The Marvel Character Who’s Better in the MCU than the Comics

Marvel Comics has some of the most iconic fictional characters ever, presenting readers with flawed and relatable heroes who overcome their weaknesses to save the world from massive existential threats. While comics were the predominant medium featuring these characters for decades, tides have shifted in the superhero genre in the last few decades. Movies and television have become the most well-known medium of the superhero genre, leading to countless live-action adaptations of Marvel’s iconic pantheon of characters. Most notably, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has brought many of these characters to life, some for the first time in live-action, depicting their own interpretation of their histories, personalities, and powers.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has delivered iconic characters, from Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man to Chris Evans’s Captain America. However, the franchise hasn’t always pleased fans with its interpretations of fan-favorite comic characters. The MCU’s handling of characters like Taskmaster, Captain Marvel, and the Quicksilver has been controversial. Even so, on rare occasions, the MCU’s reimagining of a classic character has proven even better than in the comics. This is the case with Benedict Wong’s fan-favorite Sorcerer Supreme, Wong, who has become an iconic character far surpassing his comic book counterpart.

Who Is Wong In Marvel Comics?

Doctor Strange may be immensely powerful, but even he still needs help occasionally. His most dependable aid comes from his good friend Wong. In Marvel Comics, Wong is the latest in a long line of Tibetan monks who dedicated their lives in service to the Sorcerer Supreme. As a child, he trained in martial arts, becoming a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, though he rarely used these skills later. Shortly before the Ancient One’s death, Wong became the personal servant and friend of Doctor Stephen Strange, who was to be the next Sorcerer Supreme.

Wong served Doctor Strange faithfully for much of his history in Marvel Comics, eventually seeing his friend and boss become the new Sorcerer Supreme. On occasion, Wong has accompanied Strange on his many missions, though he is nowhere near as active a character as the sorcerer. Over the years, writers have given Wong various storylines, including romances, brushes with dancers, and insights into his history. Still, he remains loyal to his service to Kamar-Taj and Stephen Strange.

How Marvel Changed Wong Over The Years

Fans came to love Doctor Strange’s loyal sidekick and companion over the years. However, Marvel had to make certain key changes to the character over the years. A product of the ’60s, Wong’s characterization often leaned into harmful racial stereotypes. The idea of Doctor Strange having a martial arts-adept Asian manservant became distasteful after some time, prompting Marvel to rework his relationship with Doctor Strange, making him more of a peer to the Sorcerer Supreme than he was in earlier stories. Wong even began training in the Mystic Arts in later stories, though he was still a novice compared to Strange. Nevertheless, martial arts are no longer Wong’s only recourse in combat.

Marvel continued to give Wong more agency as a character over the years. Nevertheless, he couldn’t escape his position of seemingly perpetual servitude, taking care of the refugee members of the New Avengers after the Civil War event and later becoming the housekeeper at Avengers Mansion. While his position as a “manservant” endured, Marvel at least gave Wong a stronger personality over the years, developing his character, if only marginally. Eventually, Wong finally took his future into his own hands, leaving Doctor Strange after the two had an irreconcilable dispute. Nevertheless, Marvel has struggled to give Wong any meaningful character development in the years since.

The MCU Made Wong A Vital Part Of The Universe

The MCU vastly improves Wong’s character. Benedict Wong first plays Wong in 2016’s Doctor Strange, which immediately shifts the power dynamic between the character and Stephen Strange bymaking him a sorcerer as well. While Wong has practiced magic in the comics, he was never on the same level as Doctor Strange. In the films, however, Wong is more experienced and potentially more powerful than Strange, putting the characters on a more level playing ground and establishing a friendly rivalry. With this shift in power dynamics, the MCU can have more fun with Wong and Strange’s friendship, which is no longer a master-servant relationship, as it was in the comics. Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness elevated this dynamic by revealing that Wong had usurped Strange’s role as Sorcerer Supreme, making him the new leader of the Masters of the Mystic Arts.

Additionally, Wong has become an MCU fan-favorite because of the character’s unique humor. Thanks largely toBenedict Wong’s endearing performance, Wong has become one of fans’ favorite supporting characters. Wong’s deadpan line delivery and burgeoning love of pop culture add levity and much-needed detail to his characterization that is dreadfully absent from his comic book counterpart. Wong also proves to be especially fun when dealing with other MCU characters.

While his interactions with Stephen Strange are always entertaining, Wong has also developed relationships with other characters, including Shang-Chi, Spider-Man, She-Hulk, and, most surprisingly, fellow The Sopranos fan Madisynn King. These relationships help round out Wong’s character, making him a surprise fan-favorite. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law even called out viewers’ love for the Sorcerer Supreme in a hilarious fourth-wall-breaking moment.

Wong may not influence the Marvel Comics Universe much, but the MCU has turned him into a bonafide fan favorite. Despite starting out as a supporting character, Wong has become one of the Multiverse Saga’s most popular characters, showing just how far a few minor changes can go in establishing a character’s live-action adaptation.