The Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ series Ironheart introduced several surprising characters. While Ironheart is a tech character, the series introduced characters that fans might have expected to meet in shows like Agatha All Along or movies in the Doctor Strange franchise. These include the long-hinted-at Mephisto and the surprising introduction of young magic user Zelma Standon. The surprise here was Zelma, a powerful magician and, in Marvel Comics, one of the founders of Doctor Strange’s Strange Academy, as well as one of its teachers. Zelma debuted in Doctor Strange Vol. 4 #1 in 2015 when Strange cured her of “mind maggots” and hired her as his librarian. She soon gained magical powers after saving Strange’s life and has since been a powerful sorcerer.
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Strange Academy debuted in 2020, introduced by Zelma Stanton recruiting a young magic user named Emily Bright to the new school. Emily showed up to meet several interesting students, including Asgardians, Frost Giants, zombies, fairies, and even the “son” of the demon Dormammu, all of whom were treated equally to help them become masters of their own personal mystic arts.
10) Shaylee Moonpeddle
Shaylee Moonpeddle doesn’t seem to be a very powerful Strange Academy character. She is primarily defined by her happy-go-lucky nature and her close friendships with the awkward Frost Giant, Guslaug, and her romance with Toth. She was also one of the first students to become friends with Emily Bright, the student whose point of view introduced readers to the new world in the first volume of Strange Academy. Shaylee is the daughter of a fairy queen from Otherworld, and she grew up without her father, who was a human, thanks to the Fairy Council’s rules. As a human-fairy hybrid, she can fly and possesses innate magical abilities, although they are not as strong as those of her classmates.
9) Calvin Morse
Calvin Morse is a tragic student at Strange Academy. He was a younger, awkward child who was raised in foster homes. He never felt like he belonged anywhere, and his last foster home was so bad that he lashed out at his foster parents after finding a leather jacket in his closet. Discovering he has magical powers, he finally found a place to fit in at Strange Academy, only to learn a devastating lesson. His jacket was Mister Misery in disguise, giving Calvin powers. This got him expelled, which left him on the streets, where he began working for the villain Gaslamp. He now has magical powers thanks to Gaslamp, which is primarily a force attack, but nothing compared to his other classmates.
8) Toth
Toth has some of the most powerful parents of any student at Strange Academy. His mother is the Crystal Warrior Queen Blythir, and his dad is the Man-Thing. He has his mother’s crystal warrior form. He can also emit an energy blast from his mouth, which is why he doesn’t speak; this is likely something he inherited from his father. He can be destroyed, as Mister Misery shattered him, but as long as his heart is intact, he can be pieced back together and brought back to life, and regenerate. The extent of his powers remains unknown, but Doctor Doom invited him to join Doom Academy.
7) Pia
Pia was a new Strange Academy student who debuted in Strange Academy: Blood Hunt #1. As the title suggests, this occurred during the Marvel-wide Blood Hunt crossover series, in which vampires were running rampant throughout the world. Doctor Strange had a plan to release a spell through the Darkhold that would kill every vampire in existence, but Doctor Voodoo was against it. Pia was added to the school for one reason — she is a vampire, although she hid it from her classmates and all teachers except Doctor Voodoo. She possesses the powers of a vampire, including strength and speed, and has a companion named Tito Peping, who protects her from sunlight. The extent of her powers remains unknown, as she hasn’t appeared since the end of this series.
6) Alvi Brorson
Iric and Alvi Brorson are Asgardians, and their parentage makes them pretty powerful. Their father is a palace guard named Bror, and their mother is The Enchantress, one of Asgard’s most powerful sorceresses. Both brothers possess Asgardian physiology, which includes superhuman strength, durability, and additional abilities. They also have strong magical skills thanks to their mother. Alvi was the smarter of the two, studying hard to learn more, while Iric was the “cute one” who just wanted to have fun and mostly dismissed his schoolwork. However, even as Asgardians, they are not all-powerful. Iric died in Strange Academy: Finals #6 when he sacrificed himself to save Doyle Dormammu from an attack by Emily Bright.
5) Germán Aguilar
Gérman Aguilar proved throughout the Strange Academy series that he was an immensely powerful sorcerer, although he didn’t get anywhere near the same attention in the stories as his classmates. Gérman developed his powers when he was only four or five years old and could enter the animage state, meaning he could create animal projections. One weakness he has is that he is scared of vampires, which was a hindrance when the students ended up fighting them in Blood Hunt. However, he overcame this fear when he became close to Tia and realized she was a vampire. While never getting the same attention as others, Doctor Doom saw his promise and invited him to join Doom Academy when Strange Academy shut its doors.
4) Zoe Laveau
Zoe Laveau is one of the only members of Strange Academy who is from New Orleans, the city where the school is located. She was also one of the first people to connect with Emily Bright and become close friends with her. While it seemed her main powers were voodoo magic, that is because she was hiding who she was from everyone, including her friends. Zoe is a zombie, but she can look human when she wears a magical amulet. Zoe’s magic also originates from dark sources, as she continued to make deals with Gaslamp, which ultimately led to her death and eventual resurrection, thanks to her parents. However, she returned as a zombie and now possesses the power of necromancy, which enables her to control the dead. This can be a massive strength, as she can summon other zombies to fight on her behalf.
3) Dessy
Dessy was always a scary character, even when she tried to look like a normal little girl. Her real name is Despair, and her father is the legendary demon S’ym, a demon from Limbo who is one of the X-Men’s villains. Throughout the first volume of Strange Academy, she seemed like a kind girl who was often going over the line when it came to boundaries. However, when Emily Bright chose to rebel and leave the school, taking several students with her, Dessy became her right-hand and was extremely scary and powerful enough to hurt any of her former classmates who got in their way. Her power is to induce despair into anyone around her, mentally destroying them. It was only because Zoe loved her that she was able to stop her path of destruction in Strange Academy: Finals.
2) Emily Bright
In some ways, Emily Bright is the most powerful of all the Strange Academy students, but it turned out in the end that there was one student more powerful. Emily Bright is the character through whom readers are introduced to Strange Academy. She is a new student whose parents are both human, but Emily still manifested magical powers. In the first volume, she learned more about her powers, but she always felt the faculty was hiding something from the students. This caused her to rebel and quit the school, taking students with her. Finally, she teamed up with Dormammu to launch an attack on the school, claiming to want to “save” the other students, and was powerful enough to defeat everyone, including the teachers. She has telepathy, healing powers, magical sight, the ability to multiply creatures, resurrection, telekinesis, and chaos magic. She would have destroyed the world if not for the one student who was more powerful than she was.
1) Doyle Dormammu
Doyle Dormammu is the most powerful student in the Strange Academy comic books. Throughout most of the series, the other students believed he would become evil since his father was Dormammu. However, he wasn’t Dormammu’s son. Doyle’s mother was human, and he was born human, only to develop a brain tumor. His mother finally made a deal with Dormammu to save the boy, but this involved giving the child part of his essence, which turned Doyle into what he became. In the first volume, he saved Emily Bright’s life and gave her a ring containing some of his essence to keep her alive and powerful. When Emily attempted to destroy Strange Academy in her mission to “save” the students, Doyle explained that he had always had the power to stop her, but had chosen not to, as he believed she could save herself. When she didn’t, he proved his might by taking all his power back from her and banishing her. Doyle Dormammu’s power is pyrokinesis and sorcery, and since he beat Emily Bright, he proved to be the most powerful student in Strange Academy.
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