Warning: SPOILERS for Strange #9Marvel's Strange has spent most of 2022 dead, and for the sake of the franchise, he should stay that way; Strange #9 says as much with the franchises' new Sorcerer Supreme.
Writer Jed MacKay's Death of Doctor Strange event began with Strange's assassination. This shock was quickly followed up by another: a much younger Strange appeared to investigate his own murder (this was a contingency plan left in place by the present-day Strange in the event of his death). The young Strange died, the old Strange resurrected, and then died again, proving the title three times over. Thus, the title of Sorcerer Supreme ed to his wife Clea, who prioritized saving her beloved from Death's embrace over all her other magical responsibilities.
In Strange #9, written by Jed MacKay with art by Marcelo Ferreira, an undead Doctor Strange and Clea fight their way through the Blasphemy Cartel's Forretress; their target is the enigmatic and powerful Director None. Although Clea fights alongside her beloved, he is not technically living - Strange is an undead servant of Death, who refuses to give him up. Additionally, Strange and Clea can never touch; Clea, as Sorcerer Supreme, has magic that represents life while Strange's powers represent death. The risk of those powers annihilating each other would be too great, and they must remain separate.
Doctor Strange Is More Interesting When He's Dead
This dynamic ought to be a new status quo, not a limited scenario. The idea of two people who love one another but can never touch has shades of the Orpheus and Eurydice tale; the fact that Death herself is in control of Strange also positions her as a major villain for the franchise. Additionally, Clea is a more interesting character than Strange due to her flaws and weaknesses, her previous home of the Dark Dimension, and the fact that she isn't human. Clea must learn to contend with the human world while also teaming up with the undead Doctor Strange, knowing he can never be revived until he is released by Death.
The fact that Strange was allowed to remain dead for an entire year is quite shocking to modern-day comic book readers in an age when a major character death may span an issue or three. But Marvel ought to continue with an undead Strange and Clea as the main character of the book. The Doctor Strange franchise has decades of storylines, but this one is the best in years - and it all happened with the main character being six feet under.
