Not Even Death Can Break Doctor Strange's Biggest Rule

Doctor Strange is now Death's servant, and he still has a rule against harming others, which he just refuses to break - even after his own death.

Warning: SPOILERS for Strange #9

Even after being killed off and taking on his new role as Death's servant, Doctor Strange has shown that he can't cross certain boundaries. The Sanctum Sanctorum has recently undergone major changes, with the untimely death of Earth's Supreme Sorcerer, Doctor Strange. Strange's wife Clea soon replaces him as Earth's mysterious protector, while Stephen himself gets a new role as Harvestman, the death wizard.

Jed McKay and Marcelo Ferreira's Doctor Strange #9 suggests that Marvel's maestro of the mystical arts is in many ways more Dr. Stephen Strange than the Sorcerer Supreme. In this installment, the Stranges invade the Emerald City, the base of operations of a nefarious group known as the Blasphemy Cartel. Although Stephen himself is now Reaper, as they entered the compound that seemed to go against his new position as Reaper, Stephen made a plea to Kerry: "We can't kill humans. People. Please, Kerry." Li."

Stephen Strange Is More of a Doctor Than a Sorcerer

As Earth's new Sorcerer Supreme, Clee Strange begins to take on the Profanity Cartel, a gang bent on using magic and technology to take over New York's mysterious underworld. The Blasphemy Cartel enlists the aid of their Revenants, dead espers resurrected to promote their careers. As Harvestman, Stephen's new job involves defeating these Revenants for his master Death, making him once again aid Clea in the fight against the Desecration Cartel and their minions - including the now-deceased hero Sentinels. Although he struggled with killing, Stephen had to kill said Revenants and other such monsters.

Stephen's request emphasizes that whoever he is, he is a doctor above all else. Therefore, he took the Hippocratic oath to do no harm to others. While she may not personally agree with his ban on killing, Keri finds it an admirable quality in her husband, saying: "It's perhaps his most infuriating quality. It's largely what I love His reasons." In fact, it makes sense that Doctor Strange insisted on this rule even in Death (and as Death's servant), since it's a standard he's held before in hard times. In Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin's limited series Doctor Strange: The Vow, Steven races to find a cure for cancer to save Wang. When faced with the choice between replicating a miracle cure for public use or saving his friend, Stephen chooses to use The final elixir is the emperor. In this case, and many others, Doctor Strange simply couldn't refuse to save a life when the opportunity presented itself.

With the final Revenant in the form of Stephen's former ally Sentinel, perhaps he might even go against his original words to Clea, announcing that the resurrected creature can be saved as well. No matter what test he faces, nothing in the MCU seems to be able to overcome Doctor Strange's Hippocratic Oath - not even death itself.

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