Ranking The Characters Of Doctor Strange

6) Christine Palmer

Another element that is a little hit in miss in Marvel’s films (we do love them, though, we promise!) is the love interest. Steve and Peggy might have had a charmingly chaste relationship in The First Avenger and Tony and Pepper share witty repartee, but others like Thor and Jane Foster fall a bit flat. Again, the romance between Stephen Strange and Christine Palmer isn’t one of the worst but it’s not one of the best either.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Rachel McAdams do have solid chemistry, which really helps to sell the attraction between the pair. That’s a good thing, because the film itself is really not very interested in doing so. The romance between them is largely an adjunct to the main plot and as such is a bit underdeveloped.

As ex-lovers, they slightly rekindle their relationship when Strange has his accident, but then they don’t see each other for a long time while Strange goes to Nepal. Christine is basically fine with that when he eventually returns. A little more exploration of their complicated relationship wouldn’t have gone amiss.

On the other hand, the ambiguity over their future is better than a stereotypical ‘the hero gets the girl’ ending and McAdams gives her best in a limited role. Ultimately, though, she’s just in the movie to provide a second female character after The Ancient One.