One of the burning questions in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is who would win in a battle between Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch. We thought we’d get the answer in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but Strange never subdued her.
Therefore, the question remains open. We have seen both characters pull off amazing feats in the past, and when you compare the two, they are arguably the most powerful characters in the MCU. So, if they faced off in an empty arena, who would win this battle?
In the MCU, Doctor Strange has so much foresight that he can predict and set up situations where he would defeat Scarlet Witch. However, Scarlet Witch can, when given enough time, cancel out every one of Strange’s powers.
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Who is Doctor Strange?
Doctor Stephen Strange was a neurosurgeon who believed he was on top of the world. But when a car crash severely injured his hands, Strange went on a spiritual journey that led him to discover new dimensions.
During his journey, Strange met The Ancient One, who became his mentor. Thanks to his intellect, Strange quickly learned how to use the Eye of Agamotto to manipulate time. He also acquired the Cloak of Levitation, which gave Strange the power to fly.
His earliest victory included creating a time loop to force the villainous Dormammu and his zealots to leave Earth. Strange later lived in the New York Sanctum to help protect the Earth from outside threats.
Strange is best known for the role he played in Infinity War, when he gave the Time Stone to Thanos to spare Tony Stark. While counterintuitive, Strange’s trade-off set the stage for Endgame, where Stark eventually gained control of the Infinity Gauntlet to snap Thanos from existence.
Before his trade, Strange saw millions of outcomes in the battle between Thanos and the Avengers, foreseeing just one outcome where the Avengers won.
Who is Scarlet Witch?
Wanda Maximoff and her brother, Pietro, originally volunteered to be test subjects at a Hydra facility. While she was always able to cast spells, Maximoff gained psychic abilities and her magical skills multiplied.
During Age of Ultron, she fought against and stifled many Avengers thanks to her abilities to plant visions into their minds. We saw this occur when Hulk (Bruce Banner) went into a rage, forcing Tony Stark (Iron Man) to subdue him with the Hulkbuster.
Thanks to her mind-reading ability, Maximoff realized Ultron was the true villain and ultimately sided with the Avengers. In Captain America: Civil War, she sided with Steve Rogers’ (Captain America’s) faction, but found herself captured by Stark’s allies after a climactic battle.
Later, she found herself in the Infinity War, where her love interest, Vision, ordered her to kill him and, by extension, destroy the Mind Stone. Thanos used the Time Stone, however, reversing Maximoff’s action and stealing the Mind Stone.
While she disintegrated following Thanos’ Blip, she and half the universe Thanos killed off were resurrected thanks to Bruce Banner. She also fought in the Battle of Earth, before beginning a life in Westview, New Jersey, and ultimately going into hiding and becoming Scarlet Witch.
Doctor Strange
Abilities
Thanks to Doctor Strange’s foresight, the Avengers won the Infinity War. But foresight is only one of Strange’s many abilities. Strange can also Dream-Walk, allowing his consciousness to possess alternate versions of himself.
Strange can also wipe memories, something we saw him do in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Another major ability Strange possesses lets him create multiple duplicates of himself. This confuses even his strongest opponents, and he showed it off in Infinity War. The problem, however, is that he can’t hold this maneuver for too long.
Strange is also a Divine Conduit, allowing him to channel magic through the Vishanti gods to use spells like Mists of Munnopor and the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak.
He can travel to other dimensions at will and battle villains there before they become a threat to Earth. One way he can ward off villains quickly is through meditation, which gives him access to their locations. If they get too close, Strange can travel through multiple dimensions to engage in battle.
Strange is also sound defensively thanks to his magical shields. These shields comprise summoned energy, allowing him to protect against multiple opponents. He can also play offense with this energy in the form of energy blasts.
Astral projection is another talent that Strange possesses. This allows his spirit to temporarily leave his body to travel the world and other dimensions.
If Strange doesn’t believe he is in a good position to leave his physical body, he can also create teleportation portals. In Endgame, we see Strange use this ability to gather the Avengers before the Battle of Earth.
Weaknesses
One major weakness Doctor Strange has is that he can leave himself vulnerable. If he duplicates himself for too long, chances are high that an opponent could figure out who the real Doctor Strange is. If he astral projects, he can leave his physical body vulnerable to a villain.
Some call Doctor Strange’s hands his biggest weakness. While they can be lethal, if an opponent immobilizes them, Strange’s offensive ability could render itself nonexistent. We saw Peter Parker (Spider-Man) use this tactic in No Way Home.
Strange must also clearly state or visualize spells he wants to use, and this distracts him. In Infinity War, Maw strangled Strange to keep him from casting a spell.
