DOCTOR STRANGE

The most dangerous family connection in Stephen Strange's life is not an enemy he fought. It is the woman he married. Clea, his disciple, lover and eventual wife, is the niece of Dormammu, the dread ruler of the Dark Dimension and Strange's most relentless mystical foe. Her mother is Dormammu's sister Umar, which makes the Sorcerer Supreme, quite literally, family to the tyrant he has spent a career keeping out of this world.

Clea first appeared in Strange Tales #126 (1964), where she warned Strange against facing her uncle and was punished for the betrayal. Strange forced Dormammu to release her, and the captive became his only ally inside the Dark Dimension. She later came to Earth, trained under him in the Sanctum Sanctorum, and in time returned home to lead a rebellion that made her ruler of the Dark Dimension in her own right.

Then came the inheritance nobody predicted. After Stephen Strange was murdered in Death of Doctor Strange #1 (2021), a safeguard he had arranged delivered the Eye of Agamotto, the Cloak of Levitation and the title itself to Clea. In Death of Doctor Strange #5 (2022) she took up the mantle, moved into the Sanctum, and began calling herself Clea Strange.

Her solo series Strange (2022) opened with the new Sorcerer Supreme doing the job her way — guarding Earth while hunting for a means to bring her husband back from Death's grip. The disciple had become the officeholder, the Dark Dimension's princess had become Earth's mystical defender, and Dormammu's niece now held the one title her uncle could never seize.