Iron Man’s Future as the Sorcerer Supreme is Starting to Make Sense

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Death of Doctor Strange: Avengers #1

After Marvel Comics’ new tie-in issue to The Death of Doctor Strange, the potential future where Iron Man becomes the Sorcerer Supreme is starting to make a lot more sense. While Tony Stark has always been a man of science, past Marvel comics have teased that he’ll one day become the Sorcerer Supreme after embracing the world of magic. With Doctor Strange having been murdered, the Avengers have had to step up in some pretty big ways, and that’s especially true for Iron Man. While this new issue emphasizes his distaste for magic, it also shows him taking his first steps to better understand it as well.

In Death of Doctor Strange: Avengers #1 from writer Alex Paknadel and artist Ryan Bodenheim, Juggernaut lookalikes from the realm of the Crimson Cosmos have come to Earth. It’s one of many interdimensional incursions that have occurred since Doctor Strange was killed since the protective barrier typically cast by the Sorcerer Supreme has come down. With the world now in such a vulnerable state, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are doing the best they can to protect the planet. Dealing with magic has always been a struggle for Tony Stark given its tendency to break the conventional laws of science, but with the Sorcerer Supreme gone, it may be time for him to step up to the plate.

While the other Avengers, including Captain America, Thor, and Captain Marvel enter the fight and begin brawling the Juggernauts seemingly imbued with the power of Cyttorak himself, Iron Man takes a different approach. Stark chooses to walk headfirst into the weird and inexplicable world of the late Doctor Strange, venturing to the Crimson Cosmos to get to the source of the problem. The issue hints at how Iron Man will become the next Sorcerer Supreme in the future (as much as magic might frustrate him in the present), showing Tony embrace a magical solution as opposed to shrugging it off.

One of the greatest things the MCU has done to help viewers grasp the concept of magic is to introduce it as just another form of science that has yet to be studied and understood, and the same is true in the comics. While Tony Stark may struggle to grasp magic in the present, that’s only because he’s yet to do his research. If anyone can learn magic it’s Iron Man and his gifted mind. Because Tony made the effort to understand the magic that was happening around him, he ended up saving the day.

Seeing Iron Man stepping up and embracing magic more in the wake of Doctor Strange’s death shows that he’s capable of understanding it. As such, the future where he becomes his own Sorcerer Supreme is starting to make a lot more sense. And perhaps that future is coming sooner rather than later now that the position is currently vacant. Fans will have to wait and see as The Death of Doctor Strange continues.

About The Author

Kevin Erdmann
(2529 Articles Published)

Kevin Erdmann is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers. With a major in Cinema Studies and a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin is pretty sure he’s writing for the right site. While Kevin is a huge Marvel fan, he also loves Batman because he’s Batman and is a firm believer that Han shot first. Disney also shares a big part of his fan patronage. Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

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