Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, and Doctor Strange are the two most powerful sorcerers in the MCU. In Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they both made their debut in the same film, Captain America:
The Winter Soldier (2014). In 2016, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Stephen Strange starred in his first solo film, however, he was just briefly acknowledged here. Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and her brother Pietro (Joseph Mazzello) made their debut appearance after the credits rolled. Her subsequent appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron saw her play a pivotal role as a heroic former villain (2015).
Wanda and Stephen’s rise to prominence in the MCU’s later flicks made them its undisputed top heroes. It would be incredibly difficult for the Avengers to defeat adversaries like Ultron or Thanos without these two. When it comes to a showdown of wits and spells, though, which sorcerer has the upper hand?
The answer to this topic was explored in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022). As a result, the film raised more questions than it answered. So, let’s compare and contrast the two sorcerers’ extraordinary magical prowess.
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Dr. Strange vs Scarlet Witch (Who is Powerful in the MCU?)
Both are formidable, but Wanda shows her true mettle in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Thus, she possesses superior raw force, if we compare the two. Stephen, on the other hand, has been preparing for his role as Sorcerer Supreme for quite some time. Let’s weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each option to come up with a better conclusion.
To begin, not all magic is created equal in the MCU. Agatha Harkness, a seasoned witch, claims that Wanda is the reincarnation of a legendary figure known as The Scarlet Witch because of her innate ability to control Chaos Magic. After a vehicle accident cut short his great professional career, Dr. Stephen Strange learned to control his magical abilities as an adult. Eldritch magic, a form of light magic practiced by the Mystic Masters, was his specialty.
Wanda didn’t realize her witchy heritage till she was an adult. She got her abilities enhanced by the Mind Stone in Avengers: Age of Ultron and has since learned to control them. In contrast, Strange didn’t inherit any special abilities, although he did benefit from training with the Ancient One. So, unlike Wanda, he rapidly grasped the finest ways to harness and direct his abilities.
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Wanda has developed extraordinary telepathic and telekinetic powers, whilst Stephen relies more on enchantments and magical devices. In spite of this, their abilities are comparable. Well, let’s see:
Wanda can create energy blasts to attack her foes, move and levitate objects, and create energy force fields to shield herself from harm with the use of her psionic and telekinetic abilities. By casting spells, Strange can create energy structures such as weapons, shields, and even platforms to walk on. There is a deadlock in this case.
Wanda can levitate because of her telekinetic abilities. However, Stephen needs to wear his Cloak of Levitation in order to achieve flight. In this instance, Scarlet Witch is clearly in command of the situation.
Wanda has the ability to utilize telekinesis to read minds and hypnotize her adversaries. Even more so, Strange can accomplish the same results by using spells. The score remains tied.
Both protagonists can also alter their surroundings. The villains in Stephen’s first film, Doctor Strange (2016), used the Eye of Agamoto to alter history. While fighting Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, he was stripped of his abilities (2019). Meanwhile, Maximoff figured out how to bend reality to his will. Westview, the fictional city she inhabited in the TV series WandaVision, was built from the ground up to suit all of her desires (2021). In this respect, she easily triumphs over the competition.
Doctor Strange benefits from the use of several magical artifacts. He can travel to new areas by activating portals with his Sling Ring. Stephen can also project his soul from his body and travel to other dimensions. With the help of WandaVision, Maximoff dives headfirst into the mystical tomes of Darkhold. In the show, Agatha Harkness claims that because of her newfound proficiency with black magic, she is a more formidable witch than even Doctor Strange.
Wanda has more abilities and resources at her disposal than Doctor Strange, making her the more potent of the two in the MCU. But there’s a catch: her feelings tend to get the best of her. Wanda’s power increases as she loses control of her feelings. Stephen, meanwhile, can maintain his composure and use his expertise in spellcasting and tactics to his advantage.
Stephen also has an edge against the Scarlet Witch because Wanda must pay close attention while employing her abilities. She will instantly lose her levitating abilities if her attention wavers. In the same vein, even if Stephen were to fall unconscious while wearing the Cloak of Levitation, he would still be able to continue flying.
In a nutshell, Wanda might be the more formidable opponent, but Doctor Strange is the more skilled and strategic opponent. Still, he’s not exactly the type of wizard to take on a fellow sorceress all by himself (something the new film makes very clear). Also, keep in mind that Stephen is only half as powerful without his magical artifacts.
Wanda Maximoff vs Dr. Strange (Who is Powerful in Marvel Comics?)
In the comics, Wanda Maximoff is often considered more formidable than even Doctor Strange. A brief examination of her twisted path over the past few decades should convince you of this. Both characters have a long history in comic books while being relatively fresh to the big screen. As the Supreme Sorcerer since his inception in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963) by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Stephen Strange is an iconic Marvel Comics character. Wanda first appeared in X-Men #4 (March 1964), created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby as an adversary of Charles Xavier’s students.
Their identities, goals, and abilities all morphed with time. Wanda moved from being a bad guy to joining the Avengers to becoming an unhinged goddess; her story is terribly convoluted.
Wanda and her brother Pietro (aka Quicksilver) originally belonged to Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Over and over again, they clashed with the X-Men. It wasn’t until 1965, when the Maximoff siblings had undergone their second round of regeneration, that they officially became Avengers.
As with Jean Gray’s transformation into the Dark Phoenix, it took two decades for the Scarlet Witch to begin her transformation into a powerful threat. John Byrne took over West Coast Avengers magazine in 1989. Within a short period of time, he had killed Wanda’s husband, Vision, and caused the disappearance of the couple’s two sons, Tommy and Billy. Ultimately, Byrne corrupted Wanda into an evil creature in Avenger West Coast #55 (February 1990) so that she could battle alongside her fellow Avengers. At the conclusion of the story, all issues were settled. However, Scarlet Witch finally shows off some brand new, astounding abilities in the comics.
