Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is in theaters! And one of the big questions that has been circulating ever since the film was announced, was whether or not Clea would make an appearance. If your thought was Clea DuVall, I am with you because she is the best, but Marvel fans are actually clamoring for a different Clea, a woman who has been a big player in Doctor Strange’s story from (almost) the very beginning. So, who is she? And is she in the film? (Spoilers ahead!)
Who is Clea?
Clea is a powerful sorceress of the Faltine race (who appear human but are actually energy beings). She is the niece of the demonic tyrant Dormammu (who you may remember from the first MCU Doctor Strange film. And she is the Sorceress Supreme of the Dark Dimension. She has vast powers that include: transmutation, forming and throwing magical energy bolts, teleporting, telekinesis, levitation, mesmerism, controlling peoples’ minds, creating magical objects and animate beings, and the list goes on! Plus, she can generate magical energy from her very own being. She also has super strength and durability, and her age is unclear because time passes differently in the Dark Dimension.
How is she connected to Doctor Strange?
Well, as we stated earlier, in the first MCU Doctor Strange film back in 2016 (not to be confused with the extremely terrible first Doctor Strange film from 1978), Strange has to go into the Dark Dimension and defeat her uncle Dormammu—by trapping him in a time loop and convincing him to leave Earth alone. However, in the comics, her connection to Strange is much more explicit. In fact, she is usually one of Strange’s closest companions. At times she has been his disciple, his romantic interest, and even his wife. She actually appeared in the aforementioned, terrible (like not even in a fun, campy way) 1978 film as a normal human woman with no powers. She’s had several storylines alongside Strange—going all the way back to her first appearance in 1964. She’s also appeared in a cameo role in X-Men: the Animated Series and in the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance video game as an NPC.
So, is she in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?
The rumors were true! At the very end of the credits, Clea, (played by Charlize Theron), appears and whisks Doctor Strange off to what appears to be the Dark Dimension to answer for his crimes against the multiverse! This means that the rumors this time around were actually doubly correct (well, not the ones about Emma Watson, sorry to that small Clea faction), go figure!
Charlize Theron also took to her Instagram to share photos of her hair and makeup from the sequel. Her caption simply says “Meet Clea.” The first photo is a close-up of her face and hair in full purply Clea makeup, and the second is a still from her post-credits scene in which she walks Doctor Strange straight into her Hell dimension. It’s very exciting that the beloved sorceress has finally been brought into the MCU because Clea is one of Doctor Strange’s most powerful allies. Though, to be fair to Clea, she doesn’t seem all too pleased with him at the end of this film, so I can’t wait to see her take him to task for almost collapsing the multiverses, yet again!
(featured image: Marvel/Disney)
