Characters In Doctor Strange Who Mean More Than You Realized

Doctor Strange is finally here to blow our minds with another mystical side of the Marvel universe. We're introduced to a host of new characters that inhabit the hidden world of sorcerers and infinite dimensions, which makes it a little tough to wrap our heads around just who's important in this part of the MCU. But Looper's got you covered: we've done the homework and found out more about who's who in the world of Doctor Strange, saving you the trouble of going on a pilgrimage to Kamar-Taj for answers. For anyone who hasn't seen the film yet, be warned: there are SPOILERS AHEAD.

One of the Ancient One's most adept students, Karl Mordo is a gifted sorcerer and one of Doctor Strange's teachers in the film. Though he starts out as an ally, Mordo questions the Ancient One's teachings once he learns she draws her immortality from the Dark Dimension. At the end of the film, he's abandoned Kamar-Taj and gone off on a journey of self-discovery—which ultimately leads him become a villain. In the Strange Tales comics, he had a similar origin as a student of the Ancient One. One key difference was that he plotted to kill the Ancient One and was stopped by Strange. He's gone on to become a recurring villain in the Marvel Universe, with a particular knack for summoning demons—in fact, Mordo's 2016 arc involves striking a bargain with Dormammu, similar to the one sought by Kaecilius in the film. We're hoping this means we'll see Chiwetel Ejiofor's character follow a similar path in future films.

Wong is the librarian at Kamar-Taj and is somewhat of a strict man, seemingly incapable of laughter. Although he discovers the magic of Beyonce thanks to Doctor Strange, we don't see much of any warmth or levity from him until the end of the movie. Other iterations of Wong throughout the comics and video games see Wong as Strange's "faithful friend and companion," which means we could see the two get very chummy in the future. In the Strange Tales comic books, he serves as a sidekick and valet, assisting the Sorcerer Supreme while being unable to cast magic himself; in more recent issues of Strange's standalone adventures, he's been more of an all-purpose teammate, acting as a much-needed failsafe against some of the Doctor's worst foes (and impulses). We look forward to seeing Wong and Stephen's friendship blossom in future films—and we can't wait to see Wong open up more cans of butt-kicking action with the Kamar-Taj style of martial arts.

Dr. Nic West is one of Strange's colleagues, and clashes with the good Doctor's ego early in the film when he almost harvests a man's organs after mistakenly calling his death on the table. While he isn't given much screen time, Nicodemus West is a little more interesting than he seems. In the Doctor Strange: The Oath books (as in the film), he operated on Strange's hands after his accident, leaving them with nerve damage. He also followed Strange to Kamar-Taj, where he actually became a student and learned about magical healing. His training, however, was unfinished, and he ended up returning to the "normal" world. We've got no idea if Michael Stuhlbarg will ever reprise his role as West, but were glad to see Strange defer to him later in the film, giving him a chance to perform surgery when Strange could not.

Christine Palmer is a surgeon and a former flame to Stephen Strange. A caring person, she actively helps Strange after his accident before finally being pushed away by his self-pitying rage. While she's portrayed as a talented surgeon and a dutiful friend/ex-lover in the film, the character of Christine Palmer has a pretty rich comics historyRachel McAdams' Christine Palmer in any X-Men films, but we look forward to seeing her return in future Doctor Strange adventures.

In Doctor Strange, the Cloak of Levitation is an ancient magical relic that "chose" him and protected him while he was under attack from Dormammu's zealots. It seemingly has a life of its own, capable of pointing Strange towards helpful objects and even wiping away his tears. In the comic books, Strange actually has many Cloaks of Levitation, sometimes even stitching together a new cloak from old ones, like in the Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme books. At one point in the comics, his cloak was able to become larger than our own solar system when doing battle with Adam Warlock. Given Dormammu's size in the film, we'd love to see something like that happen in the future. Maybe he could even use it to wrangle Thanos into submission?

"Dormammu, I've come to bargain!" Those are words you'll likely hear a lot from Doctor Strange fans. While Strange might have been successful in annoying the demon of the Dark Dimension into submission, he didn't actually kill him. It's also important to note that the bargain Strange made with Dormammu said that the demon would have to leave Earth alone, but it didn't say anything about other worlds. Given the fact that Dormammu is a recurring villain in the Marvel universe, we could see him appear as a problem for other cosmic heroes, like the Guardians of the Galaxy or even Captain Marvel. As a mystical entity, we don't expect to see too much of him outside of Doctor Strange's realm, but it's wholly possible. He has, after all, appeared in the Avengers Assemble series and Ultimate Spider-Man, so he's been known to cause trouble on smaller scales as well. We're hoping to see more of this mystical menace in the future.