Doctor Strange might be joining the Justice League
A new Multiversal Justice League is forming to take down Darkseid, and its roster could include DC Comics' version of Doctor Strange. While few details have been revealed, it is known that a new series Justice League Incarnate will spin out of the events of the current Infinite Frontier miniseries.
Among the members of this new team of superheroes is the mysterious Dr. Multiverse, who could be an analogue for Marvel's Master of the Mystic Arts.Infinite Frontier is a six-issue miniseries that sees heroes come together from across DC's new Omniverse. Led by President Superman and Flashpoint Batman, the team is working to stop Darkseid, who is amassing an army on the Omega Planet with the goal of ending the Omniverse.
Writer Joshua Williamson has described the Infinite Frontier miniseries as the "first act" of a massive event that will shake the entire DC Universe. DC has announced that Justice League Incarnate will launch in November. Coming from the creative team of Joshua Williamson, Dennis Culver, Andrei Bressan and Brandon Peterson, the miniseries follows on the final issue of Infinite Frontier and is due to the be "second act" of Williamson's plan.
When announcing the series, DC provided scant clues about the plot but did mention that the new Justice League team would include not only President Superman and Flashpoint Batman, but also "China's Flash from Earth-0, Captain Carrot from Earth-26, and the brand new superhero DR. MULTIVERSE from Earth-8." While Dr. Multiverse is the only member of the team who has not been seen before, his home reality of Earth-8 has appeared many times over the years. Also known as Angor, Earth-8 is DC Comics' pastiche of the Marvel Universe, featuring characters like American Crusader, Machinehead and Behemoth.
It is not confirmed if Dr. Multiverse will be a pastiche of any particular Marvel character, but given his "Doctor" title and the fact that Stephen Strange's upcoming film is titled Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, it is a safe bet that Dr. Multiverse will share many similarities with the Sorcerer Supreme.
DC and Marvel have a long tradition of featuring spins on each other's characters in their respective universes. The heroes of Earth-8 first appeared in 1971 and have gone by a few names, including the Assemblers and the Retaliators, both clear parodies of the Avengers. In Infinite Frontier #4, Machinehead appears and references a war fought in secret against an alternate reality, a likely reference to Marvel's Secret Wars event from 2015.
The Squadron Supreme is Marvel's pastiche of the Justice League with its own takes on Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and more. The team just featured prominently in the event Heroes Reborn, which featured a reimagined Marvel Universe where the Avengers never formed. The event concluded with the Avengers taking on this version of the Justice League and restoring their world.
Given the enormous power that Doctor Strange wields in the Marvel Universe, a DC version of him would be a huge asset for the new Justice League. It should be noted that Kryptonians are especially susceptible to magic, so having a sorcerer on the team would be a nice ace in the hole for the Justice League Incarnate should they find themselves face to face with an alternate version of Superman, or perhaps Superwoman from the newly formed Injustice team. Whether Dr. Multiverse turns out to be a take on Doctor Strange, or a wholly original character, will be revealed when Justice League Incarnate releases on November 2.
