The Marvel Universe welcomes its new Sorcerer Supreme, opening a new chapter in the role most famously associated with Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch. The mantle of Sorcerer Supreme is the main magical defense in the Marvel Universe. Far from a mere superhero title, the Sorcerer Supreme job tasks a single magical juggernaut with protecting a whole dimension from threats like multidimensional incursions and rogue deities like Dormammu and Nightmare. The Sorcerer Supreme must also balance the volatile scales of cosmic debt, manage the severe toll of spellcraft, and act as the principal arbiter of the laws of magic.
Backed by the authority of the Vishanti and armed with unique artifacts like the Eye of Agamotto and the Cloak of Levitation, the Sorcerer Supreme protects the fragile boundaries of reality. However, the mantle isn't always handled responsibly. Doctor Strange’s desperate concession during the Blood Hunt crisis allowed Doctor Doom to seize the title. Then, the collapse of Doom's global dictatorship led Scarlet Witch to rescue the title. Since Wanda Maximoff's abilities derive from reality-warping Chaos Magic rather than traditional sorcery, her tenure defies the rigid rules of the Vishanti.
There's more than one dimension in every timeline of the Marvel multiverse, and many of them have their own Sorcerer Supreme, like the Dark Dimension's Clea.
Steve Orlando's Sorcerer Supreme is quickly becoming essential reading for the mythos of the titular mantle. Scarlet Witch uses the Second Dimension's Sorcerer Supreme's main weapon, Dez-Mapa's Razor, to stop the Extinction King's destructive orb at the London Sanctum. This attack is ineffective, but Wanda gets a breath of hope from a different source, as Turin Sud-Ba the Quantumancer, the Quantum Realm's Sorcerer Supreme, arrives to crack the orb and help her.
When Turin the Quantumancer first appears, he remarks, "it's the Great Above!", addressing the regular universe that every major Marvel character inhabits as a higher plane of existence, just like an Atlantean would describe human society as the land of surface dwellers. Little is known about Turin at this point, but he'll become key to the Extinction King's defeat and Wanda Maximoff's time as Sorcerer Supreme. Right from the start, Turin shows off his turquoise magic and his regal attire.
Surprisingly, Marvel has left the concept of the dimensional Sorcerer Supreme largely unexplored throughout the decades. While main Marvel continuity has followed every chronological successor to Agamotto on Earth-616, the vast majority of the multiverse’s dimensions and planes are still blank slates regarding their supreme mystical defenders. The Dark Dimension's Clea and Limbo's Illyana Rasputin a.k.a. Magik, have become denizens of Earth-616's primary dimension, leaving their respective dimensions behind.
Marvel just officially marked the end of an era, but even as some beloved properties are put to rest, the future looks bright.
There's a wide array of bizarre Marvel dimensions that could have their own hidden Sorcerer Supreme figures. Strange realities like the the corporate-hellscape of the Mojoverse, or the biological chaos of the Cancerverse, are ideal territory for highly specialized arcane wardens who must adapt their spellcraft to match the unique physical laws of their environments. A Sorcerer Supreme of the Mojoverse, for instance, could weaponize meta-textual elements, while a survivor of the Cancerverse could threaten Earth-616 wielding the power of their corrupted reality, not unlike the Extinction King.
Which dimension's Sorcerer Supreme would you like to see?
Sorcerer Supreme #7 is available June 17 from Marvel Comics
