just hitting the books in his astral form. He fought one of Kaecilius' disciples in the astral plane at the hospital, popping in and out to give Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) instructions — and scaring the bejeezus out of her — as she worked to save his life. 

Somewhere along the way, Wanda Maximioff (Elizabeth Olsen), aka the Scarlet Witch, must have taken a cue from Doctor Strange, because we see her doing the exact same thing — studying in the astral plane — at the end of "WandaVision."

Traveling via portals

One of Stephen Strange's first tasks at Kamar-Taj is to learn to open portals with the use of a Sling Ring. The Sling Ring, when used adeptly, allows one to travel across the world like they're walking through a doorway. But Doctor Strange just can't seem to get it right, insisting his unsteady hands are to blame. At that point, the Ancient One brings out Master Hamir (Topo Wresniwiro), who promptly dispels any notion of Strange's hands being the problem when he effortlessly opens a portal, despite missing his left hand from the wrist down. Strange eventually gets the whole portal thing down when the Ancient One leaves him to die of exposure atop Mount Everest if he's unable to conjure a portal to safety.

Just like astral projection, Strange uses portals to advance his studies of the mystic arts; when librarian Wong (Benedict Wong) refuses to allow him to check out certain books he feels are too advanced, Strange just conjures a portal into the library — which is forbidden — to take them surreptitiously. The crafty old librarian may have been confused for a bit but clearly figured it out eventually, evident in the Ancient One's knowledge of the transgression — seriously, Wong told on him?

These portals serve more purpose than just acting as an instant inter-dimensional Uber, of course. Strange used one to nab Loki (Tom Hiddleston) when he and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) were standing on the sidewalk in New York City in "Thor: Ragnarok."

Shield spells

As seen throughout the MCU, pretty much whenever the masters of the mystic arts are around, adepts are able to use magic-based energy shields to ward off enemy attacks, defending against both mystical and physical assaults. According to the MCU Fandom site, they're referred to as "Tao Mandalas." Wait, what? Breaking that term down etymologically, it references two different concepts from Eastern religions and-or mysticism. In the context of Taoism, "tao" has several meanings, the most relevant is likely "the way"; these teachings come from Lao Tzu (also Laozi), the ancient Chinese philosopher to whom the Tao Te Ching is traditionally attributed (via the  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ). Though it's not particularly helpful for our task of analyzing the meaning of the shield's name, "tao" is impossible to conceptualize in abstract and is something that must be experienced as the flow of life. 

As for "mandala," it's not just a beautiful geometric design from an adult coloring book; as the Merriam-Webster Dictionary tells us, it is "a Hindu or Buddhist graphic symbol of the universe." Combining those two elements suggests that, essentially, Doctor Strange and his fellow mystics are channeling magical energy flowing throughout the universe into shield forms.

As first seen in 2016's "Doctor Strange," Stephen Strange's shields are mostly reactionary; when fending off Kaecilius and his followers, his Tao Mandalas are practically instinctual. Director Scott Derrickson told Vulture they brought on a special choreographer to teach the actors the art of tutting. "I wanted it to be in the action, I wanted it to be more organic, and that seemed to lead me to this idea that magic is about movements and gestures."

Weapon spells

Obviously Stephen Strange is able to use magic for more than just defense. This isn't Daniel LaRusso's vision of Miyagi-do karate, after all; we're talking about dealing with cosmic threats to the balance of the universe, not butting heads with the rival Cobra Kai dojo. One of the earliest weapons we see the title character use in "Doctor Strange" is referred to as the Eldritch Whip, as "Doctor Strange" visual effects supervisor Stephane Ceretti told 3D-World in 2016. "It looks like a stream of energy with lots of sparks, and when it hits something it sears and burns," he said. 

We're hoping the "whip" part of that term is pretty self-explanatory and anyone who's dipped even a fraction of a toe into the works of H.P. Lovecraft should recognize "eldritch" as a word meaning  strange, unnatural and otherworldly. Unlike the most rudimentary forms of the Tao Mandalas, the Eldritch Whip — which also requires the Sling Ring — looks like takes a bit more practice and concentration to pull off, which is probably a good thing; there's no sense knowing how to attack someone or something without knowing how to defend against a counterattack.

Remember the choreographer we mentioned when discussing shields? "We hired him to do all the choreography, so he taught Tilda and Benedict and Mads. It's very specific and very deliberate and super-cool," director Scott Derrickson told Vulture . "In fact, he's in the movie. He's the very first guy in the opening scene, who forms the magic whip ... It was all very detailed and designed and he was awesome. I'm really glad we used him."

Interdimensional travel

As he grew more adept in his magical abilities, Stephen Strange needed somewhere safe to practice his spell casting. As such, the Ancient One showed him how to enter the Mirror Dimension. It's a parallel plane of existence that looks much like our own but anything Doctor Strange does while there will not affect the physical world. "Harry Potter" fans can think of it as an infinite Room of Requirement for Dumbledore's Army to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts and "X-Men" fans might liken to the Danger Room, except it's not just limited to a broom closet in a mansion in Westchester, New York.

As the Ancient One explains, it's also a place where masters of the mystic arts can trap other beings, provided the don't have a Sling Ring, which is critical to entering the Mirror Dimension. In the first act of "Doctor Strange," it's where she sends Kaecilius and his fanatics when they steal the page from the Book of Cagliostro that explains how to summon Dormammu . It's also where Stephen Strange tries to send them when they attack the New York sanctum. The problem with that idea is he didn't realize that, in channeling energy from the Dark Dimension, they have grown more powerful in the Mirror Dimension and can fold and bend reality with ease, making it difficult for Strange and Mordo to escape.

The warping of the Mirror Dimension was specifically inspired by a renowned Dutch graphic artist. "The idea became, 'What would a chase scene be like inside an M.C. Escher world?' Not just to present it as an exterior canvas, but to actually be inside of it, in motion," director Scott Derrickson told the L.A. Times .

In addition to his ability to cast spells, born out of months of learning and effort, Doctor Strange also gets some additional benefits from his keen fashion choices. While that tuxedo he was planning to wear to the medical conference may have turned heads, he eventually acquired a cloak that could likely snap necks.

As Mordo tells him, eventually he will get to use relics that will grant him powers; they're able to do so because they were imbued with magic too powerful to sustain. Mordo himself is rocking the Vaulting Boots of Valtorr; when Strange asks when his turn will come, his mentor goes full-Ollivander and offers the MCU equivalent of "the wand chooses the wizard." "You're ready when the relic decides you're ready," Mordo says.

Well, the relic in question decided Stephen Strange was ready when Kaecilius was absolutely mopping the floor with him. When Dormammu's disciple was tossing the title character around the New York sanctum like a rag doll, he wasn't exactly concerned with keeping it tidy. One of the many things he smashes was the case containing a red cloak, which Mordo later tells Strange is the Cloak of Levitation. In addition to granting the wearer the namesake ability, the cloak also appears to have a will of its own, which is why it's able to save Strange when Kaecilius knocks him over the rail for what looks like a solid 15-foot drop. It's also how the cloak is able to steer the good doctor away from the battle ax he tries to grab in favor the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak relic which imprisons his enemy.

Time manipulation

Courtesy of another relic, Stephen Strange is able to manipulate time, rewinding events so as to rearrange the timeline and affect the eventual outcome of a given situation. The relic in question is the powerful Eye of Agamotto, created by the first Sorcerer Supreme, Agamotto, who also first established the sanctums that the master of the mystic arts use to safeguard the earth. Whether or not its creator was aware of it, the Eye is powered by the Time Stone — as Wong tells us in "Doctor Strange" — which explains why it's so darn powerful.

After all, how else would Doctor Strange been able to pause and rewind the action on the streets of Hong Kong? It's not like reality is a DVR — though, if it was, the Eye of Agamotto would be one of the world's most amazing universal remotes. In addition to an impressive parlor trick of scrolling through the stages of an apple being eaten and its core decaying — which was simply meant to display what the Eye can do — Strange uses it to trap Dormammu in an infinite loop; though the Devourer of World's exists without the flow of time in the Dark Dimension, when on Earth, he must play by our rules. As such, Strange commits himself to dying infinite deaths in order to force Dormammu to abandon his quest to conquer the Earth.

