Why Wong Deserves To Be The MCU’s Sorcerer Supreme, Not Doctor Strange

Most viewers assume Stephen Strange will become the Sorcerer Supreme in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but Wong is actually a far better candidate. The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) had protected the Earth from magical and interdimensional threats for centuries, drawing on the power of the Dark Dimension to sustain her life. She had used the Time Stone to peer through the mists of time, identifying threats before they emerged and trusting its visions of the future to show her how to defeat them. But she had never been able to see beyond the moment of her death in Doctor Strange.

Stephen Strange successfully defeated Dormammu in his first major conflict, but Earth’s magical defenses were still weaker than ever before. “Word of the Ancient One’s death will spread through the multiverse,” Wong reflected. “Earth has no Sorcerer Supreme to defend it. We must be ready.” Shortly after, the Time Stone itself was stolen and destroyed by Thanos. Doctor Strange himself was erased from existence by Thanos’ snap, and it’s reasonable to assume roughly half of the Masters of the Mystic Arts vanished as well. Earth desperately needed someone to step up as Sorcerer Supreme.

According to Spider-Man: No Way Home, in the absence of Stephen Strange that responsibility fell to Wong. This explains what seems to be Wong’s expanded role in the MCU Phase 4 so far, with the character apparently liaising with other superheroes in a loose Avengers team and investigating the Ten Rings when he sensed them from Kamar-Taj in Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings. Doctor Strange clearly wasn’t impressed, as he rather passive-aggressively told Spider-Man the only reason he wasn’t Sorcerer Supreme was th.at he’d been “blipped” for five years, missing the appointment of the Ancient One’s successor. However much Doctor Strange may resent Wong, the truth is his friend is a much better choice for the role of Sorcerer Supreme

Wong’s Character Is Better Suited To The Role Of Sorcerer Supreme

Wong’s character is simply better suited to serving as Sorcerer Supreme. Doctor Strange may be an accomplished mystic, but he lacks humility, meaning he’s unable to resist the temptation to show off; likely the real reason he couldn’t resist helping Spider-Man with his secret identity problem. Strange’s thirst for knowledge means he can’t resist learning as many secrets as possible, and he’s arrogant enough to believe he can master even the most dangerous spells. As seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home, he also lacks the wisdom to know when he’s trying to do too much. He kept trying to rewrite the spell he wove for Peter Parker, until it broke down and threatened to wreak havoc on a multiversal scale.

In contrast, Wong is much more cautious and thoughtful. He loves knowledge just as much as Doctor Strange, but he tends to read the whole book of magic before trying to use its spells—an important trait, because some spellbooks, such as the Book of Cagliostro, put the warnings after the spells. It’s true that Wong has certain weaknesses. He has a soft spot for Stephen Strange, allowing him to carry out the aforementioned identity spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but he’s nowhere near as flawed a character as Strange.

Wong Has More Experience Than Doctor Strange

Wong also has a lot more practical experience than Doctor Strange, simply because he’s been at Kamar-Taj a lot longer, trained by the Ancient One for years, and tie-in comics have confirmed he conducted a lot of field missions for the Masters of the Mystic Arts. Training in Kamar-Taj involves working with the various mystical relics the Masters use as weapons, one of which may well be a sword Wong’s wielding in action figures for Doctor Strange 2. However intelligent he may be, however gifted in spellcraft, Doctor Strange simply hasn’t had the time to master the use of these relics. While it’s true Strange grew in experience while battling Dormammu in the Dark Dimension – Marvel’s confirmed he was trapped in a time loop for countless cycles, and experimented with different spells every time – this simply isn’t enough to compensate for Wong’s experience.

Wong Is A Better Liaison Than Doctor Strange

The role of the Sorcerer Supreme seems to have been redefined during Wong’s tenure. The Ancient One kept to herself, operating in the shadows, but the events of Avengers: Endgame seem to mean the Masters of the Mystic Arts are now public knowledge. As seen in Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings, the world’s most experienced defenders are now liaising together in a secretive pseudo-Avengers team—one that Wong is a part of. This role of primary liaison with other heroes is one Wong would perform far better than Doctor Strange and could be vital in the absence of Nick Fury. He’s less arrogant, more willing to acknowledge the limits of his knowledge and call for help, and he’s much more of a “people person.” Strange, in contrast, would be unable to resist the urge to prove himself the smartest man in the room, meaning he’d spend far too much time butting heads. The role of Sorcerer Supreme has evolved beyond Doctor Strange.

Wong As Sorcerer Supreme Avoids Problematic Racial Tropes

Beyond Wong’s characterization, there’s also a good reason from an out-of-universe perspective in him taking on the role of Sorceror Supreme, as it would avoid some of the problematic racial tropes that have already plagued the Doctor Strange franchise in the MCU. Marvel both race and gender-swapped the Ancient One, Strange’s teacher, casting Tilda Swinton for the role in the first movie. Even Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has admitted the Ancient One’s whitewashing was a mistake, with Feige describing it as a “wake-up call.” The problems go further than that, though, because there’s something problematic at the very heart of Doctor Strange’s story as a white man who travels to another culture, mastering its secrets with remarkable ease and becoming the greatest among them.

Oddly enough, when Jack Kirby first created Doctor Strange back in 1963, there’s evidence he actually avoided some of these dated and problematic tropes. In his book Mysterious Travelers, comic book historian Zack Kruse argues Kirby intended Strange to be an Asian superhero. Partly based on his own correspondence with Kirby, Kruse argues the artist’s work demonstrates a lot of flourishes that would have been interpreted as Asian at the time; everything from his posture to the skin tone pointed to illustrations for Ming the Merciless and Stuff the Chinatown Kid, a DC Comics sidekick from the 1940s, although thankfully in a less exaggerated form. As Kruse notes, the decision to render Strange in this way is remarkably progressive. While Asian characters had appeared in mainstream American comics before 1963, they were typically relegated to the role of sidekicks and supporting cast. Strange’s ethnicity was not explicit, however, and his mythology developed after Ditko left Marvel in 1966, with any idea of his being an Asian Marvel superhero forgotten.

Decades later, the idea of Strange as an Asian hero is surprising to almost anyone familiar with the character, but when asked about it by Kruse, Ditko simply pointed to the first story he penned for the so-called “Master of the Black Arts,” insisting it stood on its own as his comment on the matter. Ironically, then, it’s likely Ditko would have avoided the problematic tropes that have become part of the Doctor Strange franchise. Marvel Studios would be wise to avoid any further issues by choosing to keep Wong as the Sorcerer Supreme, perhaps giving Strange a different title and responsibility. “Master of the Black Arts” was his original moniker in the comics, and it would fit with his reading the Darkhold in the trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Ultimately, the idea of keeping Wong as Sorcerer Supreme would make sense, both from an in-universe and out-of-universe perspective.

About The Author

Thomas Bacon
(4893 Articles Published)

Tom Bacon is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers, as well as a Peer Mentor for new writers and a member of the Care Team, offering support and a listening ear to members of the Comics group. A lifelong fan of major franchises including Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Marvel, Tom is delighted his childhood is back – and this time it’s cool. You can find him on Twitter @TomABacon.

A graduate of Edge Hill University, Tom remains strongly connected with his alma mater as a volunteer chaplain. He’s heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will swiftly learn he’s into British politics too.

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