Scarlet Witch
Abilities
Some call Scarlet Witch the most powerful Avenger. One reason is that she can alter reality to her liking. This gives her ultimate control over everything and everyone. In WandaVision, we saw her using necromancy, the ability to revive the dead.
She can also alter reality through mind manipulation. She can enter one’s mind, see what they fear, then create illusions based on those fears.
Her ability to alter reality doesn’t stop with creating disturbing illusions. She can also revoke an enemy’s superpowers. While this power weakens her for a short time, Scarlet Witch can render an opponent powerless, something she did against Agatha in WandaVision.
She can also scry, allowing her to track an opponent’s location with ease. We have also seen Scarlet Witch use force fields to her advantage and create energy blasts.
Weaknesses
Scarlet Witch has two major weaknesses. She is slow at casting spells, which would allow any opponent to subdue her before she gets going.
An opponent can also distract her, and if she lacks mental clarity, any spell she plans on casting could go awry. Her magic also isn’t inherent, something Thor noticed in Uncanny Avengers #4. Instead, she must summon her ability via spellcasting.
She also gets her ability from Chaos Magic. While this can be lethal to an opponent, it is so complex that there is always the likelihood that any spell she casts through it will fail. If this occurs, an opponent would take full advantage of the battle.
Side-By-Side Comparison
| Character | Scarlet Witch | Doctor Strange |
| Real Name | Wanda Maximoff | Stephen Strange |
| Greatest Ability | Alter Reality | Foresight |
| Biggest Weakness | Must Summon Her Magic | Opponents Can Immobilize His Hands |
One-on-One
Doctor Strange would need to use his foresight to forge a path to defeat Scarlet Witch. This would take time, but Scarlet Witch would also need to summon her strongest abilities to stifle Strange, which would slow her down as well.
With both of their abilities taking time to use, this one would come down to which Avenger has more sheer power. Thanks to her Chaos Magic, Scarlet Witch’s powers are a cut above Doctor Strange’s.
Sure, Strange would probably foresee how he can ultimately defeat her, but Scarlet Witch’s ability to create illusions, alter reality, and ultimately, strip Strange of his powers would leave her as the victor.
While Strange could attempt a fast one and wipe Scarlet Witch’s memory before she even gets started, she can also block his attempts with simple force fields, which are nowhere near as complex as her Chaos Magic.
In Movie
Some fans may argue that the Scarlet Witch lost in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
However, her ability to defeat the Sorcerer Supreme (Wong) and the fact that not Strange, but America Chavez, sent Scarlet Witch to Earth-838, shows that Strange wasn’t the true victor here. And if he was, he had some help.
Therefore, in a one-on-one battle (see above), Scarlet Witch would still defeat Doctor Strange.
Evil Doctor Strange vs. Scarlet Witch
In What If….Episode 4, we see firsthand what would happen if Doctor Strange turned evil. In the episode, he could not accept Christine Palmer’s death and sought to resurrect her.
However, the Ancient One split Strange into two halves. One half of Strange became the evil Strange Supreme, while the other accepted Palmer’s death. The two dueled, and Strange Supreme won the battle, allowing him to resurrect Palmer.
After she refused to accept the now-monstrous Strange, he tore apart reality, eventually destroying the universe (and Palmer) except for a tiny portion of it. This act put Strange’s powers on par with Scarlet Witch.
But Evil Doctor Strange went a step further, as Scarlet Witch never tore apart but, instead, altered reality. Since Evil Doctor Strange was willing to go so far, he gets the victory over Scarlet Witch in the What If…? scenario.
In Comics
In House of M, Scarlet Witch altered reality and Strange came off on the losing end. But this was just one example of Scarlet Witch showing off goddess-like powers.
We can also turn to Avengers Disassembled, where Scarlet Witch killed several Avengers, including Vision. And in 2021 when the Darkhold Mega Saga began, we saw that she channeled dark magic from Darkhold and Chthon, further augmenting her powers.
The comics version of Doctor Strange remained even-keel since his introduction in Strange Tales #110 (1963). Since Scarlet Witch’s powers grew and Strange’s did not, Scarlet Witch gets the nod in the comics.
Scarlet Witch Takes It…Mostly
Overall, Scarlet Witch would win in two of the four scenarios: one-on-one in the MCU and the comics. Since Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness saw Scarlet Witch defeated thanks to America Chavez, you can rule that one as a no-contest.
Finally, we got the What If…? scenario, where Evil Doctor Strange destroyed the universe, something we haven’t seen from Scarlet Witch, who just distorted it. Since Evil Doctor Strange proved himself capable of doing this, he gets the nod in What If…?
Sion Fawkes has been covering Star Wars since January 2022, expanding his expertise in Star Wars Canon, Legends, and MCU. When not writing, you can find Sion in the gym or running trails. He also likes watching sports and listening to audiobooks.