Doctor Strange Dons an Iron Man Style Red and Gold Suit

CBR

Doctor Strange Does His Best Iron Man Impression (and Saves the World)

By Ian Cardona

Published Jun 23, 2018

In his new comic series, Doctor Strange heads off into space and does his best Iron Man impression to save the entire planet from an alien threat.

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Doctor Strange #2 by Mark Waid and Jesus Saiz, in stores now.

In Mark Waid and Jesus Saiz's Doctor Strange #1, Marvel's resident Master of the Mystic Arts learns that magic was disappearing from the Earth. In his search for help and answers, Stephen turns to fellow friend and Avenger Tony Stark, who suggests the good doctor turn his gaze skyward. With endless worlds and infinity possibilities in the cosmos, Tony theorizes that perhaps the answer to magic lies beyond the stars. With no better option, Doctor Strange therefore decides to leave his usual stomping ground, heading out into the great unknown.

Thanks to Stark's newest invention -- a small wormhole jumpship -- Doctor Strange heads out of the galaxy. Inside a red and gold spaceship, Stephen Strange, wearing Iron Man's red and gold spacesuit, crash-lands on a technologically hype-advanced alien world. By all accounts, this sounds like a mission Tony Stark would embark on, not Doctor Strange. And so it it that trapped in a cold world of science, Stephen Strange does his best Tony Stark impression, and ends up saving the Earth in the process.

In Doctor Strange #2, the technologically-inclined inhabitants of the planet Grynda become fascinated with Stephen Strange, and by extension the human race. Although we come to understand that they were once peaceful, they now seek to overtake the Earth and rule over it. Therefore, Stephen has no choice but to escape and stop the Gryndans from ever leaving this planet. Thankfully, he has a bit of help in the form of a friendly alien "arcanologist" named Kanna.

Kanna in in possession of a mystical artifact called the Eye of Basphorus, and the former Sorcerer Supreme knows exactly how to activate it. On a planet dominated by advanced technology, Stephen Strange, wearing a body suit of red and gold armor (and with the exact same facial hair as Tony Stark) struggles to devise a plan to save the planet from an alien invasion. By simply looking at a single page of this comic, without looking at its cover, you could easily be fooled into believing that this is Tony Stark in action, and not Stephen Strange.

After failing to activate the Eye of Basphorus with a simple incantation, Strange remembers that it can only be activated with heightened senses -- like those which come from a rush of adrenaline. Without hesitation, he jumps out of Kanna's spaceship, a display of heroism/recklessness that results in the magical artifact sealing Grynda and preventing its spaceships from ever leaving its atmosphere. Heroic, dangerous, reckless -- this is pure Stark stuff.

With the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, many fans have likened Doctor Strange to Tony Stark, who both share similar qualities and origin stories. Now, thanks to this comic, we see that comparison once again on full display, and even heightened. But we also see what makes Stephen Strange, Stephen Strange. Because, the truth is, even with Eye of Basphorus, Tony Stark would have had a very difficult time trying to stop the Gryndans. But the good doctor, he did it in less than an issue.

KEEP READING: THEORY: How Doctor Strange May Draft Ant-Man & The Wasp Into Avengers 4