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Has Stephen Strange officially become the Sorcerer Supreme? In Doctor Strange, the Ancient One was killed unexpectedly.

Strange was not appointed as the Sorcerer Supreme, but in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame, he wears and uses the Eye of Agamotto, but only the Sorcerer Supreme is allowed to wear the Eye of Agamotto. When Thor, Hulk, and Peter Parker came to the Sanctum for help, Strange acts like the man in power there.

In the trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home, Wong asked Strange "don't cast that spell." Wong's tone was like a senior or a mentor to Strange, and his behavior is still very irresponsible in Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer.

Is there any clue that Strange has become the Sorcerer Supreme in the MCU?

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    He is not acting like a senior or a mentor. He is pleading with a friend. Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 15:18
  • I didn't take it as a question either, what Wong said.
    – NKCampbell
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 16:56
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    Do we know only the Sorcerer Supreme is allowed to wear the Eye?
    – MaxD
    Commented Aug 26, 2021 at 6:05
  • @MaxD Anyone who has mastered it can wear it but it's use is strictly regulated it would seem: "You’ll wear the Eye of Agamotto once you’ve mastered its powers."
    – TheLethalCarrot
    Commented Aug 26, 2021 at 11:55
  • Wong is like the senior enlisted man trying to reign in his inexperienced officer. Dumb butterbars always think they know what's what
    – Taejang
    Commented Aug 27, 2021 at 13:43

5 Answers 5

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Strange is yet to become the Sorcerer Supreme in the MCU. At the end of Doctor Strange he has been made Master of the New York sanctum.

The Ancient One: You defended the New York Sanctum from attack. With its Master gone, it needs another, Master Strange.

Doctor Strange

It is later spelled out for us at the end of the film that the Sorcerer Supreme "job" is still vacant with interviews pending.

Wong: 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.

Doctor Strange

Then in all of the media Strange appears in afterwards: Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame no mention is made of Strange having become the Sorcerer Supreme. For such a big event it would have at least a mention so we can assume it hasn't happened yet.

However, to answer why Wong is acting like he is in the Spider-Man: No Way Home, Wong is a mentor to Stephen. He did so in Doctor Strange and has carried on doing so since. However, Strange is the Master of the New York Sanctum and so is more superior to Wong (under current information anyway, things may change in NWH!). Wong can still be stern and caution Strange even if he is a lower ranked because that's what mentors and more experienced people do.


What If...? episode 4 has some extra information on this. We get the following quotes:

The Watcher: The man of science became the Sorcerer Supreme.

[...]

The Ancient One: Without her death, you would never have defeated Dormammu and become the Sorcerer Supreme, and the guardian of the Eye of Agamotto.

What If...?, Season 1 Episode 4, “What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?”

This confirms that the Sorcerer Supreme is indeed a rank/leadership position. It also shows that in that universe Strange had become the Sorcerer Supreme. However, with the quotes from the main universe I don’t think it correlates to every universe and doesn’t appear to have done to the main one.


In Spider-Man: No Way Home, we learn that

Wong became the Sorcerer Supreme during Strange’s absence between Infinity War and Endgame, and remains so as of the end of the movie.

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    Is Wong lower ranked though? Isn't it kind of hinted that he might be the Master of the Hong Kong Sanctum? I know he said he was staying to defend it, but that's because everyone there died or could have been dead. And it seemed like Wong was fairly high standing with the Ancient One, being almost like a right hand man.
    – Villan
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 13:15
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    @Villan Wong was/is the Librarian of Kamar-Taj. I don't think it's ever hinted at him being the Master of any sanctum, especially considering he's at New York whenever we see him. He does go to defend the New York Sanctum in IW though not the Hong Kong one.
    – TheLethalCarrot
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 13:23
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    Not to mention good advisors to people in charge will be strong-willed and independent (rather than kowtowing yes-men)... so a good advisor to the head of the Sanctum would say something like "whatever you do, don't use that spell". It'd still Stephen's call whether to use it, ultimately.
    – TylerH
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 18:38
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    @Villan In addition, remember that when Dr Strange makes a joke, and Wong gives him a flat look, Dr Strange comments "people normally laugh at my jokes", and Wong responds with "and did those people work for you?" Then, at the end of the movie, Dr Strange makes a joke, and Wong bursts out laughing… It's a fairly clear callback. Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 19:07
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    @WernerCD the Sorcerer Supreme per my understanding is the “leader” of the Masters. So it is a rank/leadership position. Also the Ancient One is a moniker/nickname and not a title.
    – TheLethalCarrot
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 21:31
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At the moment, it's not entirely clear.

The Marvel Fandom page for the MCU version of Dr. Strange states that he is currently the Sorcerer Supreme:

Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange M.D., Ph.D is the Sorcerer Supreme and a Master of the Mystic Arts. Originally a brilliant, although arrogant, neurosurgeon, Strange got into a car accident which resulted with his hands becoming crippled. When all Western medicine failed him, Strange embarked on a journey that led him into Kamar-Taj where Strange had made the discovery of magic and alternate dimensions, being trained by the Ancient One. Though focused on healing his hands and returning into his career, Strange learned more of the mystic arts and helped the Masters prevent Kaecilius from merging the Earth with the Dark Dimension, but not before witnessing the Ancient One's death. Following the demise of their mentor, Strange became the protector of the New York Sanctum in New York as well as the Earth's protector from any new inter-dimensional threats.

That in itself doesn't prove anything, as Marvel Fandom is not an official source. However, the page does offer a citation from an official source, that being Dr. Strange's bio on Marvel.com, which states the following:

Formerly a renowned surgeon, Doctor Stephen Strange now serves as the Sorcerer Supreme—Earth’s foremost protector against magical and mystical threats.