When Strange surrendered the Time Stone in "Avengers: Infinity War," Thanos used it to wipe out half of all life in the universe before destroying all six Infinity Stones. If Captain America (Chris Evans) truly returned all the alternate Stones in "Avengers: Endgame," then Doctor Strange will seemingly no longer have this ability.

Casting protective spells over objects

With an item as powerful as the Eye of Agamotto — and the Time Stone within it — within his possession, Stephen Strange would surely need to go to some length to make sure it's not taken from him. Although he's plenty powerful, he understands that it's likely someone more powerful will come along to try to take it off his hands. Enter Bruce Banner through the roof of the New York sanctum; he tells Doctor Strange and Wong that Thanos is coming. After explaining who the Mad Titan is — you would think Doctor Strange, who keeps a watchlist of potential threats, would have heard of him — they enlist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) 

After Stark and Strange exchange barbs and debate the merits of destroying the Time Stone vs. protecting it, Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian render the argument meaningless by dropping in on Greenwich Village in search of it, in turn trashing part of the city. Although Ebony Maw gets the better of Strange and eventually abducts him from Earth aboard Thanos' Q Ship, it's pretty clear he can't access the Time Stone. In fact, when he tries, it burns him; as the good doctor explains, were Ebony Maw to kill him, he'd find removing the spell "troublesome." The simple but unbreakable warding spell Strange put on the Eye of Agamotto is likely the only reason he survives the first act of "Infinity War," as Ebony Maw changes tack and takes the Sorcerer Supreme along for the ride to torture him in the hopes of eventually taking possession of the Time Stone.

Another trick Doctor Strange can do, courtesy of the Eye of Agamotto, is look into the future. He's not the first Sorcerer Supreme to do so, mind you. Though she doesn't reference the relic by name, the Ancient One tells the good doctor during their chat in the astral realm that she spent "years peering through time," looking at that exact moment outside the hospital but unable to see past it. She claims to have forestalled "countless terrible futures," one after another, and none of them went further than that exact moment in time. In addition to humanizing her, the scene sets up one of the other abilities granted by the Eye.

While on Titan, with Tony Stark and Peter Parker (Tom Holland), aka Spider-Man, having a confab with the remaining Guardians of the Galaxy, Strange is off in the corner doing his thing. He appears to be meditating, levitating in a yogic position with an aura of green energy surrounding him and the Eye of Agamotto glowing brightly. Mantis (Pom Klementieff) is the first to notice, asking Stark if Strange often does that — not that he'd know. When Strange emerges from his trance, he explains that he went forward in time in order to see every outcome of the upcoming battle — just over 14 million possible futures — of which they only win one.

Much like his ability to manipulate time, Doctor Strange appears to be unable to look forward in time in the MCU's current continuity, absent a relic that contains some version of the Time Stone. Time will tell if he somehow regains those abilities.

It's unclear if Doctor Strange's magical abilities have any respect for scientific principles like the law of conservation of mass or the first law of thermodynamics, because he seems to just pull things out of thin air sometimes. We see it happen in one of the "Doctor Strange" post-credits scenes — later adapted into a scene from "Ragnarok" — when he sits down with Thor to talk about his aforementioned watchlist and his adopted brother Loki's (Tom Hiddleston) place on it. When they sit down in those comfy-looking armchairs, Strange offers the God of Thunder tea; though Thor insists he doesn't drink tea, a cup appears in his hand anyway.

That, however, amounts to nothing more than an impressive parlor trick, akin to pulling rabbits out of hats. Doctor Strange's ability to conjure comes into play in much more dire circumstances during "Infinity War." After using the Eye of Agamotto to glimpse the future and the one possible way in which the forces of good are actually able to stop Thanos, Strange seems to have removed the Time Stone from the locket by the time the Mad Titan snatches it from around his neck, declaring it a fake. In truth, Strange has concealed the Time Stone using magic and only reveals it when Thanos is about to kill Tony Stark. The Bleecker Street Magician conjures the Time Stone after the Battle of Titan, bargaining with Thanos to spare Tony Stark's life, as it was part of the one-in-14 million chance they had to win in the end.

Transmutation

On top of making things appear and disappear, Doctor Strange can change them into something else altogether. That cup of tea he summoned for Thor in the New York sanctum? When the self-proclaimed strongest Avenger informed the good doctor that he doesn't drink tea, the cup magically became a liter of beer, which is much more Thor's speed. He was further amazed — and no doubt pleased — to learn that the mug refilled itself as he emptied it. When Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) crashes through the roof of the sanctum during the first act of "Infinity War," Strange's mystical wardrobe, Cloak of Levitation and all, instantly takes on the form of normal street clothes. Once again, however, this is more along the lines of what we expect from professional illusionists, not the peak powers of the Sorcerer Supreme.

Want to get impressed? Once more in "Infinity War," during the Battle of Titan, Thanos forces Doctor Strange to pull out all of the stops. When the former uses the Infinity Gauntlet to send an actual black hole at the latter, Strange's spell transforms it into a swarm of delicate blue butterflies. We're unsure of the significance of the actual butterflies — though Strange did seemingly see a monarch butterfly in space , courtesy of the trip the Ancient One sent him on during his first solo movie — but we're guessing the act of transmuting a super-dense, all-consuming vortex from which not even light can escape into a bunch of pretty insects is pretty significant in and of itself.

An array of other tricks

Doctor Strange has a few more tricks up his magic sleeves as well. Though each of these is only seen a single time, they're worth at least a passing mention. During the events of "Ragnarok," when Thor is looking for the Allfather, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), Strange plucks a single strand of hair from the God fo Thunder's mighty mane. This act — to which Thor does not take kindly — was for the sake of casting a locator spell that would transport Thor and the still-falling Loki through a portal directly to their father.

Strange also uses a couple of one-off tricks in "Infinity War" — during the Battle of Titan — one of which is a different form of the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, one more loyal to their use in Marvel comic books. Quite different than the usual mystic energy forms Strange uses as shields and weapons, the Crimson bands of Cyttorak are bright red, setting them apart from the bright yellow-orange color of the Tao Mandalas and Eldritch Whip, respectively. Strange pulled them out during the combined attack, seeking to bind Thanos' right hand to prevent his use of the Infinity Gauntlet. When Iron Man and Spider-Man attempt to get it off his hand, Strange restrains the Mad Titan's left hand.

Having failed to get the gauntlet off his hand, Strange later displays an ability to duplicate himself. Dozens of Doctors Strange attack Thanos with multiple Eldritch Whips. Their combined might was no match for the trademark purple blast of the Power Stone, however, as each of the duplicates was dispatched after Thanos attacked with the Infinity Gauntlet.

The Runes of Kof-Kol

When squeaky little Peter Parker is feeling down on himself for problems he kinda-sorta is responsible for, he seeks supernatural assistance to erase it all in "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Peter hopes Doctor Strange can make everyone on Earth forget he was ever Spider-Man so he can escape his newfound celebrity. For some reason, the former Sorcerer Supreme agrees. While this seems like something Steven normally wouldn't even entertain, he had to so we could get a cameo-packed film out of it.

Stephen and Peter head down to the Sanctum's expectedly drab basement, and orange sparks begin flowing. Doctor Strange performs The Runes of Kof-Kal — a spell that would fulfill Peter's exact aforementioned specifications. To put it simply, the Runes wipe the memory of those specified in the spell for a set period of time. According to Wong, the Runes of Kof-Kal travel "the dark borders between known and unknown realities." This initial warning should have made it a no-go, but arrogant Stephen gives it a whirl. The sorcerer didn't account for how annoying Mr. Parker could be, as the latter kept chiming in during the spell, changing his request. He doesn't want those closest to him — MJ, Ned, Happy, Aunt May — to forget his identity. Peter's interruption of the spell mid-progress allows people from other realities to crossover into ours. This only goes for people who know who Peter is, having the somewhat opposite intention of what the Runes of Kof-Kal are meant. Therefore, we get multiple villains from former Spidey flicks crossing over into the MCU, as well as two other Web-Slingers.

