Doctor Stephen Strange is most famous as the “Sorcerer Supreme” of the Marvel Universe, but the title has been bandied about. Strange inherited the title from his teacher, the Ancient One, and it was once held by Jericho Drumm/Brother Voodoo. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is not Strange who is the Sorcerer Supreme, but his colleague Wong (Benedict Wong).
In the 2024 crossover “Blood Hunt”, the masked villain Doctor Victor von Doom has seized the title of Sorcerer Supreme. Unlike his rival, Reed Richards of Fantastic Four, Doom is a master of the mystical arts. And practical sciences. This year’s big Marvel comic book crossover, “One World Under Doom,” shows Doom using his newfound power to conquer and rule.
“One World Under Doom” #9, released on November 19, 2025, is set to show Doom being deposed and announced that someone will rise to take his place. Which wizard is this? As Marvel has now revealed, Wanda Maximoff/The Scarlet Witch.
The nature and extent of Wanda’s powers have varied historically. She was first depicted (in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s early “X-Men” comics) as a mutant capable of “casting spells” or manipulating odds to bring about bad outcomes. This evolved into his practice of “chaos magic”, which allowed him to reshape reality.
Wanda’s (Elizabeth Olsen) powers have also increased in the MCU. In her first appearances, she could give people nightmarish visions and generate red energy for telekinesis or in the form of simple explosions. This escalated into a distortion of reality in “WandaVision” and then her use of the grimoire, The Darkhold, in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”.
Once written as the weak link in “Cap’s Kooky Quartet” in the 1960s, the Scarlet Witch is now universally recognized as the most powerful Avenger – the one who makes Thanos tremble in his boots.
The next chapter in Scarlet Witch’s story is Sorcerer Supreme
It’s not yet clear how Wanda will gain the title of Doom, but she will star in a new ongoing series called “Sorcerer Supreme,” written by Steve Orlando and drawn by Bernard Chang.
Orlando has been writing Scarlet Witch since 2023, first in an ongoing series “Scarlet Witch” (drawn by Sara Pichelli). This series lasted 10 issues, then evolved into a four-issue miniseries “Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver”, featuring Wanda’s brother Pietro. In 2024, “Scarlet Witch” returned to number 1, published 10 more issues, and then Orlando wrote five issues of “The Vision and Scarlet Witch”. While “Sorcerer Supreme” is, for lack of a better term, “season 3” of Orlando’s “Scarlet Witch,” the new title and relaunch of the #1 issue. 1 suggests that it is intended as a starting point.
The opening arc of “Sorcerer Supreme,” as described in Marvel’s press release, will show Wanda in a contest for legitimacy. The Sorcerer Supreme is a title bestowed by a group of superior beings, the Vishanti. For some reason, the Vishanti refuse to recognize Wanda as their champion and appoint Wanda’s magic teacher, the witch Agatha Harkness, as their Sorcerer Supreme. Agatha (played by Kathryn Hahn) was the villain of “WandaVision” and the star of the wizard spin-off “Agatha All Along.”
Agatha isn’t the only thing Wanda has to deal with; she will also face the Goblin Queen herself, Madelyne Pryor. A clone of Jean Gray from the X-Men, Madelyne shares her source’s powers as well as her skills in dark magic. Wanda, who debuted in Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, was a counterpart to Jean. Wanda may have come a long way and become Witch Supreme, but she will face a foe with the face of her original rival.
“Sorcerer Supreme” #1 is released on December 31, 2025.
