Marvel Supports Doctor Strange Becoming Most Powerful Avenger Theory

Could Stephen Strange become the MCU's most powerful Avenger in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? Marvel certainly seems to think so. Even since the gang first got together in 2012, MCU fans have enjoyed many a heated discussion over who deserves the "most powerful Avenger" title. Scarlet Witch is a favorite of Kevin Feige, and looks especially strong after the events of WandaVision, but Captain Marvel is so amped, she had to be written out of Avengers: Endgame's entire second hour. A dark horse for the crown is Doctor Strange. Trained in the mystic arts by the Ancient One after a celebrated career as a surgical genius, Strange is obviously one of the MCU's more potent superheroes, but not everyone believes he's worthy of the top spot.

Strange's claim could become much stronger thanks to the incoming "multiverse madness" of his big screen sequel. Conjuring beer and transporting other heroes is great and all, but Strange isn't yet a true successor to the Ancient One. Fortunately, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness could chart his ascension to the Sorcerer Supreme title. And as pathways to other dimensions reveal themselves, there are plenty of ways Strange can power-up - wrestling with Death and becoming immortal, summoning Vishanti, or even drawing from the Dark Dimension.

Any one of these could elevate Strange beyond his fellow Avengers, and Marvel just dropped a major hint in support of this theory. According to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer, Michael Waldron (talking on the Geek Vibes podcast), Benedict Cumberbatch's character will be at the "height of his powers" in the sequel. While you can certainly debate whether or not Strange is currently the MCU's strongest Avenger, there'd be very little doubt if the lean, mean Sorcerer Supreme was granted his full complement of Marvel comic book powers.

The tease of Doctor Strange fulfilling his potential opens a range of fascinating story possibilities for the multiverse madness to come. Though Cumberbatch is apparently still rocking the Eye of Agamotto (in Spider-Man: No Way Home merch), he's bereft of the Time Stone - a trinket Strange used extensively throughout his solo movie and against Thanos. Losing one of his greatest weapons, Strange should, theoretically, be weaker upon his 2022 return, so the prospect of him getting stronger must indicate some major event lies ahead in Magic Steve's future. Given the events of WandaVision and Loki, many fans assumed Strange would simply be cleaning up others' mess in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Those theories might've severely underestimated how much the sorcerer would be bolstering his own power along the way.

Waldron's comment could be interpreted as proof that Kevin Feige sees his number one mystic as a key part of the MCU in Phase 4 and beyond - a character worth developing with more and more elements from the source material. And that would make total sense with Kang the Conqueror now loose. Following the events of Loki's season 1 finale, the MCU is now rife with a potentially infinite number of evil Kangs harboring a potentially infinite number of dastardly plans, and many of them have a better grasp on multiverse mechanics than Strange. Quite frankly, Strange needs to be at the pinnacle of his powers to stand even the slightest chance of putting Kang back in his box.

For some, Doctor Strange maxing out his power in the MCU is far from a good thing. After all, when a Sorcerer Supreme becomes supreme in all manner of inter-dimensional sorcery, very few villains pose a threat to peace on Earth. To circumvent this issue, Marvel might redeploy the old Captain Marvel excuse. As mentioned previously, Brie Larson's Carol Danvers is so powerful, she went missing through most of MCU's timeline, apparently helping other planets who don't have a superhero lurking on every street. If Dr. Stephen Strange unlocks a similar level of strength to Captain Marvel in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, he too might be busy "saving other realities" every time a new villain appears.

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