Since most of "Spider-Man: No Way Home" is a result of a botched initial Kof-Kal attempt, its finale sees Strange complete it correctly. The rules apply to everyone this time, including Ned, MJ, and Happy, and the film concludes with their memories Peter-wiped as well as everyone else on Earth. The Runes of Kof-Kal also send the reality trespassers back to their respective universes. The villains fade away reformed, while Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spideys head back to their realities. 

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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Doctor Strange teams up with a mysterious teenage girl who can travel across multiverses, to battle other-universe versions of himself which threaten to wipe out the multiverse. They seek he... Read all Doctor Strange teams up with a mysterious teenage girl who can travel across multiverses, to battle other-universe versions of himself which threaten to wipe out the multiverse. They seek help from the Scarlet Witch, Wong and others. Doctor Strange teams up with a mysterious teenage girl who can travel across multiverses, to battle other-universe versions of himself which threaten to wipe out the multiverse. They seek help from the Scarlet Witch, Wong and others.

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• Trivia Benedict Cumberbatch revealed in an interview that Benedict Wong broke about four ribs when he slammed into something during a stunt.
• Goofs (at around 41 mins) The pizza ball vendor accuses the main (universe 616) Dr Strange of stealing universe 838 Strange's cape. Later, in a flashback (at around 1h 9 mins), 838 Strange's cape is blue, and 616 Strange's cape is red.

Charles Xavier : Just because someone stumbles and loses their way doesn't mean they're lost forever.

• Crazy credits There is a scene in the closing credits: Dr Strange encounters the sorceress Clea, who invites him to the Dark Dimension to investigate an incursion.
• Connections Edited into Marvel Studios: Legends: Variants (2023)
• Soundtracks Theme from Doctor Strange Composed by Michael Giacchino

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• May 6, 2022 (United States)
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Al Ewing and Javier Rodríguez’s Defenders has been a gorgeous book from the jump , a supernatural romp in which Doctor Strange and some magically selected companions flit through the multiverse on a quest to stop a bad guy and corral a bunch of wild magic. But with this issue, Ewing and Rodríguez put a very different kind of power into its characters hands.

In fact, one might say it’s the fundamental underpinning of all of comic book magic.

Yes, I’m talking about the four color printing process.

What else is happening in the pages of our favorite comics? We’ll tell you. Welcome to Monday Funnies , Polygon’s weekly list of the books that our comics editor enjoyed this past week. It’s part society pages of superhero lives, part reading recommendations, part “look at this cool art.” There may be some spoilers. There may not be enough context. But there will be great comics. (And if you missed the last edition, read this .)

Defenders #3

This is the kind of metatext that gets me going: The power of this team of Avengers, Strange explains, comes from how they represent the four houses of the Tarot and the Secret Fire, thus forming the five elements of the pentagram, the Sign of Five. They are “all the colors” of magic — which Rodríguez represents throughout the issue as yellow, cyan, magenta, black, and white.

That is, the four colors of the four printing process that combine to make all the colors on a printed page — and white, the color of the page itself. Whatta chef’s kiss.

Arkham City: The Order of the World #1

I quite enjoyed the first issue of Arkham City: The Order of the World , thanks in large part to the work of artist Dani and colorist Dave Stewart, who are bringing some real classic Sandman vibes to the series. Most Arkham Asylum stories are eventually about how everybody who gets put in the Asylum — staff included — slowly goes madder just from being there, but Order of the World seems like it’s pointed somewhere different than that old well, and I’m curious to see where.

Amazing Spider-Man #75

I would say that Amazing Spider-Man #75 is a great place for new readers to pick up the book but honestly... it really feels like a continuation of Nick Spencer’s just-concluded run , which was spectacularly dense and continuity-heavy. The quips, though, are excellent.

Dirtbag Rapture #1

Dirtbag Rapture begins with one premise: An asshole protagonist who can house restless spirits within her mind makes a living by reluctantly transporting ghosts that are tethered to the location where they died to anywhere nicer. Then on the final page, as you can see above, things get more complicated.

Eternals: Celestia

The Eternals are doing a bunch of one-shots while the rest of their ongoing series gets ready for its second arc, and they’re all really good. This week, two Eternals face the fact that the Avengers have hollowed out the corpse of one of their gods to use as a headquarters. Which is rude.

The Nice House on the Lake #5

This is just to say that DC’s creator-owned horror comic The Nice House on the Lake still rips extremely hard, especially the art.

New Mutants #22

Speaking of great art, Rod Reis is just killing it over on New Mutants , as the gang gets trapped in the Shadow King’s illusions. Gorgeous, gorgeous work.

In This Stream

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Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

May 6, 2022

Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Marvel Studios' “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”—a thrilling ride through the Multiverse with Doctor Strange, his trusted friend Wong and Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch.

Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 2h 6min Release Date: May 6, 2022

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The Madness begins 🌀 Tickets are now on sale for Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Experience it only in theaters May 6.

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Home » University At Buffalo Suny - School Of Engineering And Applied Sciences » How Many Phd Does Dr Strange Have?

How Many Phd Does Dr Strange Have?

Table of Contents

5 PhDs. Stephen Strange has 5 PhDs .

Does Doctor Strange have a PhD?

Unable to save his sister, Strange decided to become a doctor to save lives. Strange went to medical school at Columbia University, and eventually graduated with an M.D. and Ph.D. at the same time, using his photographic memory to learn all of the information incredibly quickly.

How many PhD does Bruce Banner have?

seven PhDs Interestingly, Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner is much more educated than his comic book counterpart, as he mentions in Thor: Ragnarok (2017) that he has seven PhDs !

Who is Dr. Strange’s master?

The Ancient One The Ancient One is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was the mentor of Doctor Strange and was his predecessor as Sorcerer Supreme.

What degrees did Bruce Banner have?

Bruce obtained his doctorate in nuclear physics at Caltech, alongside Philip Sterns, who later became Madman.

What is PhD short for?

A PhD is a terminal academic degree students typically pursue when they’re interested in an academic or research career. A PhD is the highest possible academic degree a student can obtain. It stands for “ Doctor of Philosophy ,” which refers to the immense knowledge a student gains when earning the degree.

Is Doctor Strange 2 Cancelled?

Doctor Strange 2 was ‘cancelled’ in Egypt over gay content . The most popular franchise in the world, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s upcoming entry Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness won’t be released in Egypt thanks to the fact that one of the main characters is queer.

Who has the most PhDs in Marvel?

1. Black Panther . Very few characters in Marvel Comics have the educational pedigree that Black Panther has. Black Panther possesses not one, not two, but five doctorates.

Who has the highest number of PhDs?

Benjamin Bradley Bolger (born 1975) is an American perpetual student who has earned 14 degrees and claims to be the second-most credentialed person in modern history after Michael W. Nicholson (who has 30 degrees). Like Nicholson, Bolger is from Michigan.

What is the record for most PhDs?

A doctor from Hyderabad, S Satyanarayana has set a new Guinness record with 33 doctorates in various subjects which include 22 Ph.

What is Dr. Strange’s power called?

Who is stronger dr fate or dr. strange.

DC Comics’ Doctor Fate has proven he’s more powerful than Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange. The two superheroes known for their mastery of the mystic arts have often been compared to each other, but the Justice League Dark member has demonstrated his skill is above anything the Avenger can do.

Can Dr. Strange lift Thor’s hammer?

No . The magic the Asgardians use varies widely in strength depending on the caster. The pronouncements used by Odin are almost unbreakable by the magical abilities of Loki or Carnilla, two of the greatest sorcerers in Asgard. Both of their powers exceed the Sorcerer Supreme’s ability.

