Doctor Strange Reminds Fans He Has a Secret Weapon Not Seen in the MCU

Potential spoilers ahead for Defenders #1!

Being the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange has a large number of magical tricks up his sleeve, but when magic is not an option, he has a secret weapon, one not really seen in the MCU. In a preview for Defenders #1, on sale in print and digital August 11, the Masked Raider challenges Doctor Strange to combat – and Strange reminds fans he’s also an exceptional martial artist.

Doctor Strange is known to comic fans as the Sorcerer Supreme. A former world-famous surgeon, Doctor Strange suffered massive nerve damage as a result of an automobile accident. Desperate for a cure, he traveled to Tibet in hopes of using magic to heal his condition. Instead, Doctor Strange found himself, shedding his ego and selfishness and becoming a hero. He would eventually ascend to the rank of Sorcerer Supreme, saving our plane of existence time and again from threats such as Shuma-Gorath. Doctor Strange is also one of the founding members of the Defenders, and he now finds himself bringing together a new incarnation of the team. One of his new recruits is the Masked Raider and when the Raider invades the Sanctum Sanctorum, he learns there is more to Doctor Strange than just magic.

As the preview – written by Al Ewing with art by Javier Rodriguez and inks by Alvaro Lopez – opens, Doctor Strange is in his Sanctum meditating. His calm is shattered when the Masked Raider enters through a mystical portal. Strange engages the Raider in combat, but the Raider’s Eternity Mask helps him stay one step ahead of the magician. Realizing what is happening, Doctor Strange casts a spell that neutralizes both of their powers. Strange then goes on to utilize his brown belt skills to take down the Masked Raider physically.

This is not the first time Doctor Strange has defeated an opponent using martial arts. In 2007’s Doctor Strange: The Oath, Strange was seeking a cure for Wong’s cancer, a search that took him to Timely Pharmaceuticals. In that story, Doctor Strange gets into a fistfight and reveals that in addition to studying the mystical arts, he also studied various martial arts as well. This is a side of Doctor Strange that has yet to be fully explored in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it makes sense that he would have some form of combat training. Within the Marvel Universe, there are a number of characters and entities that can negate magic or absorb it. These opponents force Doctor Strange to rethink his strategies, opting for a more physical approach, adding a neat layer to the character and making him even more well-rounded.

Doctor Strange is the foremost sorcerer in the Marvel Universe, but when the chips are down, and magic is off the table, he has a surprising skill not seen yet in the MCU: martial arts training.

About The Author

Shaun Corley
(1378 Articles Published)

Shaun Corley is a pop culture enthusiast living in the Pacific Northwest. After stints in both customer service and academia, he’s turned his attention to writing about comic books–his lifelong passion. He is a graduate of Radford University, with a degree in English. When not reading comics, he enjoys spending time with his fiance and their dog.

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