In Marvel’s Doctor Strange comics, Strange’s sidekick Wong has traditionally been portrayed as an Asian stereotype, servile and cunning. When Benedict Wong came onboard the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he did so on the condition that they subvert the tropes and play Wong as a “librarian general,” more of an equal than a servant. In his six Marvel film appearances, including this week’s MCU release Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the character has built a fan following the actor jokingly refers to as the “Wong-tourage.”
So when he was asked at a press junket with East Asian journalists about his future with the MCU, he spoke about “Phase Wong” coming to an end, but explained again an idea he had pitched on a podcast about a Wong prequel series:
“I mean, there’s been a number of people asking whether or not there could be a film or a series, you know. He disappeared for five years protecting the Sanctums and maybe that could be explored, but I’m living the dream at the moment starring in this. My ancestors are smiling, I’m playing the character called Wong, so in perfect alignment.”
The Sanctums are the three home bases of the MCU’s Masters of the Mystic Arts, a society of sorcerers charged with protecting the Earth. Wong and Strange inhabit the New York Sanctum; the other two are located in Hong Kong and London. The idea of detailing Wong’s time learning the mystical arts and his ascent to Sorcerer Supreme certainly has a lot of merit.
It remains to be seen if Disney Plus agrees that a “Wong” series would fit in with its slate of superhero spinoff shows which include Moon Knight, What if…?, and WandaVision.