What is Peter Parker’s IQ?

around 250 Scientific aptitude and knowledge Apart from his physical abilities, Peter is an intellectually-gifted scientific teen genius and has a prodigious aptitude in the physical sciences, with a high IQ level of around 250 .

What is Tony Stark’s IQ?

Abilities. Super-Genius Intelligence: Tony is a phenomenal scientific genius and inventor with an IQ of 186 .

Does Peter Parker go to MIT?

for Peter Parker. Ultimately, while his friends get into MIT in the end, Doctor Strange’s memory-altering spell means the world no longer remembers Peter Parker. Not only is he not admitted to MIT , he no longer attends Midtown High and is seen preparing to take the GED test at the end of the film.

Is PhD higher than masters?

After earning a master’s degree, the next step is a PhD, which entails both working and performing research at an institution. A PhD is an abbreviation for “Doctor of Philosophy.” It is the highest academic degree one can achieve.

What is higher than a PhD?

The Doctor of Divinity (DDiv) and the Doctor of Civil Law (DCL) are considered by Oxford to outrank all other degrees, including a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. The DDiv is usually awarded for academic accomplishments beyond the PhD level.

How many PhDs are there in the world?

Since 2000, the number of people age 25 and over whose highest degree was a master’s has doubled to 21 million. The number of doctoral degree holders has more than doubled to 4.5 million .

Who is the most powerful in Avengers?

Thor is easily the strongest Avenger of all time. He can summon thunder and his hammer, Mjolnir, is one of the most powerful items in the Marvel universe. Granted immortality by the Apples of Iddun, Thor’s impressive feats include defeating the Phoenix Force, one of Marvel’s strongest powers.

Will there be Doctor Strange 3?

Will There Be Doctor Strange 3? Marvel has not confirmed that there will be a threequel to the Doctor Strange series yet . But there is no reason to assume we will not be getting a film in the future. It will definitely not be a part of Phase Four and so far it’s not a part of Phase Five so far either.

By Paul Arnold

Paul Arnold is an education expert with over 25 years of experience in the field. He has worked in both public and private schools, as well as colleges and universities. Paul is passionate about helping students learn and grow, and he has written extensively on the topic of education. He currently works as a professor at a local college.

When he's not teaching or writing, Paul enjoys spending time with his wife and two children. He also likes playing golf and watching sports. Paul is a big fan of the Boston Celtics and New England Patriots.

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Marvel Church

Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange

Creators: Stan Lee; Steve Ditko

First appearances (Comics):

• Strange Tales #110, April 1963

Death (Earth-616):

• Death of Doctor Strange #5, January 2022

Other media appearances:

In the MCU, Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange. We heard of Dr. Strange for the first time in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). He made a debut in the 2016 Doctor Strange film.

MARVEL Lore vs MSF

Doctor Strange was in MSF from the game release. For a brief period, he had some uses, but he was mostly useless before the introduction of Supernaturals. Even then his importance wasn’t even near to his real importance in Marvel Universe. To fix that Scopely has introduced a new version of Doctor Strange whose origin is outside Earth 616. In MSF Evil Strange is more powerful than Earth 616 Strange which is nonsense.

Both of them have some connections with Comic Lore. Transmutation power is represented in Doctor Strange’s (Original) skill to flip positive effects on enemies and Evil Strange’s skill to steal those effects. Also, Evil Strange can actually Conjure Demons with his ultimate which is in correlation with his actual powers.

It is important to mention that Doctor Strange (Original) can summon the Book of Vishanti to revive fallen allies. However, since the Book of Vishanti should be the ultimate power of Mystic Arts and a natural counter to Darkhold, its importance is definitely not shown in the game.

Other than this, both Stranges in the game have almost ordinary MSF abilities that cannot be related to Comic lore. Knowing the real importance of Doctor Strange in the Marvel Universe, the best I can say at this moment is that he is truly underrated in Marvel Strike Force.

Dr. Strange is a powerful sorcerer tasked with keeping Earth safe. Take a look below to see some of his abilities:

• Infinite Longevity/Fearlessness
• Energy Blasts
• Mystic Bolts
• Astral Projection
• Conjuring of Objects
• Transmutation
• Telepathy, Telekinesis, Teleportation
• Dimensional Travel…

Stephen Strange was born in November 1930 to Eugene and Beverly Strange while they were on a vacation in Philadephia. In 1932 his sister, Donna, was born. They were living on a family farm in Nebraska.

Karl Mordo, an apprentice sorcerer to the Ancient One, knew that Strange was to become the next Sorcerer Supreme. He was annoyed and jealous and sent various demons on young Strange from his eighth year until becoming of age. Eventually, the Ancient One, Mordo’s master, saved Strange.

Around a year after his “troubles” began, Stephen’s brother, Victor, was born. At eleven years old, Stephen was able to help his injured sister. The event put a clear path and interest in medicine for young Stephen.

Strange attended New York College as a pre-med student. When he was nineteen years old, Stephen spent a vacation at home with his family. It was his birthday. During swimming with his sister, Donna suffered a cramp. Stephen looked everywhere around. Once he found her, it was too late. This event left a huge mark on Stephen. His medical idealism got shattered, and he felt a personal failure.

Stephen finished college in record time and got his medical degree. He received a five year residency with the New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Talented as he was, he quickly progressed. His success made him arrogant as well. His interest in patients often ended with the mention of bills.

The turning point in his life was around 1963. Stephen had a terrible car accident, Dr. Nicodemus West saved Strange, but there was not much help for the nerves in his arms. They were severely damaged. Stephen’s carrier was over. He was too proud to accept a consultant position and his riches quickly dwindled due to his search for alternative healing methods.

The move to the East

During his quest for healing, Stephen heard about the mystical Ancient One. He pawned his last possessions and bought a ticket to the East. Strange managed to locate his “target” in Tibet. Strange was disappointed when the Ancient One refused to heal him, though he received and offer to be thought of mysticism. Stephen refused and was ready to leave but found himself stuck in the palace because of a sudden blizzard.

While he was a guest of the Ancient One, Strange saw Baron Mordo attack his master in secrecy. The Ancient one dispelled the attacks with ease. Mordo figured out that Strange would tell the Ancient One what he saw and put a spell on Stephen, preventing him from doing so.

This event initiated a change of heart in Strange, and he accepted the offer of the mystical sorcerer. The Ancient One dispelled Mordo’s spell and explained to Strange that he knew about Mordo’s attacks, but he decided to keep his apprentice close, hoping he would change.

The Ancient One had planned to make Strange his successor for a long time. Stephen’s potential was enormous. Strange learned magic with the Ancient One for seven years and returned to the USA in the 1970s. He became a mystic consultant and established his Sanctum Sanctorum in Greenwich Village, New York.

Wong, a member of the bloodline that served the Ancient One for centuries, became Strange’s servant, but most importantly, a friend.

A superhero with a heavy task

In the beginning, Dr. Strange did not meddle too much in the events around him. His focus was on the battle against Nightmare and Baron Mordo. However, Loki managed to pull him into the conflict and manipulate Dr. Strange to attack Thor. Stephen managed to find out about Loki’s treachery.

Spider-Man helped Strange save several people from the mystical dimension during his battles with Mordo. Strange was impressed with the courage and heroism of Spider-Man and considered him a friend. Throughout the years, these two would team up several times.

Dormammu. Ruler of the Dark Dimension felt that the Ancient One’s strength was declining and threatened to invade Earth-Realm. He sent his messenger first. The Ancient One knew that the threat had to be dealt with and sent Dr. Strange to the Dark Dimension to fight the enemy.

While in the Dark Dimension, Strange was approached by Clea, a novice mystic, Umar’s daughter. Umar was Dormammu’s sister. Clea was afraid that if Dormammu was defeated and no longer a ruler of the Dark Dimension, it would be torn apart by the Mindless Ones. Due to her concerns, she tried to stop the duel, but her attempts were in vain.

