Spider-Man: No Way Home Reveals The New Sorcerer Supreme, Here's What It Means
Leading up to the release of "Spider-Man: No Way Home," it was pretty clear from the trailers and the secrecy in the marketing that the movie was hiding many, many secrets. Now that the movie is finally in theaters, we can confidently say that proved to be the case. And while there were some big reveals that we'll be talking about for a long time, some smaller reveals run the risk of getting lost in the shuffle. As one prominent example, the film casually reveals that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has a new Sorcerer Supreme. This is something that warrants more discussion, so that's exactly what we're going to do.
Warning: major spoilers ahead for "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Proceed with caution.
The New Sorcerer Supreme
During the first act of the movie, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) pays a visit to the Sanctum Sanctorum as he hopes to convince his superhero pal Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell that will make the world forget that he is actually Spider-Man. Upon first entering the Sanctum, Peter discovers that it is covered in snow, and Doctor Strange's fellow sorcerer Wong (Benedict Wong) reveals that one of the portals to the other sanctums let a blizzard into their New York haven of magic.
Around this time, Doctor Strange comes swooshing down the staircase with the Cloak of Levitation, and a little bit of back-and-forth banter happens. As Wong is getting ready to head off somewhere through a portal, Strange reveals that he is now the new Sorcerer Supreme and has landed the coveted gig due to a "technicality." The technicality in question? Well, as MCU fans will surely recall, Strange was away from Earth for five years because Thanos dusted his ass with his extremely deadly snap in "Avengers: Infinity War."
That being the case, the Earth was in need of a new Sorcerer Supreme to help guard the planet from various dimensional threats. With that in mind, it makes every bit of sense that Wong would step up to fill in those shoes. Not only was he working right alongside Strange, but he had been training in the mystic arts for years, and he was already dubbed the Master of the Mystic Arts by the Ancient One. So he was the next man up.
There Can Be More Than One
Interestingly enough, there are established rules for this sort of thing within the Marvel Comics universe. This is all laid out pretty succinctly by Fandom's Marvel Database entry on the Sorcerer Supreme. Let's look at the first chunk about how the Sorcerer Supreme is defined.
Sorcerer Supreme or Sorceress Supreme is a title granted to the "practitioner of the mystic or magic arts who has greater skills than all others or commands a greater portion of the ambient magical energies than any other organism on a given world or "dimension."
So with Stephen Strange turned to dust, Wong certainly fits the bill by that definition, at least within the confines of the MCU. Another interesting bit to note is that there are rules that would permit there to be two sorcerer (or sorceress) supremes, under just the right circumstances. Marvel's database adds:
By definition, there can be at most two Sorcerer Supremes per world at a time: there will be two Sorcerers Supreme if one of them has greater skills than all others but does not command a greater portion of the ambient magical energies than all other, while the other commands a greater portion of the ambient magical energies than any other but does not have greater skill than all others; there will be no Sorcerer Supreme if there is a tie between two organisms in terms of both their above-mentioned skills or abilities; and there will be one Sorcerer/ess Supreme if the same organism both has greater skills than all others and commands a greater portion of the ambient magical energies than any other.
That's a little wordy, but the main idea is that if one sorcerer is more skilled, and one possesses more magical energy, there can be two Sorcerer Supremes. The MCU could use this loophole to make it so that both Wong and Stephen Strange hold the title in the future. Or perhaps someone else will step up to the plate in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." But for now, the way it is laid out in "No Way Home," it seems Wong is the sole owner of the title for the time being.
How Long Will Wong Hold the Title?
This is the big question in regards to the casual reveal in "No Way Home." Honestly, it seemed like the whole thing was played more for humor than it was to provide a serious bit of information. Be that as it may, the Sorcerer Supreme is one of the most consistently powerful beings in the MCU. So, humorous or not, this is significant.
Now that Stephen is back, will Wong surrender the title to his friend and magical counterpart? Or is Stephen content to continue doing his thing without the title? Let's remember that The Ancient One felt this title was best bestowed upon Stephen Strange, and that is not to be dismissed out of hand. Then again, some of the irresponsible actions Strange demonstrated in the movie in attempting to help Peter are surely going to be taken into account, especially by a stickler like Wong. Let's not forget that Mordo is out there waiting in the wings too. It will be fascinating to see how the MCU plays this moving forward.
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" is in theaters now and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" arrives in May 2022.