Ten years later, in 2004’s Avengers Disassembled story arc by Brian Michael Bendis, Wanda had a major breakdown. She launches attacks on other Avengers and kills several of them (Vision, Ant-Man, and Hawkeye). A number of the heroes make the difficult decision to go their separate ways, which ultimately leads to the formation of the Young Avengers.
Soon after, in Bendis’s 2005 miniseries House of M, the Scarlet Witch uses her powers to create an alternate universe in which mutants are the norm. In the final installment of this series, she displays yet another one of her incredible abilities. Wanda effortlessly reverses the world’s altered state by saying, “No More Mutants,” wiping out 90% of the mutant population in Marvel Comics.
The Scarlet Witch has recently (2022) risen to greater power than ever before by her ingestion of dark magic from both the Darkhold book and Chthon, God of Chaos. It’s all part of the Darkhold mega saga, which began in 2021 and whose plot twists and turns are still a mystery.
Even with everything going on around him, Stephen Strange seemed unaffected. He has spent the last six decades collecting magical objects and developing new skills and talents in comic books. To be clear, Strange is not more formidable than the “new” Scarlet Witch.
In addition, the Supreme Sorcerer was slain in the miniseries The Death of Doctor Strange, set in the year 2022. The promotion went to Stephen’s wife Clea. The original Doctor Strange won’t rise from the grave until May of 2022.
Strange Supreme or Scarlet Witch (Who is Powerful Hypothetically)
Despite her seeming invincibility in the MCU and the comics, Scarlet Witch would likely lose a fight against Strange Supreme. It’s the only major advantage Stephen has over her.
The animated short What If… included this dark take on Doctor Strange (2021). The good doctor in this alternate universe did not lose his hands, but rather his wife Christine. Stephen spends years fighting and absorbing other sorcerers, gods, and ancient entities in an effort to change time and bring her back. The end result is a wizard so potent that he can use the Infinity Stones to take on a version of Ultron.
If Strange Supreme and the Scarlet Witch were to engage in a magical showdown, the world as we know it would end. But now that Stephen has inherited the abilities of so many other mystical beings, not even Wanda can stop him.
Magic Encounters in the Movies and Comics
Wanda and Stephen’s brief encounter in the MCU occurred early in the characters’ respective stories. The fight against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame offered us a solid sense of their abilities, though. Wanda went head-to-head with Thanos, while heroes like Thor and Captain America were quickly dispatched. Thanos’s gigantic sword was broken by her powers, and she nearly crushed him with his own armor. Doctor Strange took a defensive stance while Wanda opted to go on the offensive by creating many versions of himself using magic to throw off Thanos.
Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, released this year, marked the first time the two heroes faced off on the big screen. Wanda’s desire to locate her missing sons, Tommy and Billy, throughout the Multiverse led her to become corrupted by the Darkhold spellbook. To do so, she must tap into the abilities of a little girl named America Chavez (portrayed by Xochitl Gomez) who can use interdimensional energy to traverse space and time.
Wanda’s incredible abilities are on display in the film, as she dispatches a number of villainous superheroes with ease. They include Stephen Strange, Charles Xavier, Reed Richards, and even Captain Marvel from alternate realities. No one in the MCU can stand in the way of the new Wanda.
Maximoff comes to deeply regret her aggressive behavior following a tense conversation. She (seemingly) sacrifices herself by eradicating all Darkholds in existence across the Multiverse. Dedicated followers insist she did not lose to Doctor Strange but rather claimed a draw before ending her own life.
There were a few instances in the comics where Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch got to show off their respective magical abilities against one another. Wanda goes up against Avengers teammates including Iron Man and Captain America in the film Avengers:
Disassembled. Doctor Strange was the only one who could calm her down when she went crazy. The Eye of Agamotto is used to induce a catatonic state in Wanda instead of resorting to physical force. In retrospect, Stephen does acknowledge that conflict with the Scarlet Witch was challenging.
In the sequel to the epic series, Secret Empire, they squared off once more (2017). You know, the one where Captain America is corrupted by HYDRA? To end the showdown between the heroes once and for all, Stephen calls upon Jane Foster’s Thor.
For the first time since March 2020, Strange and Wanda are once again pals and “co-workers” at Strange Academy. As the name implies, it’s a magazine dedicated to a fictional school for young wizards that takes inspiration from Hogwarts. Before his untimely passing a few months ago, Stephen was the school’s founder and headmaster. Wanda was one of the educators present.
Do You Believe in Magic?
Powerful sorcerers Stephen Strange and Wanda Maximoff. And when characters get to this point, it’s difficult to come up with fresh plots for them. Since Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch are so powerful with their spells, they can accomplish anything they set their minds to, from bringing back the dead to changing the course of history.
It makes sense that Stephen and Wanda’s abilities weren’t fully utilized in the MCU until this year’s Doctor Strange film. Various retcons have been applied to both sorcerers in the comics. They met death and were reborn, experiencing both a boost and a reduction in their abilities along the way. Both of them were just murdered once more. Not long after, she was brought back to life, but the Supreme Sorcerer is still at rest… for the time being.
It’s still possible that Strange and Wanda will employ their abilities in the future, either in concert or in competition. However, the Scarlet Witch is currently the most potent sorceress in either Marvel universe. The terrible Strange Supreme won’t be back any time soon, unless…