Dormammu easily defeated Strange but lost just enough energy during the fight to enable the invasion of the Mindless Ones. Strange lent Dormammu his powers to create a new barrier. Dormammu was furious because of his weakness and had to honor Dr. Strange. Stephen bargained for the safety of himself, Earth-Realm, and beautiful Clea.

That would be it for now. Let us check out the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of our favorite Doctor.

Earth-199999

In MCU, Stephen’s early life is similar to his life in the Earth-616 dimension. Donna, his only sibling in this dimension, died. Because of her death, Strange decided to become a doctor.

His car accident is part of this universe too. After surviving the crash, he went on a search to heal his damaged arm nerves.

Eventually, Strange found a letter from his physical therapist. This letter contained information about Jonathan Pangborn. Jonathan was a paraplegic who regained the ability to walk again. Strange found out his location and approached him while Jonathan was playing basketball with his friends. Pangborn looked well and fit.

Even though Strange declined Pangborn as a patient, Jonathan decided to help Stephen. He spoke about the way he got healed and directed Strange to Kamar-Taj and the Ancient One.

Strange used his last money and went to Nepal.

Kamar-Taj and the Battle of the Mirror Dimension

In this version of events, the Ancient One is a female. Strange managed to find her in Kathmandu. She explained to Stephen how Jonathan Pangborn got healed through his spirit. Strange was furious and said that it was a waste of his time. He spent the last of his money in vain. He could see through the Ancient One’s lies.

The Ancient One pushed Stephen’s astral form out of his body, and Strange experienced the Astral Dimension for the first time. The Ancient One sent him on a journey through different dimensions and universes until he finally returned to his body. He was stunned and begged the Ancient One to teach him.

Earth-199999 brings us an interesting plot. The Ancient one was offended by his words of disrespect and refused to teach Stephen. Because he showed disrespect, the Ancient One expelled him from the temple. Luckily, Mordo managed to persuade her to give Strange a second chance.

Strange went through intensive training to be ready for the incoming challenges.

During the Battle of the Mirror Dimension, the Ancient One lost the fight against Kaecilius. Strange rushed her to the Metro-General Hospital. The Ancient One left her physical form and talked with Strange in the Astral Dimension. She confessed of using the power from the Dark Dimension. She hated it but had to do it to ensure the protection of the world. The Ancient One hinted that Strange would have to bend the rules in the future, as she did.

In this version, Mordo is not Strange’s enemy at the start. He left Strange once he found out that the Ancient One drained the power from the Dark Dimension and that Stephen was doing it too. Mordo decided to cleanse the world from all of the rogue sorcerers.

Protector of the New York Sanctum

Kaecilius murdered Daniel Drumm and left New York Sanctum without a protector. Strange had to take this new role. However, he realized that he was not ready and worthy of wielding the Eye of Agamotto. Stephen decided to return it to Kamar-Taj. Wong, his servant, but most importantly a friend, agreed with Strange. Overusing an Infinity Stone would be dangerous.

After the duel with Dormammu, Strange created a list of extraterrestrial and inter-dimensional beings who posed a threat to the Earth. Unsurprisingly, Loki was on the list. At the time, Odin was brought to Earth and decided to stay instead of returning to Asgard.

Once Thor realized that Loki was only pretending to be Odin, he took his brother to Earth. We witnessed an interesting interaction with Thor, Loki, and Dr. Strange in the movie: Thor Ragnarok.

In Infinity War, Dr. Strange was looking for a way to win against Thanos. Strange looked through fourteen million six hundred and five possible outcomes. There was only one outcome where the forces of good came on top against a powerful enemy.

Stay tuned for more articles and updates on existing ones.

Basic information

• Real name: Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange
• Species: Human
• Gender: Male
• Place of Origin: Philadelphia, Pensylvania
• Occupation: Sorcerer, Doctor previously
• Height: 6’2’’
• Weight: 180 lbs.
• Hair: Black

“On the Origins of Dr. Strange: Narcissism, Self-Worth, & Morality” | (#045) The Masculine Psychology Podcast with David Tian

May 5, 2022 | Masculine Psychology Podcast

Dr. Strange gives you a masterclass in human psychology. Stephen Strange was the classic narcissist who tied his entire identity to his career.

So when he lost his surgical hands, he was ready to give up on life.

But instead of sulking, he redeemed his narcissistic characteristics by becoming selfless.

In this episode, we’ll dissect Stephen Strange from the first Dr. Strange movie, so you don’t make the same mistakes he did.

Listen now.

 Show highlights include:

• Why basing your self-worth on everything you achieve like Dr. Strange drives everyone you care about out of your life (9:00)
• The fatal psychological flaw in all superhero movies which can cripple your relationships if you take it literally (9:49)
• The insidious way “nice guys” are doomed in relationships (even as they become more confident with women) (19:47)
• Why striving for success at all costs makes you miserable (even if you think it fulfills you) (30:55)

   Does your neediness, fear, or insecurity sabotage your success with women? Do you feel you may be unlovable? For more than 15 years, I’ve helped thousands of people find confidence, fulfillment, and loving relationships. And I can help you, too. I’m therapist and life coach David Tian, Ph.D. I invite you to check out my free Masterclasses on dating and relationships at  https://www.davidtianphd.com/masterclass/  now.

For more about David Tian, go here:  https://www.davidtianphd.com/about/

    Get access to all my current and future online coaching courses by applying for the Platinum Partnership program today at: https://www.davidtianphd.com/platinum

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Note: Scroll Below for Transcription

Welcome to the Masculine Psychology Podcast, where we answer key questions in dating, relationships, success, and fulfillment, and explore the psychology of masculinity. Now here’s your host, world-renowned therapist and life coach,  David Tian .

David:  Welcome to the  Masculine Psychology Podcast . I’m David Tian, your host.

As of this recording, it’s about two weeks before the opening of the  Doctor Strange 2  movie,  Multiverse of Madness . In my peer group, my social circle, I’d be considered a pretty big fan of Marvel movies, the MCU, in general, but going online and doing a little quick background research on  Doctor Strange , I have discovered what I’ve always suspected whenever I did a little bit of research online to go deeper into any of the characters.  [00:58.2]

It is that I am completely a casual fan and maybe I’m just a dilettante, because I haven’t been able to keep up with the comic books. I don’t know all of the intricate history or details of the characters. I really just know what’s in the Marvel movies and what I will say about the Marvel characters is completely based on the MCU. I’ve just done, just today and yesterday, some research online to get a little bit deeper to confirm my suspicions of various characters and, wow, what a can of worms that opened up.

So, I just want to acknowledge and pay respects to all those who are real hardcore die-hard fans of the comic book characters and I am really just a fan. I became a fan since following the MCU movies for, I guess, now 11 or 12 years or however long they’ve been coming up, and, of course, I’ve been a fan of just comic-book movie characters, in general, including the  X-Men  series and all of that and Sony, and now it seems like we’ll be all coming together in Marvel.  [02:09.8]

In advance of the  Doctor Strange 2  movie being released, I’ve been requested to give my thoughts about the prior  Doctor Strange  movie, the first one, that gives his origin story and just, in general, his story arc or character arc up to this point, and I hope that there will be enough psychologically or enough psychology in the  Doctor Strange 2  movie to remark about it. I’m not sure, I can’t confirm that because I haven’t watched it, but we’ll see. But I’m going to do this one on the Dr. Strange character as depicted in the movies.  [02:47.8]

I’ve chosen three points to focus on and I’m drawing a lot from the first  Doctor Strange  movie, the origin story, and especially the first half of the movie where you’re really seeing Stephen Strange and his hero’s journey ending in a kind of selfless act, a kind of self-sacrifice, where he is enduring the pain of being killed and then coming back and being killed again, possibly for infinity, forever, but I guess his bet was that eventually Dormammu would tire of the thing.

