In Savage Avengers, Doctor Strange just made surprising deals with two of the most powerful beings in the entire Marvel universe.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Savage Avengers #23, available now from Marvel.
When Doctor Strange first brought the Savage Avengers together to quell the threat that was posed by the ancient, evil sorcerer Kulan Gath, he never imagined things would go as far as they have. The team has faced off against drug cartels, several dragons, and twisted versions of their fellow heroes over the course of their mission, but none of it has brought them any closer to their ultimate goal.
Now with few options left, Doctor Strange has turned to a different sort of mystic in the hopes of sniffing out a solution to his current problem. Luckily, Man-Thing can be rather accommodating when it comes to old allies, as seen in Savage Avengers #23 by Gerry Duggan, Patch Zircher, Java Tartaglia, and VC’s Travis Lanham.
Every tactic that the Sorcerer Supreme has employed thus far in his search for Kulan Gath has been for naught, as somehow the mad wizard has become invisible to Strange. This compels the Sorcerer Supreme to reach out to his old enemy Shuma-Gorath for assistance, but getting in touch with the Eldritch deity is easier said than done. But to get to the Lovecraftian god, Doctor Strange finds himself face-to-face with the legendary Man-Thing, where he pays his way with an unsuaul toll: a cupcake.
Man-Thing has been striking burning fear into his foes for decades, but he is far from the simple muck monster he initially seems to be. As the guardian of the Nexus of All Realities, Man-Thing is responsible for keeping watch over the gateway that leads to all alternate worlds of the Marvel Universe. Doctor Strange and Man-Thing might not have the closest relationship, but there is clearly no small amount of mutual respect between them. It could be from the few run-ins they have had with one another, or out of respect for their respective stations in the world.
Accepting Strange’s baked goods, Man-Thing allows the Sorcerer Supreme to pass through the Nexus following their trade. When Strange sees Shuma-Gorath, he makes a similarly surprising deal with his old enemy. Kulan Gath has been taking the power of Shuma one bite at a time through cannibalistic rituals back on earth. This has left the Lovecraftian entity severely wounded.
After seeing the condition of Shuma and briefly speaking with him, Strange made a deal with the entity to kill him in exchange for a favor in his next life. While Doctor Strange might be one of Marvel’s more powerful heroes, interactions like these prove that his great mystical power isn’t always the best solution to the complex issues that challenge him. Beyond that, these relatively mundane deals add a human element to some of Marvel’s least human characters. And in both cases, the willingness of these two entities to work with Doctor Strange reveals just how respected he is in the stranger corners of the Marvel Universe.
About The Author