Clea - Sorcerer Supreme of the Dark Dimension - Appreciation 2022

[Albert1981]

Not really. While she was around during the heyday of horror in the 1970s, she was pretty much written as a damsel in distress most of the time. She started getting some agency in the 1980s, but this is actually her first solo book.



At the time the Midnight Sons were a thing, Clea was busy fighting a rebellion against Dormammu in the Dark Dimension.



Elsa started out as a pretty blatant Buffy the Vampire Slayer clone, but was re-invented as a more sarcastic and mature character in Warren Ellis' NEXTWAVE.



We know nothing about the MCU version. At all. Referencing the comics doesn't help, and merely muddles things.



Since sometime in the 90s, I think. Around the time Stephen's ongoing ended.

Thanks for the VERY detailed response to my question!

[Clea]

A bit late (my work schedule has been hell) but I thought I'd post my thoughts about Strange 6:

I missed Clea in this issue but it was great to see a Wong-centric story. I can't imagine what it would have been like for him to have it drilled into him that his sole purpose for living (and dying!) is to serve the Sorcerer Supreme. We know his family has been the protector of the Sorcerer Supreme for generations, but still...the poor guy is carrying around a lot of undeserved guilt at having failed to save Stephen Strange's life. Nice to see both Black Widow and Jean Grey in this story. (Which reminds me that I need to pick up a copy of that Hellfire Gala issue!) I haven't read any X-titles for decades so I have no idea which iteration of Jean Grey this is, or what Mysterium is, but I got the gist from this issue of Strange that it has strong anti-magical properties and Clea is therefore displeased with it. The reveal about the true identity of the Blasphemy Cartel likewise fell a bit flat for me because I haven't read any Avengers or SHIELD related stories in ages so I have no idea who this W.A.N.D. group is other than the context that was provided in this issue. Ah well! I will look it up and try to catch up on the status of the X-books enough to get more context.

Still, very good story and lovely art by Lee Garbett on the cover and interiors.

Favorite bit: Bats' reaction to Black Widow.


Yes Bats, I agree. Natasha is very scary.

Last thought: Wong's father's name is Hamir, but here our Wong says that his father's name was Wong as was his father, etc. So now I'm assuming Wong is the family name. So what is our Wong's given name?

[DigiCom]

Last thought: Wong's father's name is Hamir, but here our Wong says that his father's name was Wong as was his father, etc. So now I'm assuming Wong is the family name. So what is our Wong's given name?

Well, Hamir is Arabic, so what about Beni?

[Clea]

Well, Hamir is Arabic, so what about Beni?

Can't be Beni! That reminds me instantly of the hilarious evil sidekick character from The Mummy, played by the amazing Kevin J. O'Connor.

[DigiCom]

Can't be Beni! That reminds me instantly of the hilarious evil sidekick character from The Mummy, played by the amazing Kevin J. O'Connor.

That is EXACTLY where I got it from.

(With a bit of an homage to Mr. Benedict Wong, of course)

[Albert1981]

What do you think of Theron's casting as Clea? I personally really like Charlize as an actress, but she's definitely A-List. Next to ScarJo, I don't think Marvel has had such a big-name actress play a female superhero in their movies/shows. I never thought Clea of all characters would be getting portrayed by such a "known quantity". My brother loved Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road. She really went toe-to-toe with Tom Hardy in it:

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood...theron-excerpt

I can't personally picture Charlize playing a "soft" version of Clea at all. Her personality is WAY too strong for that. I feel she'd actually be more suited doing the Elsa Bloodstone/Buffy the Vampire Slayer thing and slaughter her opponents in hand-to-hand combat. But apparently Clea has become a lot more "badass" lately in the comic books, so maybe her personality isn't as "sensitive" anymore.

I hear Werewolf by Night will be Marvel Studios' first official "horror" property. I guess Feige and company REALLY want to expand the horror "corner" of its universe. I was SO disappointed in the MoM's brand of "horror" though. It wasn't creepy and unsettling to me. That film was hardly macabre at all! It was FAR too campy and corny (and this is coming from a dude who LOVES humor in superhero content) to be scary in my opinion.

I DON'T think Strange and Clea will play ANY part in the MCU's supernatural stories to be honest. As I mentioned earlier, I don't see her hanging out with Bloodstone, Blade, Moon Knight, Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing, Brother Voodoo and Ghost Rider. I think the multiversal "incursion" stuff is kinda boring to me. Then again, I'm not a huge fan of comic book alternate reality/time travel stories anyway. I do feel that Strange and Clea might be more involved in more tedious TVA shenanigans than anything horror-related. I like MCU cosmic, but the parallel universes thing just confuses me.

[Frontier]

I just hope they can do her and her relationship with Stephen justice.

