How Doctor Strange Can Get His Sorcerer Supreme Title Back From Wong

Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for Spider-Man: No Way Home.

While it may not impress some fans, Marvel has just confirmed that Benedict Wong’s Wong is the MCU’s Sorcerer Supreme and not Doctor Strange. That should come as a surprise to those who expected Benedict Cumberbatch’s master of the mystic arts to follow his What If…? arc and become The Ancient One’s replacement. But Spider-Man: No Way Home establishes that Strange is still on his path to magical development.

Though Marvel was reluctant initially to bring magic to the MCU, Doctor Strange really opened the floodgates, even allowing for a retcon of Scarlet Witch’s powers after Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Yes, other characters had shown magical powers - like the Asgardians - but there wasn’t quite the same narrative dynamic or expansive world that Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange introduced. That side of the universe brought in dimensional manipulation, time distortion, fast travel, and arguably the most powerful individual in the MCU in Tilda Swinton’s Ancient One. With her death, it was widely expected that her protégée, Doctor Strange, would follow her path.

But No Way Home confirms that Wong became the Sorcerer Supreme after Avengers: Endgame and took up the exalted position instead of Strange. Strange rather bitterly tells Peter Parker that Wong was given the position on a technicality because Strange himself was blipped out of existence for five years. The suggestion there is that Wong does not deserve the promotion - and Strange does quite openly mock him as incompetent - but is it a fair assessment? Is Strange not just blinded to his own inadequacies as a Sorcerer, despite the great irony of Benedict Cumberbatch's magician ignoring his own troubled path to magical prowess?

Why Wong Is The Sorcerer Supreme In The MCU Not Doctor Strange

Wong carring suitcases in Spider Man No Way Home

On reflection, Wong being the Sorcerer Supreme makes sense, given Strange’s comparative lack of magical experience and the fact that he was installed as the protector of the New York Sanctum Sanctorum in Phase 3. Narratively, it also fits, given that Strange is impulsive and volatile enough to cast the spell that rips open Spider-Man’s multiverse despite Wong seemingly warning against it. He is far from the finished project, and would arguably be too powerful to uphold any sense of threat against him in Marvel movies going forward if he was the Sorcerer Supreme. With Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness trailer already teasing Strange's greatest threat - evil Doctor Strange himself - the idea of peril is a hugely important thing to preserve.

To put it in even simpler terms, Wong deserves to be Sorcerer Supreme more than Strange. He previously held the position of Kamar-Taj librarian, and while he wasn’t good enough at his job to stop Kaecilius robbing it, his magical prowess is not to be questioned. He led the masters of the mystic arts against Thanos on their return after Hulk’s snap in Avengers: Endgame, and proved in Shang-Chi’s post-credits scene that he has become a key part of the new Avengers team for phase 4 and beyond. Strange, meanwhile, still feels like a powerful loner, and the closest thing to Iron Man’s replacement as the MCU will ever see. He has significant growth in personal terms to get to Wong’s level, even if his magical power level has massively increased since his MCU debut. And Multiverse of Madness arguably needs him to have some capacity for making mistakes to really amp up the drama levels.

Even the Ancient One drew the line at predicting Strange’s future, instead preferring to point out his weaknesses to spur him on to develop his powers. And on her death, a power vacuum was created that Strange wasn’t ready to step into and Wong was seemingly forced to. After all in Doctor Strange, Wong confirmed that Earth was left in grave danger on the Ancient One’s death: "You might have a gift for the mystic arts, but you still have much to learn. Word of the Ancient One’s death will spread through the Multiverse. Earth has no Sorcerer Supreme to defend it. We must be ready.” While Wong has subsequently found time to take on some underground fight club work in Shang-Chi, he clearly dedicated himself to being ready. Unfortunately, the qualification in No Way Home has also just made it far more likely that Wong will have to die for Strange to realize his ultimate destiny.

How Doctor Strange Can Become Sorcerer Supreme In Multiverse Of Madness

Doctor Strange casting a spell in Spider-Man No Way Home

Wong's role as Sorcerer Supreme is already confusing, given his appearance in Shang-Chi. Firstly, his participation in the underground fighting tournament and frankly odd relationship with Tim Roth's returning Abomination doesn't sit with expectations of the Sorcerer Supreme's responsibilities. Indeed, Wong says in No Way Home that he cannot see to trivialities like Strange's upkeep of the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York because of his "higher duties", so him stepping out to fight for a purse against a wayward super-soldier is strangely illogical. Add to that the way Shang-Chi's post-credits seems to set Wong up as a sort of Avengers recruiter and there are more questions, though Wong being Sorcerer Supreme changes the dynamic of that scene and makes the threat of the Ten Rings beacon all the more pronounced. Presumably, Wong will step away from that to deal with the threats established in the Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness trailer, perhaps bringing him into contact with a more immediate threat. The shot of him in the Doctor Strange 2 trailer looking badly wounded and bloodied certainly fits with that danger, and sadly, that's arguably the best way for Strange to become the next Sorcerer Supreme.

While the Sorcerer Supreme is functionally immortal - as the Ancient One was - they can be killed by more nefarious things than disease and old age. So Wong could well be in danger and the Sorcerer Supreme title has passed between candidates on the death of the incumbent in the comics (and indeed now in the MCU). The good news for Wong is that the title of Sorcerer Supreme can also be surrendered to a more worthy candidate, which might well happen in Multiverse of Madness if Doctor Strange proves his mettle and morality. He still has a long way to go if Spider-Man: No Way Home is anything to go by, but it's possible Wong comes out alive to help Shang-Chi investigate the Ten Rings beacon if he does manage it.

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