Clea

When Rachel McAdams' casting was announced for the first Doctor Strange movie, nobody in the world expected she was going to be playing Christine Palmer, because there's really only ever been one woman in Stephen's life. Clea uses sorcery to lead a rebellion in the Dark Dimension and protect Earth alongside Doctor Strange and the Defenders. When Dormammu and his sister Umar conquered the Dark Dimension, they spared the child of the realm's deposed ruler. Prince Orini grew to become Dormammu's prime disciple, and also caught the attention of Umar. The downstairs attention. "Bathing suit area" attention. She got pregnant, and Clea was born. Eventually Umar tried to overthrow Dormammu and was banished to another dimension, leaving Orini to raise their daughter alone, keeping her lineage a secret to protect her. When Doctor Strange first visited the Dark Dimension, Clea immediately got a wide-on upon seeing him, and tried to help him defeat her evil uncle. Eventually she moved to Earth, became Strange's wife for a time, and even succeeded him as Sorcerer Supreme after his death. When she first appeared, Clea had curly white hair that bent back around itself in such a way as to suggest devil horns. That's been toned down over the years, so this figure just has smooth waves framing her face - and what a face it is! We could go back two decades to when ToyBiz started this line, and I think this would still be the prettiest face any ML has ever had. We don't know who sculpted this, but they did a gorgeous job. We're used to Marvel Legends that reuse bodies, and while Clea does that, she also gets her fair share of new pieces, as well. Her gloves may come from Scarlet Witch, but that Mobius strip sash she wears as a belt hasn't been seen before, and her chest is entirely hers: back when he hair was horns, she also wore a giant, ornate collar; that too has been toned down, but vestiges of it remain in the triangular shoulder pads her top has. It's possible Hasbro could have found a way to do those as a separate piece that fit onto the torso somehow, but instead they're part of the new sculpt, as is the neckline of her top. She doesn't use any of the extra-thin limbs, either, so her arms and legs look like they belong with this torso. Clea's colors are blue, black, and purple, making for a very strong contrast against her creamy hair. Artists have long decorated her black bodysuit by drawing random overlapping circles all over her legs, and this toy's paint honors that tradition. Surprisingly, they didn't cheap out and only paint the front half of the toy - we may hate that the prices have gone up five dollars, but at least they're not cheaping out and cutting corners at the same time? At least, not in this one specific case, we know they are in others. You get your choice of either closed fists or spellcasting hands - they're not the plain gestures Scarlet Witch and so many others have had, but actual Sorcerer Supreme "I love you"s, which is new, and appropriate for the character. The energy swirls she comes with are a translucent purple, which does blend in with her gloves a little too much - a lighter color, like yellow or white, might have worked better. Since the Mindless Ones first appeared in the same story as Clea, it's fitting she has a part of the Series 10 Build-A-Figure: the right arm. Clea's never had any toys before, despite being a fairly important part of Stephen Strange's world, so it's nice Hasbro continues to give attention to overlooked characters. Especially when they turn out this good. -- 03/04/24