[DigiCom]

What do you think of Theron's casting as Clea?

As I've said before, we know absolutely NOTHING about Clea's character in the MCU, and using the comics won't help (particularly since Wong, The Ancient One, and Mordo were so different.)

She's a solid actress, however, so I'm sure she'll do an excellent job. Actually, I could see her playing the "warlord Clea" we see in the current Strange book. Consider this scene:







That seems fairly in line with what little we saw in Multiverse...

[Albert1981]

As I've said before, we know absolutely NOTHING about Clea's character in the MCU, and using the comics won't help (particularly since Wong, The Ancient One, and Mordo were so different.)

She's a solid actress, however, so I'm sure she'll do an excellent job. Actually, I could see her playing the "warlord Clea" we see in the current Strange book. Consider this scene:







That seems fairly in line with what little we saw in Multiverse...

I just don't wanna see Clea turning into an "angry" and "stoic" female superhero in the MCU. Those kind of women superheroes are really UNLIKEABLE to me. I know people complain about the male superheroes turning into "joke machines" in the MCU, but the laydeez are often written pretty smugly to me.

[Lukmendes]

Last thought: Wong's father's name is Hamir, but here our Wong says that his father's name was Wong as was his father, etc. So now I'm assuming Wong is the family name. So what is our Wong's given name?

MacKay briefly talked about that on twitter with DigiCom:

https://twitter.com/jedmackay/status...57101786370049



Doesn't explain much though, but it does sound like Wong is at least a first name, though as mentioned, maybe it's a title too.

I just hope they can do her and her relationship with Stephen justice.

In MCU? You'd better not be hoping too much, specially since I hear phase 4's quality is even worse.

I just don't wanna see Clea turning into an "angry" and "stoic" female superhero in the MCU. Those kind of women superheroes are really UNLIKEABLE to me. I know people complain about the male superheroes turning into "joke machines" in the MCU, but the laydeez are often written pretty smugly to me.

She did sound rather serious in that post-credits scene, though considering she was talking about Incursions, even a jokey character might sound serious during that.

Though who knows, a movie where she gets actual screen time might give her a different personality from the norm.

[Albert1981]

MacKay briefly talked about that on twitter with DigiCom:

https://twitter.com/jedmackay/status...57101786370049



Doesn't explain much though, but it does sound like Wong is at least a first name, though as mentioned, maybe it's a title too.



In MCU? You'd better not be hoping too much, specially since I hear phase 4's quality is even worse.



She did sound rather serious in that post-credits scene, though considering she was talking about Incursions, even a jokey character might sound serious during that.

Though who knows, a movie where she gets actual screen time might give her a different personality from the norm.

I understand that Clea appreciated the "gravity of the situation" in regards to Incursions, but her introduction was just weird to me. It felt so random and she seemed pretty unlikable to me (which is really weird because I like Theron). Lots of MCU female superheroes are pretty bland in my opinion. I'm hoping more screen time will indeed improve her character and make her more likeable. That was one of my main problems in the MoM. None of the "good guys" in that film acted heroically at all! It's like the movie's creators were trying so hard to make Strange 2 into a "horror flick", they forgot that it was also a superHERO movie as well.

[Ravin' Ray]

Remember when this was announced in April?



Marvel's Twitter account mentioned it today. Anyone ordered it already?

[Thirteen]

Given that Theron balked at playing Hippolyte, Warrior Queen of the Amazons in WONDER WOMAN because she didn't want to play "the mom", I think its safe to say she's on board as Clea to portray a character that is more than "The Girlfriend/Sidekick" of the lead and "The niece go the big Villain in the first movie" type role...so WARLORD CLEA, she appears to be...even brandishing a magic knife as her signature intro weapon is very telling...

As I've said before, we know absolutely NOTHING about Clea's character in the MCU, and using the comics won't help (particularly since Wong, The Ancient One, and Mordo were so different.)

She's a solid actress, however, so I'm sure she'll do an excellent job. Actually, I could see her playing the "warlord Clea" we see in the current Strange book. Consider this scene:



That seems fairly in line with what little we saw in Multiverse...

[Clea]

Remember when this was announced in April?

...

Marvel's Twitter account mentioned it today. Anyone ordered it already?

I figure I will pick it up over the weekend.

[Albert1981]

Readers seem to enjoy this new "defiant" Clea these days:

https://aiptcomics.com/2022/09/28/st...-death-review/

Look, I'm used to Clea being somewhat meek. Even a little bit passive. I've always known her as Strange's missus. But I feel like she's turning into Charlize Theron right before my eyes. I know DigiCom says we don't know what the MCU has in store for her, but I think this new version of Clea could fit into Marvel's "horror world" very smoothly. I thought she was more of a cosmic character in the past, but I'm changing my mind on that now.