Shuma-Gorath was sort of the capper to the original Dr. Strange Lovercraftian arc, which was weird even for that comic.

Thanos likely could, but he is more of a cosmic/Adam Warlock villain than a Dr. Strange one. They are also different in terms of rationality and motivation. Thanos has at least occasionally been persuaded to do the right thing; Dormammu is just pure evil.

Not yet, no. In the States, it won't be out until next Friday.

The big bad of Doctor Strange. Could probably eat 99% of the characters in the MCU for breakfast.

Yeah. I love the Dr. Strange comics because they were such a bizarre departure for Marvel. In particular, the Englehart/Bruner stuff and the neo-Lovecraft storyline explored the outer limits of what a superhero story could be, mainly because writers have to be even more creative when they have a hero who can solve…

Well, in terms of the MCU, it's a move that makes sense. A universe that features both Thanos and Dormammu as imminent threats seems . . . excessive.

As far I know, there's no Clea in this, which I'm ambivalent about. She was super annoying in the comics, but on the hand hand, that was probably because the writers in the 60s and 70s didn't have a clue what to do with her. Anyway, assuming there's a sequel, I'm guessing we'll see Clea sooner rather than later.

Frankly, it would have been more shocking if Dormammu had not appeared and gone completely unremarked upon.

My son's in Kindergarten, and the Trump stuff was actually helpful as a real world illustration of why people have to keep their hands to themselves and be respectful. It actually helped us get through a rough patch in terms of our son understanding how to act like a decent human.

Good grief. And I thought I had already heard the dumbest ideas of this campaign season.

Yes, and Penny Dreadful did it beautifully. No one else should try for another decade or so.

It's definitely a credit to his skills as a writer of speculative fiction.

If this episode were produced today, we would criticize it as being painfully on-the-nose. The fact that it came out three years ago makes it chillingly prescient.

This was scarily prescient. Almost all of David Sims's criticisms about how this just isn't realistic were, unfortunately, disproven by the realities of the American election.

They have room with Wong. The Ancient One presents different kinds of problems.

I'm not Asia, though I have family members who are and have been there enough to understand that, while racial discrimination the way Americans think of it is not as big a deal (at least not overtly), cultural conflation, particularly by foreigners, is a bit of a sore spot.

They really couldn't. The Ancient One is a major, major part of Dr. Strange's story. Not just the origin, but later stories that introduce new, significant antagonists and feature Dr. Strange significantly broadening his responsibility as Sorcerer Supreme of this particular universe. The Ancient One was a major…

I wouldn't say that. But the early Dr. Strange run has some Asian caricatures that, even in the 60s, Marvel really should have known better than to use. And I say this as someone who is a fervent admirer of their work on this book.

I'm not disagreeing with you on the paucity of well-known Tibetan actresses (or actors!). But casting someone of a different ethnicity just because they look like someone from another ethnicity is not a viable suggestion if what we are going for is cultural sensitivity.

But then you're in the position of basically equating different ethnicity within the Asian world, which seems like the same problem dressed up in a different way.