Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse of Madness is a love letter to hardcore Doctor Strange fans and Sam Raimi just revealed one of the most important characters in Doctor Strange’s history: Clea. Clea is an important character in Doctor Strange’s history as she is Strange’s true love and the niece of Dormammu from the Dark Dimension. With Clea’s official Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, we could explore more of the Dark Dimension and learn about Dormammu and Umar. Doctor Strange fans already know who Clea is, but MCU fans may not. So, who is Clea?

Clea was first introduced in Strange Tales issue #126 written by the late Stan Lee and art done by the late Steve Ditko, and Clea is the niece of Dormammu from the Dark Dimension. Her mother is Umar who is Dormammu’s sister. Doctor Strange encounters Clea while entering the Dark Dimension to face off against Dormammu as he plans to conquer earth. Clea, who had never seen a human before considering half-Faltine and Dark Dimension bloodline, decided to help Strange in defeating Dormammu which led to her imprisonment by Dormammu. Doctor Strange finds Clea and battles Dormammu where Doctor Strange fights through the Mindless Ones and defeats Dormammu. Doctor Strange forces Dormammu to release Clea and never conquer earth. Clea becomes Doctor Strange’s apprentice and wife, as well as a partial member of the Defenders. Doctor Strange and Clea’s marriage did not last and they eventually divorced, though they still love each other.

In Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse of Madness, the mid credit reveals Clea played by actress Charlize Theron as she approaches Doctor Strange about an incursion that has started. With Clea’s debut, this has opened the door to explore the Dark Dimension which was previously shown in Doctor Strange and we can learn more about Dormammu and potentially Umar who could appear in the third installment of Doctor Strange. Dormammu and Umar are from a race called the Faltine which is a race of extra-dimensional beings made of pure magic energy. Dormammu and Umar are the offspring of Sinifer, but they were different from the Faltine race. Instead of Dormammu and Umar craving energy like the Faltine, they craved matter which was considered obscene; and so, Sinifer tried stopping Dormammu and Umar which led to his death as well as Dormammu and Umar being banished to the Dark Dimension. If Doctor Strange 3 does feature Dormammu and Umar, it would make for a great rematch between Doctor Strange and Dormammu as Doctor Strange has increased in overall power and magic knowledge. When it comes to power between Doctor Strange and Clea, Clea is vastly more powerful than Strange though both characters’ powers have drastically increased over the years. 

Clea’s MCU debut and introduction has many hardcore Doctor Strange fans excited for the future. Currently, Doctor Strange is dead in Marvel comics and Clea has taken over as the Sorcerer Supreme in Jed McKay’s run. Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse of Madness is officially released exclusively in theaters.