I’ve got three points here and the first one is about narcissism. Stephen Strange is the embodiment of a lot of Asian-American second generation, I would even say, the argument of most Asian children’s ideals. That is the ideal that their parents imposed on them or passed down to them as the way the parents would want them to go, their careers and who they are. This guy is a genius. He’s got photographic memory. He’s got a PhD/MD and he did it all relatively effortlessly.  [04:02.7]

All of that is a good setup for the narcissism, because the narcissism is extra on top of that, right? The narcissism of a kind of self-centeredness comes from a kind of triumphalism. I mean, it creates this sort of arrogant behavior and demeanor, and looking down upon his colleagues, even if it’s justified. You notice this. This is there.

What’s interesting for me as a dating coach, insofar as I do dating coaching and advice, is that a lot of guys have mentioned to me over the years that one of their ideal character types is Tony Stark from  Iron Man  and it’s interesting because no one has so far mentioned Stephen Strange. But it makes sense as I’m watching this movie again; his only love interest is Christine Palmer played by Rachel McAdams and the character that is woefully underappreciated doesn’t get an arc really.  [05:06.8]

In any case, that was the only woman there. He wasn’t hooking up. He wasn’t seducing very quickly a journalist, like Tony Stark surrounded by a lot of trappings of hedonism. But you should know another kind of hedonism in the building out of the character of Stephen Strange, of his lifestyle, his watches, his sports, his supercars. There are a lot of guys online searching for help with women who would kill to be Stephen Strange, and if they had the trappings of luxury and status that Stephen Strange is shown to have, would be as arrogant and self-centered as he was. They would believe that they are justified in being that way because they believe that they are superior in the most important ways to their competitors or these other guys, just as Stephen Strange was arrogant and kind of mean and humiliating the other doctor, his colleague, and he was chastised for that by Christine Palmer.  [06:12.5]

As opposed to Tony Stark kind of narcissism, Stephen Strange’s narcissism is more about status and is sort of asexual. It’s a non-sexual type of narcissist ideal presented here, and Stephen Strange’s character actually represents the ideal for a lot of achievers, and as I pointed out, especially the achievers coming from an Asian or Asian immigrant background, because, of course, that has to be asexual because that’s full of sexual shame.

You have here Stephen Strange in the first part of the movie and they’ve written him so that he’s supposed to appear like he’s ready for the fall, like you’ve got to take this guy down several notches to even get the movie going, and yet for so many achievers, even before their story arc, their journey in terms of maturation and development, is all pre-Stephen Strange. They’re not even yet at that point beyond where Stephen Strange gets his catharsis and discovers the true meaning of life.  [07:22.0]

There’s a scenes when Dr. Strange is with Christine Palmer after his accident driving I think it was Lamborghini, I can’t remember, his supercar, off the cliff, and after so many surgeries, he’s just super frustrated because nothing is working and his identity is wrapped up in his ability as a surgeon, in using his hands, specifically. Doing some background research, I discovered that he was too arrogant to take on a teaching position and he really just wanted to be the superstar surgeon and that’s how he defined himself.  [07:56.2]

He and his self-worth, his value as a human being, lay in his achievements, and when he was no longer able to live up to that standard of some sort of a status, but it’s not just a standard of being helpful to others because he could do that in a teaching position or in a teaching role, but instead he’s got to be the center of attention, the showoff, the hotshot, and that requires him to actually be on the floor and using his hands, and when that’s taken away, he doesn’t know what his value is as a human being.

There’s that scene with Christine Palmer in his super-fancy condo and she’s saying there’s more meaning to life than this, and he says, “Like what? Like you?” and that was a moment where Christine Palmer was helping, I believe, Stephen Strange’s character to deepen in his maturity, to deepen in his self-exploration.  [08:59.7]

Of course, he’s still in his pain, so he’s not able to get out of himself, so he just lashes out at her, and she wisely leaves because the relationship with a narcissist, until they transform or basically their narcissistic parts are able to relax and to trust or get some access to the higher self of that person, they’re just going to cause harm and hurt, so Christine Palmer leaves in that scene.

Then that leaves Dr. Strange to go find some other solution, and even all the way through to his first training in Kamar-Taj, he’s still this arrogant guy whose self-worth is based on his achievement or his ability to achieve. It’s sad that superhero movies are limited in this respect, because just by them being superheroes, it actually prevents them from discovering the most powerful lesson, which is that love and worthiness for love can actually reside on nothing else except being.  [10:11.7]

I’ve covered this in many episodes on unconditional love. You can find them in prior episodes of this podcast. I also go into depth on that very basis of self-worth in my course, “Rock Solid Relationships”. I not only teach about it through seminars, but, more importantly, I provide guided meditative experiences that lead our students through it to discover it in their own way for themselves in an emotional way at the level of their unconscious, so it’s not just an intellectual sense or cognitive understanding, but it’s at the more important deeper emotional and unconscious processing.  [10:51.2]

But given the limitations of the superhero genre, Stephen Strange still reaches for something deeper when it comes to the meaning of life and his own self-worth, because at the end of the movie, you see that he has now achieved incredible skill in magic and sorcery and all that, and yet, at the end of the movie, he still somehow kind of mysteriously–  [11:14.2]

I think this is a flaw in the writing or maybe there just wasn’t an movie time to depict the character arc, but he ends up suddenly becoming selfless and offering up himself to this godlike figure, bad-guy godlike figure, Dormammu, and dies over and over and over again, and it said explicitly in the script that he’s going to feel the pain of each of these deaths. Yet he still engages in it.

Strange keeps coming back and says that he wants to bargain with Dormammu and tries to wear him down, but each time he’s actually feeling the deaths, so there’s a great cost to Stephen Strange in terms of pain and this is definitely not a self-centered act. It’s a selfless act, especially since almost nobody will know what he has done for them.  [12:02.6]

So, you see this story arc develop at the beginning and in the middle of the movie. In the beginning, there is that dialogue in Stephen Strange’s home where Christine Palmer walks out on him because Dr. Strange is saying, “Life without my work” is meaningless, and she replies, Life “is still life.” Life without work is still life, and says, “This isn’t the end. There are other things that can give your life meaning,” and that’s when he says, “Like what? Like you?”

Then jump ahead to the point where the Ancient One is dying on the hospital bed and she and Strange astral project outwards, and then she says, looking out onto the world, “Death is what gives life meaning. To know your days are numbered, your time is short.” Then at the end of the movie, you find that, indeed, Dr. Strange finds the meaning of his life in his sacrifice, in his death over and over and over, and dying again and again and again, in an infinite loop, as a strategy to wear down this god.  [13:04.2]

So, in this kind of clunky way, you see how the movie, the story of the movie, comes back around to the meaning of life, what could give life meaning, and that death or confronting death is an amazing way to bring to the fore what could actually give your life meaning. It is actually unfortunate that this is in a superhero movie making this point because it ends up that Stephen Strange is a superhero.

The implicit message is, while they’re asking the right questions and they’re breaking down the narcissism, and the way that the narcissism, because the narcissist has his self-worth pegged to his achievement, therefore prevents himself from finding real love and fulfillment in life, unfortunately, because he is a superhero now, a different kind of achievement, and finds meaning in that though it does redeem itself by having the superhero sacrifice his life over and over to save others in a kind of anonymous way.  [14:07.2]

The second point I want to make is about the Christine Palmer character and pointing out that she’s a perfect example of a white nurse type of figures. I used the term “white nurse” to contrast or to match the white knight. Wherever you find a narcissist or, more broadly speaking, an emotional vampire, you will find, if they’re old enough, they will eventually have met and matched with a white knight or a white nurse and Christine Palmer is a great example. This sort of romance that’s undergirding this movie makes a lot of sense and I wonder where that will go in the future  Doctor Strange  movie.

I’ll illustrate this with a bit of dialogue here. Right at the beginning or near the beginning where Stephen Strange says, “Well, wait a minute, you guys aren’t …”

Then Christine Palmer says, “What?”

Then Strange says, “Sleeping together?” referring to the other doctor, and he says, “Sorry, I thought that was implicit in my disgust.”  [15:01.4]

Christine then says, “Explicit, actually. No, I have a very strict rule against dating colleagues.” She says, “I call it the Strange Policy.” 

