Spider-Man: No Way Home Confirms What We Suspected All Along About Wong

Spoilers ahead for "Spider-Man: No Way Home"

Tom Holland's version of Spider-Man is unlike anything we've seen before from the web-slinger on the big screen. In previous movies, Peter Parker has often acted as a lone wolf. He works by himself and never seems to encounter other superheroes in his world even though he lives in New York City, a popular superhero hub with the Marvel universe. This changes with the character's introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he has plenty of opportunities to fight alongside Earth's mightiest heroes.

In "Spider-Man: Homecoming," he was a protégé of Iron Man's (Robert Downey Jr.). In "Spider-Man: Far From Home," he must try to live up to Tony Stark's expectations in the aftermath of the hero's death in "Avengers: Endgame." And, in "Spider-Man: No Way Home," Peter turns to a member of his old "Avengers: Infinity War" cohort, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), to help him out when he's in a pinch.

At the beginning of "No Way Home," Peter's dealing with the ramifications of having his identity exposed to the world. As teased in the first official teaser trailer released in August, he turns to the Bleecker Street sorcerer to cast a spell so that no one will remember that Peter Parker and Spider-Man are one and the same. It's at this moment we get an intriguing new bit of information about a key player in this world, and it's something every MCU fan should've seen coming.

After Peter shows up, Doctor Strange and Wong (Benedict Wong) discuss the ethical and practical ramifications of casting a spell that will impact everyone on the planet, including themselves. It's at this point Wong makes it known he is now the Sorcerer Supreme, and it makes total sense. In "Avengers: Infinity War," Wong is left to protect the New York Sanctum when Ebony Maw takes Strange prisoner. While the movie makes it unclear if he is a casualty of The Blip, Benedict Wong confirmed in a 2019 Reddit AMA that he would likely take over as Sorcerer Supreme, especially given that he was already guarding the Sanctum. Although Strange was originally tapped to hold the honorary title, he was gone for five years, courtesy of Thanos (Josh Brolin). Naturally, the organization would've found someone else to take his place, not knowing everyone would return.

The revelation about Wong's new status within the sorcerer hierarchy provides new context to the scene featured in the "No Way Home" teaser trailer when he tells Strange not to cast the spell (via YouTube). The order isn't coming from one colleague to another; it's coming from someone who's effectively Strange's boss, even if he does believe the title only went to Wong on a technicality.

What does this mean going forward in the MCU? Probably not much. Doctor Strange still has full control of his powers, including his ability to manipulate reality per his whims. Wong will likely still be Sorcerer Supreme going into "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," but that likely won't stop Strange from messing with other realities and interacting with Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) along the way. It's simply a title change, one that Wong probably won't want to give up any time soon.

Wong as the Sorcerer Supreme makes sense, but one aspect of his new role that may have fans scratching their heads is wondering why such a powerful individual spends their time in underground street battles. As Marvel fans will remember, Wong was part of Xialing's (Meng'er Zhang) superpowered tournament in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings." Such an act might make sense for a sorcerer who's short on rent money for the month, but one would surmise the Sorcerer Supreme would have better things to do than break a monster out of a high-security prison to battle him in front of a bunch of spectators. 

Maybe Wong just loves the thrill of the fight. Perhaps he's having trouble paying off the homeowner's tax for the Sanctum Sanctorium, which is undoubtedly expensive right smack dab in the middle of New York City. Either way, it appears that Doctor Strange isn't the only wizard who's willing to bend the rules a little bit when it serves his own personal interest.

The real question remains whether Wong will retain the title of Sorcerer Supreme or if Stephen Strange will take it back at some point in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."