This statement appears above the entries for both the MCU and comics versions of Strange.

enter image description here enter image description here

Given that this page combines entries for both versions though, I'm not convinced that the Sorcerer Supreme statement applies specifically to the MCU version.

If you look further down the entry for the comics version, it again states that he's "Earth's Sorcerer Supreme", whereas the entry for the MCU version just says that he's "Earth's newest Master of the Mystic Arts".

And the In Comics Full Report section documents the specific circumstances in which the comics version of Strange became Sorcerer Supreme, whereas the On Screen Full Report section says nothing about the MCU version receiving that title.

Also, as noted in TheLethalCarrot's answer, Wong stated at the end of Doctor Strange (2016) that Earth had no Sorcerer Supreme at that time.

Wong: 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.

Doctor Strange (2016)

It's possible that MCU Strange became Sorcerer Supreme some time after this, but it seems odd that Marvel would choose to have such an important moment for the character happen entirely off-screen, and neglect to even mention it in passing in any of the movies.

It's also worth bearing in mind that the comics version of Dr. Strange didn't become the Sorcerer Supreme until a full decade after his first appearance. He debuted in Strange Tales Vol. 1 #110 in July 1963, but didn't inherit the title of Sorcerer Supreme from the Ancient One until Marvel Premiere #10 in September 1973.

enter image description here

Marvel Premiere #10

The latter issue also featured the first confrontation between Dr. Strange and Shuma-Gorath. It's rumoured that Shuma-Gorath will appear in the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), and if so, that would seem like the perfect time to have Dr. Strange become the Sorcerer Supreme within the MCU.

We'll obviously have to wait and see if that's what will actually happen though.

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    Cal’s going to be in the movies too? Excellent! (I call Shuma-Gorath Cal for short, I’m trying to make it a thing. It’s short for calamari.) Commented Sep 2, 2021 at 19:26
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    It's still just a rumour at this point, but we've now seen a tentacled creature bearing a strong resemblance to Cal in two episodes of What If...?, which could be foreshadowing for a future appearance in the movies. Commented Sep 2, 2021 at 20:08
  • screw Kang, Cal (👍👍) is where it’s at for the next 6–7 years. Commented Sep 2, 2021 at 21:55
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Yes, Stephen Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme on the MCU.

This exchange from Hulk and The Ancient One on Endgame proves it.

Ancient One: It's the duty of the Sorcerer Supreme to protect the Time Stone."

Hulk: Then why the hell did Strange give it away?"

Ancient One: What did you say?

Hulk: Strange. He gave it away. He gave it to Thanos.

Yo me that implicitly recognises Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme in two fronts. First as protector of the Time Stone quite explicitly, second by the reaction (or lack of thereof) of the Ancient One.

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    It proves that Hulk thinks Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme, but I don’t think any of Banner’s eight doctorates are in the Mystic Arts. The Ancient One was probably focusing a bit more on why Stevie boy gave the fricking Time Stone away, rather the wizard rankings of the future. Commented Sep 2, 2021 at 19:22
  • If you want to take that position fine. But Doctor Strange IS the protector of the Time Stone as stated by himself in Infinity War Commented Sep 2, 2021 at 19:35
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Wong is the Sorcerer Supreme "by a technicality".

In Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021),

Peter Parker seeks out the help of Doctor Strange to make people forget he is Spider-Man.

Parker refers to Strange as the "Sorcerer Supreme" but Strange refutes this, saying that Wong became the Sorcerer Supreme "by a technicality"; when Strange dusted, the Earth had to have a Sorcerer Supreme, and so Strange lost the title and has not regained it as of the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, if he ever had it to begin with.

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    This merely repeats information in the accepted answer
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 21, 2021 at 1:21
  • Whoops, I see that now... Commented Dec 21, 2021 at 19:25
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We find out in What If...? Episode Four that Doctor Strange does indeed become the Sorcerer Supreme, but that is an alternate version of him, his Earth 616 version hasn't been confirmed by Marvel to be the Sorcerer Supreme.

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    What If..? S01E04 only confirmed that Strange was the Sorcerer Supreme in that alternate timeline. It's possible that he's also currently the Sorcerer Supreme in the timeline the movies are set in, but that is unconfirmed. The upcoming sequel may shed more light on that, so I'd wait for that before forming firm conclusions one way or the other. Commented Sep 2, 2021 at 1:34
  • If you search up if Doctor Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme, the first result is that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has confirmed that he is, meaning he is in the movies.
    – user144417
    Commented Sep 2, 2021 at 1:37
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    Are you referring to this Screen Rant article? If so, the clickbait headline says Strange was confirmed to be the Sorcerer Supreme, but the body of the article acknowledges that this was only confirmed in the alternate timeline, and that it is still unconfirmed within the main timeline. Commented Sep 2, 2021 at 1:45
  • No, that is what the MCU confirmed for the alternate timeline, but in Marvel Fandom it says that he is the Sorcerer Supreme in Earth-616, which is the Doctor Strange from the movie. I hope this answers your question.
    – user144417
    Commented Sep 2, 2021 at 1:49
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    @Loki'd you're confusing something here. The main plot of the MCU is indeed based on events that occured on Earth-616 but this earth isn't the MCU earth since there is a lot of differences. I cannot find any reference to the MCU in the Earth-616 wiki. But if you look for MCU on the Marvel Fandom you will find this which is the earth from the MCU also know as Earth-199999. Which confirms that as of now, we have nothing that proves DS is the Sorcerer Supreme. Commented Sep 2, 2021 at 7:25

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