Stephen Strange says, “Oh, well, good, I’m glad something’s named after me. I invented a laminectomy procedure, and yet, somehow no one seems to want to call it the ‘Strange Technique.’”

She replies, “We invented that technique.”

Then Strange says, “Regardless, I’m very flattered by your policy.” Then he says, “I’m talking tonight at a Neurological Society dinner. Come with me.”

Christine replies, “Another speaking engagement? So romantic.”

Stephen Strange replies, “You used to love coming to those things with me. We had fun together.”

She says, “No, you had fun. They weren’t about us. They were about you.”

Stephen Strange says, “Not only about me.”

Christine says, “Stephen, everything is about you.”

Then he says, referring to that technique earlier, “Maybe we could hyphenate. Strange-Palmer Technique.”  [15:56.7]

This is the sort of banter that makes a lot of sense, given the narcissism of Stephen Strange, and it would require a kind of nurturing but also codependent white nurse. I point out that Christine Palmer is a mature version of this because she’s going to stick around because it’s part of whatever her makeup is.

We don’t get a whole lot of backstory for Stephen Strange explaining his childhood and all of that, as far as I know, and I haven’t dug far enough, but you don’t get that in the MCU. Nor do we have that for Christine Palmer and I don’t know if that would be of interest to the casual fan, but it would help to understand these characters. It’s actually necessary to understand the characters fully.

But we can just conjecture, and in any case, both of them end up in the sort of pairing here and I call it the “unholy pairing”, and I go into a lot more depth on it in my core “Rock Solid Relationships.” In fact, I devote two entire modules to exploring the whys and the hows and the implications of this common pairing that we find.  [17:04.8]

A lot of guys who take my courses and just like I was in the white knight side of the equation, so more of us found ourselves the Christine Palmer being attracted to a hot, sexy, confident, or seemingly confident, kind of an emotional vampire or narcissistic female character. That’s part of the allure of the pickup artist.

Most guys who become pickup artists and really spend a lot of time on it, devote a lot of time and effort into it, aren’t doing it to pick up the nice girl next door. They’re doing it because they want to rise in the ranks., so to speak, of the social-status world of dating and those are the women who are dressed to the nines and showing off their sexuality in venues like bars and clubs, and that has these nice guys drooling at being with some arm candy like that. A lot of it is not just sexual desire. Most of it is covering up their own core insecurities and getting that arm candy is a big part of their social status.  [18:14.0]

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They’re actually a lot more like a Dr. Strange kind of narcissism, but they’re on the codependent side of it. They’re compensating, right? But in order to become that Stephen Strange character, they have to take on those mannerisms.  [19:09.3]

So, they start out as a kind of Christine Palmer character, but much worse, because the way that she’s depicted in this movie, the few scenes that we have, show her to be mature enough to know when to pull away and when to protect or have her own boundaries, even though she’s always there and available and kind of he goes to her to rescue him repeatedly, in fact, in the movie. She does so without, it seems, a whole lot of hurt or pain or resentment, which is unusual. It just seems like she’s a mature version or a mature form of a white nurse.

But much more common is the white knight or white nurse who have internalized the strategy of pleasing the parent figure in order to get love and attention, and that gets carried forward into adulthood and they end up with someone who’s difficult to please, just like they perceived that parent figure back then. This is the pattern they know, so they recreate it.  [20:07.8]

Then pickup artists who actually succeed in learning and becoming good at flirting and banter and attraction and all that, almost always goes from originally an white nurse, one-down position, a white knight one-down position, into adopting the mannerisms, the thought patterns, the behavior of the one-up narcissist. This is the pattern you see over and over again, and unless you can become free of that, your relationships are doomed.

Obviously, here now you see it very quickly at the beginning, their relationship is already dissolved and Christine Palmer is wise enough to not get involved again with a self-centered Stephen Strange, and he’s inviting her on a date to watch him give a speech.  [20:57.7]

I know, this is hilarious, and I think for most people this, they would find this hilarious. I think most guys don’t understand the lessons here, the psychological lessons. I know I didn’t when I first watched it, because I wasn’t watching it from that lens. Back then, when the movie first came out, I was just formulating my ideas and viewpoints on what I call the compensatory, the compensating narcissist, so I didn’t really pick that up in the movie the first time.

I’m pointing it out now for those who have been following my work for a while and understand the white knight syndrome, the unholy pairing of the white knight with the emotional vampire, and you can see this with the genders reversed, and actually in the world, it’s more common to find. In the real world. Not the superhero world, but in the real world, it’s also much more common to find the male narcissist paired with the female white nurse codependent, so this is a very believable and psychological perspective pairing here in the movie.  [21:57.0]

You notice that Christine doesn’t have a character arc in this movie. It’s pretty much just a rock-steady role there in Stephen Strange’s life as the main character. It would be really great to get Christine Palmer’s backstory and I think she’s reappearing in the new movie, I’m not sure. It would be interesting to see how that plays out.

But just pointing that out as well, and if you don’t know about the unholy pairing, you’ve really got to stop everything and learn it. You can start from my white-knight syndrome, nice guy videos, and then if you want to go deeper, I’ve got the course, “Rock Solid Relationships”, because it’s essential. Especially for achievers, it’s essential to understand this dynamic, because you’re going to be on either one side or the other, and you’ve got to know how to balance it, harmonize it and create a love relationship, which requires confronting the toxic shame that is undergirding the narcissism and driving the white-knight behavior.  [22:55.2]

Okay, then the third point I want to make, this is a really big one, so it’s a little daunting, but I’m just going to mention it and we’ll see how far we can get with it. But I notice this with the Baron Mordo character, who also is going to supposedly appear again in the  Doctor Strange 2 , Baron Mordo, in contrast to the Ancient One, and Baron Mordo, towards the end of the movie, you start to see how, even though he’s a good guy, so to speak, his way of seeing morality, of good and evil, of making that distinction between moral good moral evil, leads him into what we see at the end of the movie as a villainous character or a villainous role.

It’s interesting how that happens, how you can actually be the villain, but think that you are doing good, and this happens all the time. In fact, most people who do evil or they do things that result in harm or hurt of others, actually see themselves for the most part in doing good or excusable so that whatever they’re doing is excusable and explainable and justified by some other intention that they have.  [24:14.0]

It’s interesting to point out here about Baron Mordo versus the Ancient One who made compromises and has a flexible view of good and evil, and in Dungeons & Dragons speak, I used to be a player of Dungeons & Dragons for several years as a, I don’t know, fifth or sixth grader, 4, 5, 6 grades, middle schooler, and in the ethics field for every character, there was a kind of rubric.

There were nine options. It was good, neutral and evil, and then it was lawful, neutral, and chaotic. In the middle of this tic-tac-toe kind of board, you’ve got neutral-neutral, and then in the one corner you’ve got lawful good, but lawful good’s opposite is not lawful evil. Lawful good’s opposite is chaotic evil. So, you’ve got lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good. Then you’ve got the same thing with the neutrals.  [25:07.0]

Then on evil, you’ve got lawful evil, neutral evil, and chaotic evil. Lawful evil is a lot like Thanos. He’s got rules. He’s got the kind of principles that he follows. Chaotic evil is just backstabbing. He’s going to break all the rules, doesn’t give a fuck kind of thing, and in many ways, the chaotic evil is the most dangerous one because they’re the most unpredictable and that’s the kind of joker type of character.

Loki is sort of an interesting chaotic character where he moves from chaotic neutral to chaotic evil to chaotic good in his story arc, and it’s interesting. It’ll be interesting to see where they take that character, which actually the TV series are a lot deeper psychologically, and maybe at some point, I’ve missed the boat on that one because those have all passed, but  Loki  and the Scarlet Witch one,  WandaVision , both had quite a bit of psychological themes in there, especially Loki’s.  [26:03.4]

But, anyway, notice that Baron Mordo and the Ancient One can be tracked on this rubric of chaotic and lawful on opposite ends. That Ancient One is willing to make these compromises because it’s about the consequences, the ends justify the means kind of thing. Then for Baron Mordo, his obsession about the natural law, that this law can’t be broken, regardless of who gets harmed as a result.

