Who is the New Leader in Avengers?

Not much is known about the Avengers' current status in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

Since the last time it was told to defeat Thanos and his troops in Avengers: Endgame (2019), there hasn't been a battle involving the Avengers. 

After Iron Man made a heroic sacrifice, and Captain America chose to retire, the Avengers unofficially seemed to just be disbanded. 

In fact, if you look at the potential threats in Phase 4 this time, Earth and the universe seem to really need the presence of the Avengers.

When fans speculate about who will replace Iron Man and Captain America to lead the Avengers, they mostly talk about new superheroes who are "similar" to their predecessors, like Sam Wilson's All-New Captain America or Riri Williams aka Ironheart. 

However, recently there has actually been someone who has begun to show his capabilities as a potential leader of the next Avengers, namely Doctor Strange. 

Even Marvel seems to be secretly preparing it for this. 

Check out the discussion below.

Doctor Strange's History as a Leader

So far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Strange has only officially been shown as the leader of the Mystic Art wizards when facing the threat of Dormammu in his first solo film, which was released in 2016. 

Whereas in Marvel Comics, fans actually know Strange as a leader who has a lot of experience.

Although Strange has never led the Avengers in Marvel Comics, he is the Sorcerer Supreme as well as a powerful wizard who has led and even founded many Marvel super teams.

Strange first founded the Marvel super-team called the Defenders in 1971. 

Composed of the Hulk and Namor, the Defenders were meant to protect Earth from multi-dimensional demonic creatures called the Undying Ones. 

In 1992, Strange again founded a new super team called the Midnight Sons, when a hell demon named Lilith invaded Earth with her children called Lilin. 

A year later, Strange again founded a super team that is more sophisticated than the Defender, namely the Secret Defender, to complete many missions in the Marvel Universe.

In 2013, Strange is said to have founded and led a group of magical wizards in the multiverse, called the Black Priests. 

This team of wizards was founded to maintain the stability of the multiverse by remodeling some of the planets within. 

Then in 2018, Strange was told to reorganize and lead the Infinity Watch team that was previously founded and disbanded by Adam Warlock. 

Just like its previous function, the Infinity Watch led by Strange is meant to keep the Infinity Stones from falling into the hands of bad guys.

Most recently, Strange led the Strange Academy team in 2020 to protect Earth as well as the survival of the wizards in the universe. 

Basically Strange Academy is a magic school founded by the Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange to restore the legacy of magic in the universe and also train young wizards in the use of magic and magical artifacts. 

With Strange's experience as a leader in Marvel Comics, it makes sense that he ultimately leads the Avengers, which is Earth's best super team.

Strange is Strong and Genius

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is never clearly stated who the real leader of the Avengers is. 

In Infinity Saga, based on what we saw in the four Avengers films, Earth's best super team is often shown to be "dependent" on the leadership of Iron Man and Captain America, depending on the problems they are facing, whether they are fighting Loki, Ultron, or Thanos.

When it comes to “brains”, everything is almost always left to Tony Stark aka Iron Man, as most recently when the Avengers asked him to help build a time machine. 

Meanwhile, when dealing with "muscles", Steve Rogers aka Captain America is the one who always gives orders to the Avengers, such as when he shouted Avengers Assemble when he was about to battle Thanos.

And interestingly, Doctor Strange is a character and member of the Avengers who has both brains and muscles. 

Strange is a meticulous neurosurgeon. 

In addition, he is also a Mystic Art mage who is able to master many magic overnight by relying on his astral form to continue studying while he is asleep. 

For muscle or strength, Strange is without a doubt one of the most powerful wizards in the MCU.

Although for now the position of Sorcerer Supreme is held by Wong, but that does not change the fact that Doctor Strange is very strong.

With all he has, Strange could easily be the first to be chosen to lead the Avengers when Earth's best super-team needs someone both genius and strong to lead them.

Marvel Prepares Doctor Strange

In Phase 4 of the MCU, an issue that is discussed more often than others is the multiverse. 

Since the multiverse was released in the Loki series, and reappeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange is the first person on fans' minds when looking for someone who is very worthy to face the problem. 

Moreover, in his second solo film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Strange will face increasingly serious multiverse problems.

Some small signs that Marvel seems to be preparing for is when Strange is involved in the adventures of Spider-Man in the film No Way Home. 

Even though the multiverse problems that occur in No Way Home are Peter Parker aka Spider-Man's fault, Doctor Strange is the one who should be most responsible. 

Because he is the one who casts a dangerous spell, the multiverse portal accidentally opens, even though Wong had previously warned him.

From these mistakes, it's actually an important clue that Doctor Strange is being prepared to lead the next Avengers. 

If we pay attention, all the previous leaders of the Avengers must have been characters who dared to break the rules and go against the "safe" way for the greater good. 

Where Nick Fury, Iron Man, and Captain America have these similarities. 

And Doctor Strange's mistake in helping Spider-Man is one of the manifestations that he dared to break the rules for the good of other superheroes.

That's a discussion of the reasons why Doctor Strange is very suitable to be the leader of the next Avengers. 

Apart from the theory we discussed this time, the synopsis of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness even wrote that "Doctor Strange is expected to play an important role as a central character in the Avengers".

It's pretty clear that Marvel is preparing something "special" with Avengers and Doctor Strange.