Top 10 Worst Things Doctor Strange Has Done

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021) After Peter asks for help hiding his exposed identity, Dr. Strange casts an extremely dangerous memory spell. We get the sorcerer wanted to help Spider-Man have an easier life by making people forget who's underneath the mask. However, Strange was way too willing to unleash a spell that affected the minds of everyone on earth. And that was before it went haywire and invited multiverse visitors! Going through with the spell seemed like a massive lapse in judgment from the man who was so careful in “Infinity War.” Some fans even thought Strange would be revealed as an imposter because he seemed too reckless in “No Way Home”. But it turns out that he was actually himself and really committed to a dangerous spell.

“Incredible Hulk Vol 2 #92” & “Planet Hulk” (2010) During the Planet Hulk” storyline, a gamma bomb caused the big guy to go haywire and wreck Vegas. Dr. Strange is one of the heroes on the Marvel Illuminati team who decides the best way to deal with the Hulk is to take extreme measures. The sorcerer agrees on a plan where the green guy is launched into space towards an supposedly uninhabited world without intelligent life. Unfortunately, Hulk ends up accidentally crash-landing on a planet called Sakaar and being forced to fight in an arena. Although Dr. Strange didn’t execute this plan alone, the fact he was willing to launch an ally into space is pretty savage. The sorcerer would later continue his bad Illuminati behavior when he erased Cap’s memory for the team.

“Doctor Strange” (2016) Although Stephen Strange wasn’t always the friendliest guy, he became more of a jerk after getting into a brutal car accident that was caused by his own distracted driving. One of the people who receives the worst of his wrath is his fellow doctor Christine Palmer. While he deals with his crippling injuries, Palmer cares for him by his bedside and helps him with household tasks. Strange repays Christine’s kindness with cruel words. He doesn’t attempt to apologize before going to study magic. And the next time Strange bothers to see Christine, it’s because he needs her to save him from another injury. Although he later shows how much he appreciates her, he still owes her at least a dozen apologies for his bad behavior.

“Doctor Strange: The Oath” (2007) While a thief named Brigand was hired to steal from Strange, the villain slayed one of the hero’s allies and shot the sorcerer. The mystical man is left clinging to life and has to astral project himself to help with his own surgery. When Strange finally encounters Brigand again, the sorcerer doesn’t hold back. He enters the man’s mind and threatens to erase all the villain’s memories and abilities to perform normal bodily functions. Once Strange gets the information he needs, he decides to enact a brutal punishment. The sorcerer traps Brigand within his own mind and claims he’ll be left there for eternity. While we understand why Strange was upset, subjecting this thief to a supposedly endless torment felt like overkill.

“World War Hulk #3” (2007) Hulk was understandably a little upset when he returned to earth after Strange and the rest of the illuminati sent the green guy away. After the green guy damages Strange’s hands during a battle, the magic man starts channeling dark magic from a creature named Zom. Unfortunately, the sorcerer loses control and nearly causes the deaths of multiple civilians. But this wasn’t the only time using forbidden magic got him into trouble. In a later story, Strange’s reliance on Zom’s magic severely hurts many of his allies. After tapping into this dark power one too many times, he decides to step back from his sorcerer supreme duties. Considering he endangered his friends' lives multiple times, we’d say that’s an extremely fair call.

“Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #46” (1992) There are a few different incarnations of Doctor Strange, each showing a different attitude towards the magical powers at his disposal. So, what if Doctor Strange used his powers for evil? In “Counter-Earth”, a variant of the sorcerer slays Baron Mordo. This alternate Strange then tried to accumulate as much power as he could to take over his world. But after renaming himself Necromancer, his plan to become more formidable goes south. So, the dark sorcerer eventually travels to the main marvel universe to torment heroes and become stronger. Fortunately, the good Strange defeats his evil half. But we’ll never forget how much damage this evil version of the sorcerer was capable of.

#4: Not Helping to Save Lives

Also in:

Top 20 Worst Things Batman Has Ever Done

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021) During the events of “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, it becomes clear the villains that popped up in the MCU will die if they’re sent back home. While Peter Parker wants to at least try helping them, Strange is immediately ready to send them back to meet their doom. The conflict between the two escalates so much that they end up fighting. When you think about it, a powerful sorcerer is attacking a teenager so he can let a bunch of villains die. We get that Strange was worried about protecting the Multiverse. But once again, it was his fault they’re all there in the first place. Since Dr. Strange had such a devil-may-care attitude towards life, we’re starting to doubt he took the Hippocratic Oath.

“Marvel Zombies 3 #3” (2008) The thought of a zombified Strange using his magic to hunt living victims is scary enough. But an undead version of the sorcerer nearly caused a much bigger disaster in one story. After a zombie Kingpin finds a turned Strange, the sorcerer helps the crime boss accomplish a sinister plan. The undead magic man shows his evil ally a universe full of potential food for zombies. Kingpin intended to spread the undead virus in the untainted world until it consumed everything. Although the crime boss didn’t succeed, Strange was nearly responsible for nearly dooming an entire world to unending and undying zombified horror. Thank goodness there was a hero around to dismantle the evil plot before it properly got started.

“Doctor Strange #385” (2018) As we’ve mentioned before, Dr. Strange doesn’t always get along with the people closest to him. But one particularly bad incident had fatal consequences. After Stephen got into an argument with his brother Victor, the non-magical Strange was struck by a car. The doctor decided to put his sibling on ice like he was the Winter Soldier in hopes he could be revived later. When Strange tried casting a spell to bring his brother back, it had a disastrous side effect. Victor was resurrected…as a vampire. Although he tried to use his vampiric abilities for good, he eventually fatally wounded himself with a stake. All of Victor’s suffering could’ve been avoided if Stephen hadn’t been such a jerk to his brother in the first place.

“What If…?” (2021-) In one “What If…?” episode, Dr. Strange gets in an accident that claims the life of his love interest Chrstine. After gaining the ability to travel through time, the doctor tries to save her. But he repeatedly fails because her death is a fixed point of time that cannot be changed. Desperate to see Chrstine again, Strange goes down a dark path. He steals the life force of sentient beings, relies on dark magic and absorbs a good version of himself. Strange-Supreme eventually uses his ill-acquired powers to truly save Chrstine. However, breaking the fixed point in time causes his entire universe to shatter. There’s no way to measure how many lives were lost because of Strange-Supreme’s selfishness and thirst for power.