Doctor Stephen Strange was your typical world famous and arrogant surgeon until he learned the hard way not to text and drive. After an accident that permanently damaged the nerves in his hands, he was forced to give up his way of living and start over. Not being the kind to just give up, Stephen used all of his wealth and resources to find the cure he desperately needed until he found himself in Tibet, a student of the Sorcerer Supreme. His life would never be the same after that, becoming the magician we know today as Doctor Strange.
Marvel gave Doctor Strange his own entry into the MCU in 2016 with a solo movie, and he has been included in other movies with cameos ever since. With all of the crazy powers he showed off in every appearance, you’d think Marvel has showcased his entire skill set. That’s where you’d be wrong. While they have done a good job at establishing a few of the things he can do, Doctor Strange is far from finished. He has been learning and growing since the end of his movie and here’s to hoping they’ll use that as an excuse for why he hasn’t pulled some of these very useful powers out yet.
Prepare to be amazed at the range of powers given to Doctor Strange by galactic Deities the Vishanti as we list off some of the powers Doctor Strange has been hiding all of this time. (Seriously, Thanos shouldn’t even be a threat.)
25 Mr. Miyagi Would Be Proud
Given that magic can sometimes break down the body (source: battle to the end), a sorcerer needs to be in good physical shape in order to use large amounts of magic. It also comes in handy when you’ve run out of options and have to fight mano a mano. (Or demon, alien or other monster-of-the-week-foe.) Doctor Strange is no stranger to the martial arts; having been taught by both Wong and The Ancient One, Doctor Strange is no doubt prepared for most any kind of attack.
24 Big Brother Is Watching
You know the Eye Of Agamoto (read: chain that holds the time stone in the movies) can rewind the past and shape it to Doctor Strange’s wants.
But it can also show him things that happened in the past, even if he wasn’t specifically there.
It won’t necessarily allow him to change it unless he does the spell, but being able to see what happened would be quite the show. The Eye is an all-seeing artifact, and a great Deus Ex Machina (AKA convenient plot hole) if you ask me.
23 Elements Of A Hero
Besides controlling things of the supernatural, Doctor Strange is able to call upon the Winds of Watoomb and the Flames of the Faltines to aid in his attacks. Granted that both are actually coming from cosmic beings and can do more than just fire and wind, but Strange has his preferences. The Faltines especially like showing off as the fire used by the Sorcerer Supreme. If being Sorcerer Supreme were to stop working out, he could always figure out a way to control water and earth and become the avatar.
22 Walk A Mile In His Shoes
Although Black Magic is normally tabooed and seen as a big no-no, Doctor Strange has been known to use it against his foes. Take, for example, his spirit possession ability. It allows him to take over a person’s body Mario Odyssey style and become that person. The crazy thing is, it’s not even a spell that allows him to do this. It’s through sheer grit alone! Taking the person’s powers is one thing to do without magic. Taking their body though? That’s incredibly strange.
21 I'll Take What He's Having
Very similar to Doctor Strange’s ability to possess other people and take over their powers, he also has the magic to straight up steal the power someone else has. Thanos has a magic gauntlet that threatens half the universe? Boom, infinity stone power stolen. Spidey getting on your nerves? Tie him up with his own webbing. There are limits to his power, but just imagine how crazy future Marvel movies could be with Doctor Strange at full capacity.
20 Discount Storm
Just like his counterpart Storm, Doctor Strange also has power over the weather. (Does he feel a little over powered yet? We just started!)
In addition to his control over fire and wind, Doctor Strange can call down rain, thunder, tornadoes, you name it.
It’s almost like Marvel wanted someone like Superman without all of the alien background business. Still, of all of the powers Doctor Strange has, this is one of the most useful to people like you and me.
19 Stephen, The Friendly Ghost
We know about Doctor Strange’s use of his astral form, but his intangibility is summoned in a different way. Instead of projecting himself and leaving his body, Doctor Strange is able to turn his body nearly invisible and has the power to move through solid objects. Using intangibility instead of his astral form saves Strange from having to keep an eye on his body in case of an attack. The downside to using this instead of his astral form though is that he is not completely invisible. Given the right situation, he could be seen.
18 Take This, Twilight!
One of the main kinds of villains Doctor Strange encounters is vampires. He even accidentally created one in the hopes to bring his brother back to life. Yikes.
So what does one do when vampires are a recurring problem?
Keep the cycle going with a spell that only temporarily destroys all vampires. Now granted, since the spell ends so many at once, it obviously takes a lot of power. But is it too much to ask for a deceased person to stay down?
17 Don't Believe Your Eyes
Being able to alter the way people see what’s around them comes in pretty handy when you’re in situations where you need the upper hand. You can distract or hide things incredibly well with the slightest thought or incantation, in Stephen’s case. Doctor Strange uses a couple types of illusions. One is the run-of-the-mill change what people see kind of illusion. The other is to force them to see what they are most frightened of. Seems like that would have come in handy during Infinity War, but that’s just me.
16 Sweet Dreams, Doctor
As a superhero and Sorcerer Supreme, you’d have to be sure to watch your back at every turn. Being in such a high position allows for lots of targets to be on your head. So naturally, sleeping is an ever-fleeting thing. Not for our Doctor Strange! He prescribes himself one spell before bed and then lays down his pretty head. The spell is super effective, however; Doctor Strange can only use it once per cycle. Too bad if an afternoon nap is calling your name.
15 Daydream Believer
Not only can Doctor Strange keep his body safe at night, his dreams are also protected. Using a spell, he is able to dream walk on not just his own dreams, but in those of others around him.
For example, he helped Tony Stark out of a coma!
To top it all off, that was one of the first lessons Doctor Strange learned on the way to being Sorcerer Supreme. I guess that’s one class you would be able to sleep through.
14 Fire When Ready
Because he's a Marvel superhero, Doctor strange has to be able to shoot something that goes 'pew pew'. That's where his mystic bolts come into play. When Doctor Strange wants to get a good hit in but can't risk getting too close, the mystic bolts allow for some damage to be dealt. When Doctor Strange brings in the big guns, you don't want to be his enemy. They are a spell, and rightly one of Doctor Strange's favorites to use in battle.
13 Food Usually Works For Me
In addition to being Sorcerer Supreme and helping out in Infinity War, Doctor Strange created a team known as the defenders. Before you comment, know that it’s not the Netflix originals defenders gang you’re thinking of. These guys are other super heroes that only come together as needed. One of the members is Namor, who is notorious for always being in a bad mood. While most of Doctor Strange’s power comes from magic and cosmic deities, part of it also comes in the shape of artifacts, this included. The artifact was at least able to calm Namor’s mood.
12 You Are Getting Sleepy
Who hasn’t wanted to utilize hypnotism to get what they wanted at least once? It seems so easy and the way street magicians work makes it seem like anyone could do it. That’s not the case with Doctor Strange. He has spent years studying magic and learning about the ancient gods from whence his power comes. Nevertheless, the results are pretty similar. He hasn’t told anyone to act like a chicken as far as I know, but knowing his powers allows you to know that he could.
11 Never To Be Seen Again
I don’t know about you, but I’d like to banish people for a short time if they were getting on my nerves. Thankfully for those around me, I’m not Doctor Strange.
His banishment ability allows him to send a foe to another dimension for a time, but it does have its limits.
Doctor Strange cannot banish someone who has more magic power than he does, and it only lasts as long as he has magic in reserve. Better hope you can come up with a plan in that time!
10 Better Than Amazon
This spell, item conjuration, is one of the most handy for everyday needs. It would make lazy bums out of all of us. Needless to say, Doctor Strange uses this power to its fullness. If he needs something to make his plan work, boom... there it is. Need sugar for your tea? No problem. There are some limits to the power, as with most kinds of powers, but only based on the deity he called on to use the spell.
9 Back, Foul Beast!
Having run into his own fair share of demons throughout the years, Doctor Strange was going to learn how to exorcise at some point. Admittedly, he would call upon some deities that are not normally used in an exorcisim, but you get the point.
Doctor Strange has a very good tie to the Vishanti, the trio of gods that lend him their strength.
He also keeps in contact with older gods, giving him access to such a diverse set of powers.
8 Do Emojis Count?
You ever get so tongue tied that you start acting out what you want or needing a second to compose yourself? Not that it happens to Doctor Strange, as he’s usually quite composed. But should the need arise, he’s able to dip once again into black magic and speak in symbols instead of words. Many of Doctor Strange’s spells are verbal incantations, so being able to speak in symbols is good for those days when the cat’s got his tongue.
7 I Am One With The Force....
Through meditation, Doctor Strange has learned many secrets of the universe. One of them is the ability universal awareness. This ability protects him from things in the universe that are enemies, for example the extradimensional being Dormammu. When not dealing this the destroyer of galaxies, he can also be protected against aliens or time travelers. Knowledge is power, and by having this universal awareness, Doctor Strange has a leg up on the competition and can have his tinfoil hat on before the aliens arrive.
6 Oh, The Places You'll Go!
When you've been all over the world fighting for the good of the earth with one of your teams, it seems likely that you'd want to take in other sights too, should you ever get a holiday.
Doctor Strange is able to travel to different dimensions as well as anywhere on the earth.
It opens up many doors to him for learning and finding allies. Its also where he can send someone if they are on his list or if there's something harmful about to attack the planet. Seems like a nice little deus ex machina.