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Doctor Strange vs Scarlet Witch: Who is Marvel's Stronger Sorcerer?
It's no secret that Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch are two of the most powerful magic users in both Marvel Comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, is one stronger than the other? Wanda Maximoff and Stephen Strange have generally been allies in the comics, but what if they had to fight one another? Would one easily overtake the other, or would it come to a draw?
There's a reason that Doctor Strange holds the title of the 'Sorcerer Supreme' in Marvel's comic universe, having spent years training and studying to become a Master of the Mystic Arts. As Earth's last line of magical defense, he knows and has used a plethora of incredibly powerful spells to save the world, his allies, and the lives of innocents. However, the limits of magical power that Scarlet Witch has from her inherent abilities are hard to define. While she began with simple hex powers, Wanda Maximoff eventually grew to become a conduit chaos magics, allowing her to rewrite the very fabric of reality. But that doesn't mean she has control of those powers.
Doctor Strange and Wanda have actually fought one another in the comics, with one of their most notable fights taking place in the Avengers: Disassembled storyline from Brian Michael Bendis, where Wanda had just killed several Avengers due to her untamed power, even killing her husband, Vision. This led to the Avengers calling upon Doctor Strange for help, and he he used his spells and the Eye of Agamotto to effectively take her down.
While she was still technically alive, Doctor Strange's actions shut down her already fragile mind. Afterwards, Wanda's father Magneto would arrive to take her away and eventually begin the House of M storyline (in which Wanda remade Marvel's universe). While Doctor Strange was able to stop Wanda rather quickly in this story, it does come with a pretty significant caveat: Wanda was not in control of her mind and psyche, let alone her extreme power. Had Wanda been in her right mind, yet still determined to fight Strange, who knows what could have happened?
Doctor Strange has experience, study, and mastery on his side, making him an extremely adept and capable magic user. Wanda's raw power makes her one of the most powerful beings in the entire Marvel Universe. If their fight had happened with the both of them being in their right minds at peak performance, it's quite possible that Wanda would have won the day, or at the very least would have made Doctor Strange fight harder than he'd probably ever had to before.
The MCU WandaVision trailer seems to show those same reality-shaping powers of Wanda's coming into play. Combined with the reports of Wanda's involvement in the Doctor Strange sequel, and fans can assume that Doctor Strange will soon come face to face with an extremely powerful Scarlet Witch. Here's hoping he'll be able to help her more in the MCU, rather than being forced to fight her like in the comics.