Dr. Strange here is more on the Ancient One’s side of things, much more on the chaotic end of the moral spectrum there, because he’s willing to and able to, and as he is shown in the  Spider-Man  movie where he helps Spider-Man change the timeline, he’s also willing to and is flexible around what is good and evil and what the laws are and rules and regulations. Baron Mordo is much more of a conservative on that end.  [27:02.4]

There’s a great book called  The Righteous Mind  by Jonathan Haidt, where he points out how liberals and conservatives actually react to and see and experience moral judgment very differently. For liberals, two of these six foundations, moral foundations, are by far the most important. In fact, the other four foundations or pillars don’t really matter, or they’re not a moral issue; it’s more of a taste or subjective preference issue.

The two that matter the most to the liberals are harm and fairness. As long as you’re not doing any harm to anyone and you are being fair, then you are good to go. You are cleared of your conscience, right? That’s harm and fairness. Those are two foundations. Then conservatives, in addition to harm and fairness, they also have four other foundations of loyalty, authority, sanctity, and liberty, and there’s a lot that can be said about this.  [28:01.3]

I have been educated in liberal context in school, but then a conservative context at church, so I was very churched. I was even a missionary going on mission trips in the summers and was actually pretty hardcore with the Campus Crusade for Christ. I was president of a couple different campuses’ Campus Crusade for Christ in Canada, in any case doing evangelism and all that.

From that side, I can totally see how there’s much more of an emphasis in a kind of visceral feeling. You can actually see that moral judgements and moral quandaries are processed differently in the brain through brain scans between conservatives and liberals hat there’s a really fascinating example in Haidt’s research going on and the research of other neuroscientists and philosophers and psychologists, a kind of discussed reaction to incest in conservatives that is lacking in liberals, and that the discussed mechanism, when it’s activated, is part of this moral foundation that conservatives see of purity or sanctity, that as actually a moral issue, not just a taste issue.  [29:09.4]

I recommend Haidt’s book.  The Righteous Mind  is an introduction to this area. There’s a lot of research literature on these issues. I’m bringing this up, not just because it’s interesting moral philosophy and moral psychology, but also because it has massive implications for how men and women treat each other across the gender divide. Who’s in the right? Who’s in the wrong? Who’s good? Who’s evil?

You can actually see that from the subjective perspective of somebody that you might deem evil. They’re just doing what they believe to be good and then they end up in this villain position. How do you know that you are not the Baron Mordo here and that you are actually the Stephen Strange?  [29:54.4]

This is a great example of what happens in relationships or dating conflicts. There are a lot of guys who weren’t saints, but got the shorter end of the stick in the relationship. They got cheated on. They got deceived. They were lied to, and the world or their social circle or society, their community, whatever they cared about in terms of their peer group, believed the woman. Then they demonize the woman. They get really bitter and resentful towards her.

The thing is, they’re going to get stuck in this position where neither side can understand the other, and as a result, they just keep butting heads. This then eats up inside the one who’s in the one-down because he is in the one-down. The one-up just sort of moves on. The one-down, unless he can get outside of his own perspective, he’ll always end up there. He’ll always be stuck there.  [30:52.3]

Okay, I just wanted to make those three broad points, the narcissism of the achiever and how self-centeredness blocks deeper meaning to life and fulfillment in life, and how many men or even before their self-awareness and growth, even before this journey that Stephen Strange went on, because they still haven’t even achieved that success that they think naively will bring them happiness and fulfillment, and a deep feeling of self-worth, when it’s actually founded on a house of cards built on sand, even if they were to succeed.

Ask the bigger and deeper question. Even if you were able to create and achieve this stuff that you think will give you worth and value, and happiness in life, and it’s not founded just on you existing, just you being, because there’s a whole other way of achieving, which is that you’re passionate about the thing and you do it any anyway, even if you weren’t paid. You stay up all night because you love to and you’re losing track of time because you love doing the activity.  [32:00.0]

The way Dr. Strange took to magic in the movie, it was like it was effortless in the sense of you see him very effortful at the beginning, but that’s just part of the beginner’s curve, which we’ll go through for everything. This is why I have courses like “Drive” that help people get used to blasting through and sticking with it, and a big part of it is knowing why you’re doing it.

But then, eventually, when you get to a certain level of competence, you will enter flow in the activity and you’ll experience a kind of effortless achievement, and that will take you very far, and for many achievers, that’s not good enough. They need to be the top 0.1% because they’ve set their goals on the best in the world or something along those lines, not realizing that the effortless achievement, because they love the thing that they’re doing and they can lose themselves in it and lose track of time, they’ll get good at it naturally, and they enjoy it and they’re passionate about it. That is an option available for excellence.  [33:00.2]

But so many achievers don’t go that route, even though they’re not even aiming at 0.1%, the top 0.1%. They’re just trying to make the grade and keep it going for years or decades, and now they’re tired or exhausted, and they’re still not fulfilled and they still don’t feel worthy of love just in who they are, not because of what they can do.

That’s a great illustration of how Stephen Strange’s character was confronting that through the loss of his hands and so forth, and I will see how it continues to evolve in the MCU. We’ll see how or where they take it, with the acknowledgement that it even in the first movie was a kind of jarring transition that wasn’t managed all that well, in my opinion. But we do see him just suddenly move into a kind of redemptive arc of sacrificing his life over and over in that loop.

The second point being Christine Palmer’s character, a kind of white nurse, in this case, a very mature white nurse, but just using this as an opportunity to highlight the unholy pairing between the codependent and the taker, between the giver and the taker, the codependent and the narcissist or the emotional vampire.  [34:08.1]

Then, finally, just noticing the difference here between the Baron Mordo’s character’s view of good and what’s required, and the Ancient One is a much more flexible way dealing with, and we know where the MCU stands on that spectrum on the conservative/liberal spectrum, not just in their movies, but also because of whatever political decisions they’ve made and companywide. It’s not surprising that they’re more on the liberal side of things.

But there is something to be said for, or, hopefully, you can see that there might be something to be said for the conservative moral foundations, and those foundations might involve authority, but just even giving respect to authority as being an issue of moral goodness. Loyalty, right? Then, of course, what I mentioned as an example there, purity or sanctity, and liberty, differ from the liberal view of just focusing on harm and fairness.  [35:06.2]

I’m just presenting that as a way of potentially switching perspectives so that you can arrive at resolution and conflict. Otherwise, you get stuck because you’re approaching the same thing from two different perspectives and can’t see or understand the other side.

Okay, just pointing that out as issues that came up in this movie. I’m looking forward to seeing the second movie and, hopefully, there’s enough in there to make some remarks for a future podcast and to draw it back to our themes here in  Masculine Psychology .

Thanks so much for listening, and I would love any feedback on this and any of the other episodes. Thanks so much for all the feedback so far and thanks again for sharing this with anyone you think would enjoy it or would benefit from it, and let us know what you think.

I look forward to hearing from you and welcoming you to the next episode. Until then, David Tian, signing out.  [35:59.0]

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2006-2008 PostDoc—University of Otago, Psychology 2005 PhD Psychology—Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand 2001 BSc Psychology—Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand 2000 BA—Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand (Psychology & Education)

Dr Deryn Strange's research program is focussed on memory distortion and it's impact. She conducts research in three broad areas: (1) the causes and consequences of distorted memories for traumatic events; (2) the  techniques that elicit false personal—autobiographical—or false collective memories and whether those false memories can be corrected; and (3) legal implications of memory distortion.

Dr Strange teaches Cognitive Psychology (Psy200) at the undergraduate level, Memory and Memory, Trauma and the Law at the graduate level.

Dr Strange is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and serves as a consultant to attorneys about the malleability of memory (eyewitness testimony and identification; historical claims).  She is also the current President of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition.