The Sorcerer Supreme in Marvel Comics is the person who is deemed to be a master of the mystic arts with greater skills than all others in a given dimension. The man most known for this role is Doctor Strange, but there have been many others to hold the title on Earth-616. The idea is that this being will protect the world’s magic, but there are many cases where the opposite is true, such as when Doctor Doom became the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth-616 and used his power to take over the world. The only real requirement is that the Sorcerer Supreme is the most powerful mystic arts user in the dimension, and if someone arrives with more power, the title will shift.
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From the very first Sorcerer Supreme in this dimension to Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom, and more, here are the most powerful mystics to ever hold the role.
7) Loki
Loki became the Sorcerer Supreme when he tricked his way into the role. Vishanti awarded Loki the title after a tournament, despite Loki not participating in the tournament and therefore not winning it. The Vishanti believed a mortal could not hold the Sorcerer Supreme title because a dire threat was headed for Earth, and Loki, as an Asgardian, took on the role.
The Vishanti felt Loki wanted to be redeemed and atone for his past, and thought he was a better choice than Doctor Strange, who continued to disappoint. Loki ultimately helped defeat the Void, which was the danger the Vishanti had sensed was coming, and then he relinquished the role to Doctor Strange.
6) Doctor Voodoo
When Doctor Strange failed his duties as the Sorcerer Supreme, he had to pass the role on to someone else, and that ended up being Doctor Voodoo. The Eye of Agamotto showed Strange and the New Avengers a list of about 35 people who could replace him, and it was Jericho Drumm who was chosen. The Haitian Houngan Supreme had worked with Strange in the past, and he bore the Eye as a symbol of his new rank, beginning to work as a solid replacement.
However, thanks to his lack of knowledge and inexperience, Agamotto arrived and tried to force him out of the role. Voodoo ended up sacrificing his own life to stop Agamotto, and Doctor Strange regained the role. Voodoo has since returned to life, and he was even in charge of the Strange Academy, training the next generation of mystic users.
5) Magik
Magik was once a young girl in the pages of the X-Men before she ended up transported to Limbo, where she stayed for years, although only a short time passed on this plane. She returned much older and more dangerous, having learned magic while she was there. Now a powerful mutant with mystic powers, she joined the New Mutants and became a prominent Marvel A-list star.
Magik became so powerful with the mystic arts that she earned the title of Sorcerer Supreme of Limbo, a dimension unto itself. Since that time, she has worked with Doctor Strange when needed, as two Sorcerer Supremes are always better than one.
4) The Ancient One
The Ancient One served as the Sorcerer Supreme for centuries, off and on. Yao is the Ancient One, and he served as the Sorcerer Supreme starting in the 1450s, when the Ancient Ones presented him with the Amulet of Agomotto, recognizing that his skills surpassed those of the entire group. He then traveled the planet and collected all the mystical artifacts he could locate.
He had many adventures, including defeating the demon known as Xorak the Outcast, binding him to the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, and in 1666, he exiled Dormammu and shielded Earth from his influence. He eventually found his replacement in Doctor Strange and passed the role to him.
3) Agamotto
For many years, when Marvel Comics fans heard the name Agamotto, they knew it from Doctor Strange’s Eye of Agamotto. However, as Marvel has shown in the 1,000,000 BC comic book stories, Agamotto was actually the son of the Elder Gods of Earth Oshtur, and he was the unofficial first-ever Sorcerer Supreme of Earth. He was also part of the 1MM Avengers team.
Known as Agamotto the All-Seeing, he was a very powerful mystic, and with the addition of his role as the child of an Elder God, he was strong enough to fight off Dormammu and Galactus. Agamotto is also one of the three mystical entities known as the Vishanti, along with the Omnipotent Oshtur and Hoary Hoggoth. Agamotto actually arrived in the current timeline to attack Doctor Strange when he felt he was unworthy, and it was only through Doctor Voodoo’s sacrifice of his own life that he was stopped.
2) Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom became the new Sorcerer Supreme, and Doctor Strange can only blame himself. Strange helped teach Doom more about magic, and the villain was already proficient with the mystic arts. This was so Doctor Strange could help Doom rescue his mother’s soul from Mephisto, which they succeeded in doing.
That said, Doom began to become more powerful, took over Strange Academy, renaming it Doom Academy, and then refused to return the role to Strange until he had saved the world from every threat that existed, meaning forever. His power is greater than almost any other, as One World Under Doom has shown that he has taken over the entire planet as its dictator, and he uses his title as Sorcerer Supreme to ensure that he reigns supreme over all the Earth’s heroes.
1) Doctor Strange
While Doctor Doom tricked Doctor Strange into surrendering the Sorcerer Supreme title to him and then finding a loophole to hold onto it, Strange is still the more powerful sorcerer when he has the title. The difference is that Strange does not use his magic for evil purposes and uses it to save the world, which he has done on more than one occasion.
Strange has held the title of Sorcerer Supreme longer than anyone in Marvel Comics history. However, this is a relatively short timeframe compared to historical figures like Agamotto and the Ancient One. Regardless, he is more powerful than the Ancient One and has beaten Doom when he held all his power, and that makes him the best of the best of the Sorcerer Supremes in Marvel Comics.
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