Benedict Wong has already been firmly established as the stealth MVP of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Four, with the fan favorite actor appearing in more projects across the last 9 months than he did in his first five years as part of the franchise.
Having been restricted to a supporting role in Doctor Strange along with a pair of cameos in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, the British star has barely been away from our screens since after showing up in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
Thanks to a technicality, Wong has been living it up as the Sorcerer Supreme, with Stephen Strange’s five years in post-blip purgatory opening the door to the former Target employee snagging the top job at Kamar-taj. However, a cynically sensible theory has been put forth on Reddit to explain why the Wongtourage has been enjoying Phase Wong of the Wong Cinematic Universe, and it makes a huge amount of sense when you think about it.
No offense to Wong, but he definitely comes a lot cheaper than household name, international A-lister, and two-time Academy Award nominee Benedict Cumberbatch, who hasn’t really been the sort to pop up for cameo appearances during his own tenure as an MCU stalwart (Thor: Ragnarok withstanding).
The former Sherlock Holmes’ loss has been his regular co-star’s gain, though, and that’s without mentioning the repeated headlines being seized by the Soprano-loving Master of the Mystic Arts on a weekly basis as he makes his presence felt in She-Hulk.
