Doctor Strange represents a big step for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, introducing its huge world of mages, sorcerers, and other assorted magic users to the big screen. And that means we’ll be meeting a lot of new characters. So who’s who, and how are they different from the comics?
Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor)
In the comics, Baron Mordo is a pretty straightforward bad guy and arguably Strange’s greatest foe. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in the early 1960s, as part of the first run of Doctor Strange comics, he’s meant to be Strange’s dark side, what happens when ambition and lust for power gets the better of your morals. A fellow student of the mystic arts with Strange when Strange joins the monastery looking for a cure for the nerve damage in his hands, Mordo is cast out when he tries to kill the Ancient One and steal his power. In typical villain fashion, he blames Strange for ruining his plans instead of having a moment of introspection. The movie, however, is changing his character a bit: He’s still studying under the Ancient One, but he appears, from the trailers, to be Strange’s ally, at least at first. That may change… or he may turn out to be the man behind the man, with another man behind him to boot.
Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams)
Christine Palmer is well known to Marvel fans, but not for her association with Stephen Strange. Instead she’s been one of the stars of an early ’70s mystery series, Night Nurse, where she, among other things, had to solve a Gothic mystery involving mysterious lights and drug runners. That was more or less the end of it until, thirty years later, Night Nurse fan Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa brought her back to romance the X-Men’s Nightcrawler. Her coworker, Linda Carter, has been treating superheroes under the Night Nurse code name for a while, so just how Christine fits into this story remains to be seen.
Wong (Benedict Wong)
Wong is the Alfred to Strange’s Batman, and the Wong family has aided the Sorcerer Supreme for generations to atone for an ancient sin. In theory this ranges from making dinner to taking messages, but in practice, Wong’s basic job is beating the ever-loving hell out of anybody who threatens Strange while he’s incapacitated or breaks into his house. He’s even recruited a dragon to help him thrash a HYDRA cell. So, yeah, supervillains had better hope they get Strange instead of Wong, because at least Strange might leave them with their pride. We’ll also get to meet Wong’s family in the movie, too, as his father Hamir is also in the cast list.
Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen)
In the movie, Kaecilius appears to be the main bad guy. Which is odd because in the comics, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko introduced him as basically Baron Mordo’s mailman, and that’s more or less been his job ever since. Kaecilius isn’t even the second banana, he’s the fourth or maybe fifth banana depending on the needs of the job. Whenever a message needs to be delivered, or somebody needs to be made an example of, Kaecilius generally gets the scut work. So in the movie, either he’s gotten a massive upgrade, or he’s just a catspaw for someone else. At the very least he got to get rid of the silly hat and sillier mustache, though.
The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton)
A fixture of Doctor Strange stories since the beginning, The Ancient One is Strange’s teacher and mentor in the mystic arts, and, well, in the comics that’s more or less it, bar the usual kidnappings and attempted assassinations any superhero has to deal with when it comes to his beloved mentor. Scott Derrickson’s film has come under fire for casting Tilda Swinton in the role, an act of whitewashing that removed an Asian character from a fictional universe already dominated by white people.
Nicodemus West (Michael Stuhlbarg)
West is an interesting addition to the movie, because he’s a different kind of villain for Strange. First introduced by Bryan K. Vaughn in his Doctor Strange miniseries, The Oath, West started out as a hero, saving Strange’s hands after the car accident, and later learned about the mystic arts. But he quit studying too soon, and in attempting to combine magic and medicine, killed a patient. He became CEO of Timely, a pharmaceutical company that covered up the accident for him, and began working against mystics who’d treat conditions Timely would rather treat with pills. In the movie, he may be a good guy for now, but keep an eye on him.
Tina Minoru (Linda Louise Duan)
Finally, there’s an interesting nod to another Marvel team, and upcoming TV series on Hulu. Tina Minoru is the mother of one of the members of the Runaways, Nico, and a dangerous dark magician in her own right. The comics don’t tell us much about Tina, aside from the fact that she’s just as dangerous in a fistfight as in a magical duel. Just what she’s doing in the movie, we haven’t learned yet, and it appears to be a minor role. But if her ties hold, it’ll be an interesting connection between the two series.
