The Phase Four era of the MCU has seen the rise of an unexpected new obsession in the Marvel fandom: the mystery of how the Avengers actually make money. After The Falcon and the Winter Soldier revealed that the team essentially gets by on donations (“there’s a tremendous amount of goodwill,” Sam Wilson explained), we’ve been left to wonder if Earth’s Mightiest Heroes might actually be New York’s Poorest People.
The latest hero to have their financial situation come under the microscope is Doctor Strange. Seeing as he is a Master of the Mystic Arts tasked by the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj with protecting the world from mystical threats, does he actually have any kind of salary? Or does Stephen make his moolah through other means? That’s what folks have been pondering on Reddit after the following post kickstarted the conversation.
Hilariously, because he is the real king of the MCU, a discussion about Wong’s own money troubles quickly hijacked this conversation. For starters, we’re guessing Wong’s need for cash for his tuna melt in Avengers: Infinity War means the sorcerers are mostly skint.
Although Wong’s addiction to classic TV, like The Sopranos, means this might just be a personal thing.
And don’t forget his newfound love of karaoke too.
That may explain why Wong started his cage-fighting side hustle in the first place.
As for Strange, one fan helpfully commented that he’s been known to create gold in the comics.
Although this just raises more questions than it answers…
This really shouldn’t be a mystery, though, seeing as Jimmy Kimmel revealed the truth years ago.
But for anyone after a genuine answer, this isn’t a bad head-canon: Strange still takes on consulting gigs, even if he might not be a practicing surgeon anymore.
All in all, Strange probably isn’t the superhero we should be most worried about over how they’re going to feed themselves. Let’s not forget Peter Parker now has literally nothing to his name thanks to Strange’s spell going awry!