Black Adam brought a bunch of superheroes to the silver screen, one of them being Doctor Fate. The name will strike you as all too familiar, as we’re used to Marvel’s Doctor Strange. When you see Fate in action, it will convince you even further that the two’s powers are quite alike as well.
It is true, they are quite similar—although it was DC’s Fate that inspired Marvel’s Strange. Still, as many would, there have been debates about which one of them would win if they were to have a face-off.
So mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the best doctor among them all?
Prime Doctor Fate would win against Prime Doctor Strange. It’s simply because he wields better magical objects, like the Amulet of Anubis and the Cloak of Destiny, has access to the Tower of Fate with an infinite number of spells, and is assisted by the divine Nobu, a Lord of Order.
Let’s get into understanding their powers and pitting their base forms against each other. To make things interesting, I’ve also compared different versions of the sorcerers to give us a more conclusive answer as to who truly is supreme!
1. Source of Powers Explained
I. Where does Doctor Strange get his powers from?
Strange is a “Master of the Mystic Arts,” which simply means that he taps into the powers of otherworldly entities known as the Vishanti and harnesses their power to conduct spells.
His main magical objects are the Eye of Agamotto (which helps him see through any sort of deception or illusion) and the sentient Cloak of Levitation.
II. Where does Doctor Fate get his powers from?
Nabu is a Lord of Order, who represents the balance of the universe. He resides inside the Helmet of Fate that Doctor Fate wears and grants Fate his spells, powers, and super strength.
Fate also possesses the Amulet of Anubis and the Cloak of Destiny. The amulet increases his magical abilities, contains a pocket dimension as well as shields him so that no one can detect his magic. The cloak, on the other hand, helps him fly and makes him invulnerable to physical attacks.
2. Doctor Strange (Base Form) vs Doctor Fate (Base Form)
I. Doctor Strange
Strange is a master spellcaster with the power of creating illusions, astral projections, mystical blasts of energy, and more. He famously also uses the powerful Crimson Bands of Cyttora to bind Thanos.
Strange is known to be an innovative tricker who can defeat entities stronger than him using strategy instead of just powers/magic. Just ask Dormammu!
However, despite practicing martial arts, Strange is not much of a fighter. Against a canonically physically stronger Fate (who also has super strength), Strange would not stand a chance.
His other big weakness is that most of his spells need verbal incantations and/or hand movements. So, all you have to do to defeat him is tie up his hands and gag him.
II. Doctor Fate
Fate has an undue advantage because he is literally fighting with a god by his side. Unlike Strange, he can cast spells in his mind. Strange is frankly no match for Fate who has over a million years of experience and spells, thanks to Nabu’s aid.
Another plus point for Fate is that his amulet shields him and allows him to attack Strange undetected—as the Eye of Agamotto cannot detect the amulet. Even if it came down to a physical battle, Fate’s super strength would knock Strange out.
If Fate has one big weakness, it’s that he is powerless without his helmet. So, if you want to beat him, you know what to do!
VERDICT: Doctor Fate wins! In the paraphrased words of a Quora user, Doctor Strange is simply a man borrowing the powers of gods, while Doctor Fate is being borrowed by a god as a human vessel.
As such, Strange is against a literal god with infinite powers and is bound to lose in a match.
3. Black Priest Strange vs Fate/Nobu (Earth-22)
I. Black Priest Strange
To understand this form of Strange, you have to know who or what the Black Priests are. They are god-like beings that are created by the multiverse to protect the multiverse. At times, this also means destroying a few universes for the greater good of the multiverse.
You can also think of them as The Watcher, who do a lot more than just observe. Their powers have no limits, as they can simply speak words/spells that can alter or destroy reality as we know it. In this form, Strange did destroy an entire universe with just a few words.
Imagine Strange wielding such power! As a Black Priest, Strange also had the ability of organic disintegration… Yup, that’s something similar to Thanos snapping his fingers and turning everyone to dust.
II. Fate/Nobu (Earth-22)
This version of Doctor Fate did not require any human vessel. He is able to channel his consciousness through the Helm of Fate and Cloak of Destiny, because of which he is known as just “Fate.” So the character you see is Nobu in his purest form.
He holds quite a lot of defensive tactics in this form. For example, he can “swallow” multiple people and shield them from any attacks. He can also transport them using his essence.
As a Lord of Chaos, one would expect Nabu’s pure form to have limitless power. However, his lack of body/vessel does limit his attacking tactics. Plus, if Earth-22 Nabu has the same origins as New Earth, we know that his essence has been weakened after fighting Wotan—which is why a human vessel is an important device to him.
VERDICT: This is a no-brainer, Black Priest Strange wins! While both have god-like powers, Black Priest Strange exceeds in his powers and abilities as a multiversal being.
4. Strange-Thing vs Nightwing Fate (Flashpoint)
1. Strange-Thing
For this round, we’re going to look at versions of the sorcerers that amalgamated with other super-powered beings. For Strange, it’s going to be the version that meshed with Man-Thing on Earth-1298.
This is quite a powerful version of Strange since he has Man-Thing’s responsibilities, which also makes him the guardian of the Nexus of All Realities. As such, he has the ability to displace reality and cross dimensions.
Doctor-Thing also has malleability, durability, super strength, chlorokinesis, and other abilities, thanks to being able to tap into Man-Thing’s powers.
II. Nightwing Fate (Flashpoint)
Nightwing is one of Batman’s most popular sidekicks/Robins. Meshing up with this superhero gives us a version of Doctor Fate who truly enjoys the best of both worlds—becoming a being who is both physically and magically strong.
In the Flashpoint timeline, it is Dick Grayson who finds the Helmet of Fate after Kent Nelson’s passing. As he wields the helm, he is granted all of Nobu’s powers. However, the drawback is that, unlike Nelson, he does not have any other magical objects like the cloak or amulet.
To make up for it, this version of Fate can use his Nightwing abilities like speed, agility, stamina, weaponry skills, and acrobatics. Let’s not forget that just like Batman, Nightwing too has a bunch of cool gadgets!
VERDICT: Nightwing Fate wins this round!
While Strange-Thing would put up a good fight, he will be weakened if he is taken out of his swamp environment. Fate with his Nightwing counterpart will be at the peak of physical human abilities and can easily handle Strange-Thing.
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