The Mystical Protector of Earth is also one of the most powerful superheroes our planet has to offer. Doctor Stephen Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme and has been a part of the Avengers since time immemorial, helping the heroes fight otherworldly threats. He has built up quite a reputation for himself as one of the most honorable and dignified superheroes of his time. Yet all that dignity is for naught when you dig a little deeper into the history of Doctor Strange. Presenting – 10 insane facts about Doctor Strange Marvel will die before letting you know!!
10. Using magic causes him immense pain
Every time Doctor Strange uses magic, it causes him so much pain that it literally tears a hole into his soul. Doctor Strange, no matter how powerful a magician, is still a human. And the human body has natural limits. There is only so much that the body can take. Magic is something that is completely unnatural and that is something no defense mechanism in the human anatomy could cope with. When Doctor Strange uses magic, it passes through his whole body before manifesting. The pain is unbearable. And that is why Doctor Strange uses more magic to soothe the pain, by casting out the pain into the Sanctum Sanctorum. The Sanctum would then see the birth of a horrible monster made up of all the pain Doctor Strange cast out of him.
9. He was a vampire
Marvel’s tryst with turning its most iconic superheroes into vampires began with the acclaimed Tomb of Dracula series. Dracula being a magic based supervillain was bound to face off against the magical protector of Earth. Doctor Strange and Dracula were evenly matched. But what good was the King of Vampires against a guy who has singlehandedly defeated foes as powerful as Nightmare and Dormammu? So Dracula did the sensible thing and bit him on his neck. Doctor Strange became a vampire but managed to turn himself back into a human being using the magic of course.
8. He is an alcoholic
Baron Mordo is to Doctor Strange what the Reverse Flash is to the Flash. Both the villains are obsessed with destroying the life of their nemesis. Mordo tried to end Stephen Strange’s life even before he was prophesized to become the Sorcerer Supreme. To end his suffering, Stephen would try to kill himself by driving his car off a cliff. When that backfired, he turned to alcohol as a means of escape. In more than one issues, it is claimed that Doctor Stephen Strange is a “Discarded Derelict”. In most of such story arcs, he gets a redemption arc that turns him sober. But the movie did not show that.
7. He is actually Asian American
When Doctor Strange started out as a superhero in Marvel Comics, his early appearances made him look like an Asian American. That fell right into the stereotype of Asian characters being used as representatives of Eastern magic and mystic arts. Stan Lee and Ditko, who jointly created the character, were infamous for using cultural stereotypes and racial profiling to create superheroes and characters for Marvel Comics. When Strange became a hit, the character was immediately changed to that of a Caucasian American as an Asian character is not “bankable enough” for White America.
6. His hands are permanently damaged
Superheroes like Daredevil are defined by their physical limitations. But how many of you knew that Doctor Strange is also physically disabled? After the accident took his hands away from him, Strange turned to modern medicine to cure his hands. When medicine failed him, the guy turned to magic. The Ancient One offered to cure his hands but Strange refused. He believed that there are bigger things than him trying to cure his hands and he needs to focus on those rather than such trivial matters. After that, Strange has never looked back. He has fought Gods and Monsters but never let his disability define him. The movie also showed us that in all its glory.
5. He has a third eye
Doctor Strange’s Eye of Agamotto is one of his most powerful tools against magic based villains. It has helped him countless times in diffusing strong illusions, acting as a magic laser emitter or used to track individuals across galaxies and even dimensions. In the movies, the Eye of Agamotto turns out to be an Infinity Stone with the ability to control time. In the comics, that is just a fraction of its true abilities. When in dire straits, the Eye of Agamotto holds the power to hop into his forehead and significantly increase his power levels. That also symbolizes the mystic third eye trope that is associated with most cultures and mythologies from Asia and beyond.
4. He lost his powers after the Hulk broke his hands
During the World War Hulk arc, the Hulk is in his most powerful avatar yet – the World Breaker Hulk. The Hulk would absorb the all gamma radiation emerging out of a nuclear explosion that was timed to kill him. The problem is – the ship that contained the nuclear bomb and brought the Hulk to a savage planet where he had already become a family man – was due to the Illuminati, a mysterious group of which Doctor Strange was a member. When Doctor Strange tried to reason with the enraged Hulk using his astral form, he lost control of his temper and squeezed the hands of his astral form so hard that his real hands literally exploded. Doctor Strange lost most of his magical powers after his hands were destroyed.
3. He is effectively immortal
When you become the Sorcerer Supreme, you have to hold the mantle for a couple of hundred years before another worthy successor succeeds you. Stephen Strange was also expected to hold the mantle for hundreds of years like the Ancient One before him as the Sorcerer Supreme. Every Sorcerer Supreme has to go through an initiation ritual where his or her body has to pass through the Orb of Agamotto. This ritual stops your body from aging. Doctor Strange has lost access to the mantle of the Sorcerer Supreme several times but that has not stopped him from staying as youthful as ever.
2. If he sleeps, he dies
We are not even kidding on this one. One of Doctor Strange’s greatest enemies is Nightmare, King of the Dream Dimension. To put things simply, Nightmare is the guy who is hell-bent on controlling the world by ensuring you never escape your dreams after you sleep. But Doctor Strange is still a human being and exhaustion is a common thing for him. He sleeps for sure, that is a given. But he has to chant a special incantation that casts a spell on his body that makes him invulnerable to Nightmare’s powers. One time he forgot to chant that incantation and woke up in an alternate reality where Nightmare almost killed him. He managed to outwit him and escaped but he learned his lesson nevertheless. Doctor Strange sleeps with one eye open so that the rest of the world can take a nap peacefully.
1. He literally eats poison every day
When Jason Aaron took over as the lead writer of Doctor Strange, he introduced quite a few changes to the character. One of the changes he made was the eating habits of Doctor Strange. According to Aaron, using magic has its own side effects. The more you use it, the more changes your body undergoes. This has led to a change in Doctor Strange’s appetite. Earlier, he used to eat normally. But now he can only chow down what could only be termed as alien goo. The food that he eats daily now would kill a normal human being, and it is slowly killing him too. But that is something he has to endure for the survival of the planet.
Doctor Strange will appear next in Avengers: Endgame set for release on 26th April 2019. The official film synopsis of the movie has been recently released and it states:
“After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos’ actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store.”
