But later, when it’s revealed that the Ancient One prolongs her life with the same dark magic used by the movie’s villain, Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), Mordo denounces her as a fraud. We also learn that there can be dire consequences to drawing on that power, and that some forms of magic are dangerous and corruptive. In the film, the audience learns early on from characters like the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), Wong (Benedict Wong), and Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) that sorcerers draw power from other dimensions to keep Earth safe. That doesn’t make him evil, but it certainly makes him incredibly dangerous.ĭoctor Strange, intentionally or not, complicates the question of what “doing good” even means in the MCU. In essence, he’s the MCU’s Tony Stark, but with phenomenal cosmic powers. This is crucial: he has no problem using an Infinity Stone to alter the flow of time and achieve his goals, regardless of the outcome. But he’s also arrogant, dismissive of authority, and fully willing to use power he doesn’t understand. He’s brilliant but flawed, and his debut film centers on how he learns to use his gifts for the good of humanity, not just for himself. He wields black magic for the greater good of Earth, and defends his corner of the multiverse from extra-dimensional threats. Stephen Strange is brilliant, arrogant, and incredibly dangerousĭoctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) certainly believes he’s on the side of the angels. Watched in a certain light, Doctor Strange might actually be the closest Marvel has come to making a supervillain-centric movie. Marvel’s superheroes have gotten more and more morally compromised, and Strange is the most compromised yet. But with that comes an even hazier sense of what it means to be a hero in this universe.
That power raises the stakes for what to expect from Marvel’s outings going forward, especially as its heroes barrel toward Avengers: Infinity War. The walls between entire dimensions can come down when Strange is in the room, making him easily one of the most powerful beings Marvel has shown us on-screen.
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It’s brand-new territory for the long-running series where superheroes like Iron Man and Thor already have fantastical abilities, they’re grounded in a reality that Strange and his mystical cohort can bend and even break at will. Doctor Strange hit theaters just a few days ago, catapulting fans deep into the weird far reaches of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.