It’s not easy being the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth. Not only do you have to contend with acolytes going rogue all the time, but the multiverse hides many other threats to the fabric of our reality. Creatures and phantasms who seek to completely dominate our world and absorb it into theirs. We spoke yesterday about how Marvel’s Doctor Strange movie introduced more than one villain, but that’s merely the tip of this antagonistic iceberg.
Because the good Doctor has made plenty of enemies along the way. And if you’ve seen the movie then you know that it’s quite obvious who one of the villains in the inevitable sequel will be. But that’s not necessarily set in stone. So besides for that one character (who we won’t spoil here), here are seven other dastardly rogues that we’d like to see Boobytrap Upperclass tangle with next.
Mephisto
Powers: Mystical energy mastery, matter manipulation, astral projection, interdimensional travel, illusion casting, shape-shifting, soul capture, immortality and extreme cunning.
There are a lot of hells floating around the Marvel Universe, but the closest that and any reality has to a true devil who pulls strings as he plays games with the souls of mortals is Mephisto. The Satan of Marvel, Mephisto is a puppet-master of the highest order and a being of immeasurable age. Evil beyond the biblical sense, he’s a powerhouse in his own dark realm and a cunning trickster who could give Doctor Strange a run for his money when it comes to a battle of wits.
Shuma Gorath
Powers: Magical energy manipulation, telepathic, mind control, dimensional travel, shape-shifting, impossible to destroy, able to drain the energy of other dimensions and omnipotent in his own home dimension.
What is Shuma-Gorath exactly? On the surface, he looks like hentai nightmare fuel, a writhing mass of tentacles and hate who once feasted upon humanity many millions of years ago before the mage Sise-neg managed to banish the wretched creature back to its own home dimension. Since then, Shuma Gorath has been defined by one other trait: An endless hunger to return and reclaim humanity once again.
Such is the power of Shuma Gorath, that there is no stopping this Lovecraft-inspired abomination, only delaying the inevitable and managing to send it back to its world before it re-establishes a foothold on our reality again. Having been defeated time and again by Earth’s mightiest heroes, from Conan the Barbarian in ages past to Doctor Strange in the modern day era, Shuma Gorath has begun adopting more insidious methods to enter our reality.
It’s not a question now on if Shuma Gorath will return, but merely “when” the Old One will reclaim what it lost many millenia ago.
Dracula
Powers: Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility and reflexes. Immortal, immune to diseases, healing factor and vampiric control. Can shapeshift into a bat, wolf or even mist. All fueled by the blood he consumes.
The king of all vampires has walked the planet for over 20 000 years, emerging from a war between Atlantis and the armies of King Kull to become a legend that has endured even in our harsh and cynicl era. Though he may carry numerous weaknesses (an aversion to sunlight, silver and the faith of an individual) Dracula is still a persistent nemesis who has somehow always managed to survive the most lethal of injuries and return from beyond the darkness.
Having once attempted to take over Earth with a vampire army, Dracula left Doctor Strange no choice but to activate the Montesi Formula, an ancient magic that succeeded in killing all vampires on Earth. And even then, Dracula still survived and returned to vex the Sorcerer Supreme once again. For Dracula shall never know the sweet release of death, a curse that he is determined to make the populace of our world suffer for as long as he lives.
Morgan Le Fay
Powers: Extensive knowledge of magic that allow Le Fay to fly, shapeshift, create astral projection, heal, project energy and other magical abilities too numerous to list that have allowed her to survive death several times.
Doctor Strange may eventually become the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, but even his mystical might pales in comparison to that of Morgan Le Fay. Half Faerie and all-bad, Le Fay spent centuries mastering magic and amassing power. Hungry to rule all of time and space, Le Fay is a prime example of the corruption of absolute power and a foe who can never truly be stopped as she’ll always return from beyond to lead her army of lost souls on a new crusade of conquest.
Imperator of the Empirikul
Powers: Magical resistance, enhanced strength, commands a vast legion of Purifiers and various scientific weapons designed to siphon magic away from the user
Whereas Doctor Strange represents magic, the Empirikul represents science taken to a fanatical degree. The Imperator A crusader who longs to rid all of reality of the magic that various mages and witches use, the Empirikul leads an army of Purifiers who succeeded in burning out the magic of all alternate realities before a last-ditch effort by Doctor Strange finally halted his most unholy of crusades for good.
Doctor Doom
Powers: Doom can do anything, even defy your puny words and meagre description of the brilliance that is Doom.
Look, in a perfect world we’d get to see a very angry Doctor Doom prove to Stephen Strange that the greatest practitioner of the mystic arts is the Latverian Monarch himself. Heck, one of the very best graphic novels Marvel ever produced saw the two wizards team up to outfox Mephisto in a game of lies so that Doom could rescue his mother from hell. Also, this is clearly all the fault of Richards.
RIIIIIICHARDS!
But we live in a cruel world, where David Bowie is no more and Donald Trump is president. It’s probably never going to happen so long as FOX still hold the rights to anything Fantastic Four related.
Nightmare
Powers: Absolute control of the fabric of his Nightmare World reality, feeds on psyches and absolutely omnipotent within his own realm.
Nightmare is essentially the kind of dream demon that Freddy Krueger wishes he could be one day. As long as humanity has dreamed, Nightmare has been there to feed on their collective fears and anxieties. Sadistic and relentless, Nightmare also takes joy in torturing the souls of those who cross into his realm, especially Doctor Strange himself thanks to numerous encounters with the wizard.
While Nightmare may be able to reshape his realm at will, he won’t be satisfied until all of mankind is locked in a never-ending slumber within his dark dream dimension, providing him an endless source of energy and entertainment.
Last Updated: November 10, 2016
