This article contains spoilers for Strange Academy #2.
Marvel Comics has finally revealed just why Doctor Strange needs to be as buff as Captain America. When Stephen Strange headed to Kamar-Taj, he initially sought only healing for his damaged hands. Instead, he found himself learning how to become one of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, and soon he was battling to protect the Earth from terrifying and unimaginable threads like Dormammu and Thanos.
But the training Strange underwent at Kamar-Taj was rather odd. Strange had expected the Ancient One to focus on the mysteries of the Multiverse, but his mentor seemed equally interested in helping Strange develop his physical acumen. The Masters of the Mystic Arts all trained in martial arts as well as in spellcraft, meaning their members were all pretty formidable fighters. That's all the more remarkable given each one of them possessed enough magical skill to deal with the majority of threats with a hurriedly woven spell.
This week's Strange Academy #2 finally provides a justification for this. This series is set in Marvel's equivalent of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, with a new group of students learning what it means to practice the mystic arts. This is the perfect opportunity to establish the 'rules' of magic in the Marvel Universe, and writer Skottie Young intends to make the most of it. The second issue ends with a series of class descriptions, and the most interesting is - surprisingly - "Gym 1."
"A strong astral form necessitates a strong body, and Coach Taylor will get you there with calisthenics and some new magical devices."
It's a fascinating comment, and it suggests that - in the Marvel Universe at least - the Platonic division of a human being into body, soul, and mind has been rejected. Instead, the sorcerers are teaching a still more ancient understanding, that a person's body and spirit are intimately intertwined. Thus a physically strong and healthy man has a stronger and more durable astral form. This fits perfectly with the MCU as well, where Doctor Strange could project his astral form out of his body, but the two were clearly intimately connected, to the extent that electrical shocks to Strange's body discharged energy into the astral plane as well.
Two issues in, and Strange Academy is already clarifying the basic rules of magic in the Marvel Universe. In truth, this could be the most important mystic book in recent years, because it gives Marvel an opportunity to establish a lasting foundation that could even have a direct impact upon the MCU itself. After all, this neatly explains the exhaustive physical training undertaken by the Masters of the Mystic Arts in Doctor Strange, and it suggests Stephen Strange needs to be as buff as possible if he is to truly become the Sorcerer Supreme.