Doctor Strange is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe! In all fairness, that’s not exactly a big revelation, but it’s still exciting news.

British actor Benedict Cumberbatch will play the character in the MCU, starting in 2016, and he will bring real magic to the franchise for the first time since its inception in 2008 (what Loki and the Asgardians do is just an advanced form of science).

With that in mind, it’s really interesting to ponder which magical spells from the comic books he will perform on the big screen.

The Sorcerer Supreme has utilised more spells than pretty much any other character in fiction since his first appearance in 1963 and there’ll no doubt be loads of them used in his movie and beyond.

Here are ten spells and magical powers we’d like to see him use in the MCU…

Crimson Bands of Cyttorak

The Crimson Bands of Cyttorak (occasionally, but rarely, spelled “Cytorrak“, like in the above image) is one of the most commonly used spells in the Marvel universe and Doctor Strange uses them a hell of a lot.

They invoke the incredibly powerful demonic entity known as Cyttorak – the being that powers the Juggernaut – in order to borrow its power, and essentially produce powerful bands that can entangle opponents and send them off to far away places.

Such is the strength of the bands that they have been used to immobilise beings as powerful as the Hulk himself – and it would be very cool to see Mark Ruffalo’s version of the character encased in a CGI ball of magical energy in the MCU, if he was to go rogue again.

Flames Of The Faltine

The Flames of the Faltine is a spell that invokes the powerful beings known as the Faltine – the order of beings that Dormammu belongs to, for example – in order to utilise their fire-like energies as an offensive weapon.

They can be used to blast opponents, burn opponents from the inside or even to restrain opponents – and they are incredibly painful on the recipient.

Even Ghost Rider – a character who exists whilst engulfed in hellfire, no less – can be badly hurt by the Flames of the Faltine. If that doesn’t emphasise their potency, nothing will. It would be awesome to see them being used in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – not least because it would confirm the existence of Dormammu’s kind in the franchise.

Demon Summoning

Doctor Strange can cast spells that will summon demons from all kinds of horrible places and, while that might sound like quite a terrible thing, the fact that he can actually control them for his own usage in combat makes it absolutely awesome!

Everything from humanoid demons to despicable, tentacled Eldritch Abominations can be summoned and utilised by the powerful Sorcerer Supreme – and it’s often with totally devastating consequences for his opponents.

If he’s struggling in a battle, he can give his opponent an army of awful creatures to deal with – and can you imagine the likes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Thanos being bombarded with gigantic beasts in the Avengers: Infinity war movies, for example? It would be damn awesome to see in live action!

Multiplication

Doctor Strange can not only better Loki when it comes to casting illusions, he can also create actual clones of himself! Remember when the God of Mischief tricked his brother by projecting several illusions of himself in the first Thor movie back in 2011? Well that’s absolutely nothing compared to what Strange can do.

Like the Marvel mutant Multiple Man and various other characters, Strange can create multiple identical – and equally powerful – versions of himself. In Strange’s case, it’s obviously via the casting of a spell, rather than an inherent ability, but it’s awesome nonetheless.

It’d be cool to see the power utilised in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Can you imagine the reaction of characters like Tony Stark if this kind of thing occurred? It would be very funny indeed.

Shields

One of Doctor Strange’s most commonly used powers is the ability to erect shields and force fields – in fact, he has an auto-shield that is constantly erect, meaning that he can’t even be caught by surprise when it comes to people attacking him.

However, he can also augment his shields and cast spells that make them even more powerful and useful than they are as standard. For example, he can put spells around himself and his allies that allow them to breathe in space or water, or that will protect them from the harsh energies of certain other dimensions.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Strange could protect himself and the Avengers from the likes of Thanos and it will be cool to see such a simple power that has been absent thus far executed in the franchise.

Transmutation

A very cool power that Doctor Strange possesses is the power of transmutation. Transmutation is the ability to change one material to another by altering its molecular state and anything can be changed into anything else as a result.

Strange has utilised it to do things like changing a gun into a swarm of flies (as seen in the image above), but it can undoubtedly be used on a much grander scale than that.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it could, for example, be used to undo any transmutation that Thanos does in Avengers: Infinity War. In the Infinity Gauntlet comic book arc, the Mad Titan used transmutation quite a lot (such as when he turned Wolverine’s body to mush, for example) and Strange would come in useful in the MCU if that kind of thing was to occur.

Astral Projection

One of the only powers that has pretty much been confirmed to be on display in Doctor Strange’s first movie is astral projection. Benedict Cumberbatch himself has said that some of the movie will take place on the Astral Plane – and that’s an exciting prospect.

Strange can project his mind out of his body in order to carry out a number of tasks – such as travelling to the aforementioned Astral Plane (a metaphorical level of existence, with ties to the physical world, which only psychic entities can visit) or possessing the bodies of other living beings.

Such is Strange’s proficiency in astral projection, he can actually project his astral form across entire galaxies and dimensions. It’s going to be awesome to see it happening in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – the Astral Plane will look incredible in live action!

Dimensional Travel

The idea of dimensional travel has been teased in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2015’s Ant-Man, when the Quantum Realm was introduced. It was essentially a completely different reality, in which time flows differently, essentially making it another dimension.

However, actual dimensional travel is yet to occur in the franchise, but Doctor Strange’s arrival should undoubtedly change that – which will be awesome to see (taking characters like Hulk and Iron Man to different dimensions would be cool).

In the comic books, Strange is an extremely proficient dimensional traveler. He can effortlessly move between dimensions – such as in the above picture, in which he takes a “shortcut” through several of them in order to get home. The idea of seeing different Marvel dimensions in live action is an exciting one, so let’s hope he traverses several in the MCU.

Time Manipulation

One of Doctor Strange’s most impressive and seemingly impossible powers is the ability to cast spells that can manipulate the concept of time itself.

He has done things like manipulate the speed of time, stop time completely, travel into the future and the past, and undo the effects of time manipulation carried out by other characters – including the likes of those as powerful as Thanos.

Strange has, in fact, overridden some time manipulation that the Mad Titan carried out whilst using all six Infinity Gems, which is an absolutely incredible feat of power by any character’s standards. When Thanos is wielding such power, he is essentially God, so that emphasises just how ridiculously powerful some of Strange’s spells are. Time manipulation could come in very handy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Illusion Of Reality

If you think what Tom Hiddleston’s Loki has done in terms of illusions is good in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, think again. Doctor Strange can cast illusions on a massive scale in the comic books and it would be great to see him do so in the MCU.

One such spell is called the Illusion of Reality and can be used over extremely large areas for a variety of purposes.

For example, if the world is in extreme (and obviously visible) danger, but Strange thinks he has time to put it right, he will cast an illusion to make it look like everything is okay while he deals with the threat. It would be awesome to see that he has been manipulation the perception of the MCU’s existing characters for the whole time we’ve been watching them, for example.

What do you think? Which spells would you like to see Benedict Cumberbatch’s character cast? Have your say below!