The Marvel Cinematic Universe has quite the diverse selection of heroes. There's a giant green monster, a tech genius billionaire, a Russian super spy, the ultimate soldier, a literal god, and even an alien raccoon. But fans have yet to see anyone quite like Doctor Strange. The former neurosurgeon is the Sorcerer Supreme — the greatest magician in the cosmos. His film, Doctor Strange, will open the gateway to the mystical side of the Marvel Universe, where a good deal of darkness resides. So with his involvement in the dark arts, does that make Doctor Strange good or bad?
At the beginning of the film (and this isn't a spoiler, this is the movie's well-known plot), Stephen Strange is a neurosurgeon. While he is very gifted and likes helping people, he's also very narcissistic and kind of a jerk. After suffering a horrific car accident, he loses the use of his hands, which were his livelihood. Strange then spends all of his money traveling the world looking for a cure, finally ending up in Nepal on his last dime. It's there where he meets the Ancient One, the current Sorcerer Supreme, who sees potential in him and trains him in the mystic arts. Strange then discovers his new purpose in life: To protect reality from forces which aim to destroy it. So Strange is a good guy all the way, but why haven't fans heard from any of these sorcerers until now?
This is the fourteenth entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and so far there have been several global-level threats from the likes of Loki and an army of aliens, Ultron and an army of robots, and others, but very powerful magicians like the Ancient One and Doctor Strange (who was name-dropped in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, meaning he was likely already Sorcerer Supreme by that time) haven't made a peep. It turns out, there's a good reason for that. Foes like Loki and Ultron are small potatoes compared to the types of forces the sorcerers are battling against.
Basically, the foes that heroes like the Avengers fight are physical threats to one reality. Doctor Strange and those like him deal in the mystical realm. They protect reality itself from outside mystical forces — forces which may eliminate our reality altogether. Loki might take over the physical world, but he's not going to eliminate reality itself. That's why Strange isn't all that interested in him. As long as reality remains intact and the dimensions remain separate, Strange is good — it doesn't really matter what's happening on Earth. However, Strange and the Avengers are scheduled to team up in Infinity War , likely because Thanos in possession of the Infinity Stones potentially poses a threat to both the physical world and reality itself, since his power will be virtually limitless.
Make no mistake, Doctor Strange is a hero. He just deals with different kinds of villains than do the Avengers, which makes him an intriguing addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Images: Walt Disney Pictures; Giphy
