Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has us in for a treat, as far as it seems now. Rumors about the large number of (un)surprising cameos have been roaming the Internet for months now, and although the recent trailer did give us a glimpse of what we can expect, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. One of these questions is related to a character who is certainly going to be making an appearance, and that is – Rintrah the Minotaur, whom we have seen in the trailer. In this article, we are going to introduce the character to you.
Rintrah is an other-dimensional mystic. He was created by Peter B. Gillis and Chris Warner and first appeared in Doctor Strange #80 (December 1986). In the stories, Rintrah comes from an other-dimensional planet. When Doctor Strange brings his cloak of levitation for repair, Rintrah is sent to return it. Strange then briefly and with permission takes possession of his body to ward off Urthona.
The rest of this article is going to focus on Rintrah and all of the aspects related to his character, including his role in the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel, his history, his powers and abilities, and more. Rintrah is a relatively unknown but very intriguing Marvel character, which is why we reckoned that he deserved proper treatment in a standalone article.
Who is the minotaur Rintrah?
Rintrah is an intelligent being from the extradimensional planet R’Vaal. His people, the R’Vaalians, resemble a green-skinned minotaur from Greek mythology. Rintrah’s magical potential brought him to the attention of Enitharmon the Weaver, a wizard from another dimension, who took Rintrah in and made him his apprentice.
Rintrah first met Earth 616’s Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange, when Strange asked Enitharmon to repair his Cloak of Levitation, which had been torn in a battle against the Khats. After repairing the cloak, Enitharmon told Rintrah to return the cloak to Strange. Rintrah found Strange shortly after the wizard’s physical body had been severely wounded in a battle with a demon sent by Urthona, an alien mystic from Strange’s own dimension.
The mortally wounded Strange was forced to release his astral form and take on the bodies of two of his friends, Morgana Blessing and Sara Wolfe. In these two other forms, Strange was just able to defeat Urthona’s demon. During the battle, Urthona transported Strange’s house and everything inside to his home planet.
Rintrah found Strange shortly after an intensive surgery was performed to save Strange’s body. Still in the body of Sara Wolfe, Strange’s astral spirit asked Rintrah to allow him to project his spirit into Rintrah’s body. Rintrah agreed, allowing Strange’s and Rintrah’s consciousnesses to inhabit one body at the same time.
Rintrah’s shared body then took Strange’s healing body and borrowed a spaceship from Reed Richards. They traveled to Urthona’s home planet and confronted the alien sorcerer. During the battle, it seemed that Strange destroyed his magic books and mystical talismans. In reality, the books and talismans were saved by the magical being Agamotto, one of the Vishanti.
Agamotto later returned the undamaged items to Doctor Strange. Strange and Rintrah were able to defeat Urthona and free his prisoners, Wong and Topaz. They then returned to Earth.
Rintrah stayed with Doctor Strange and accompanied him back to Earth-616. Rintrah hoped to serve the Sorcerer Supreme, but he declined, but was able to help him in a battle against a water elemental and the Khats. When Earth was invaded by a series of evil entities from beyond the grave, Doctor Strange was forced to use black magic to defeat them.
During this time, Strange allied himself with the black magician Kaluu. Rintrah studied in Kamar-Taj while Strange was away, but after defeating the dark forces, Strange gained godhood and slowly detached himself from humanity. Kaluu, Enitharmon and Rintrah were able to bring Strange back to his old self. Rintrah then returned to his dimension with Enitharmon.
Finally, Rintrah returned to Earth-616 and asked Strange to accept him as an apprentice. Strange agreed, and Rintrah lived with Strange in Strange’s home in Greenwich Village. While living in the Sanctum, he had to do chores like all of Kamar Taj’s students.
Eventually Rintrah returned to Earth-616 and asked Strange to accept him as an apprentice. Strange agreed, and Rintrah lived with Strange in Strange’s house in Greenwich Village. While living in the Sanctum, he had to do the same chores as all of Kamar Taj’s students.
After the incident with the Talisman of Tartessus, Rintrah, now alive and well, became an associate professor at Strange Academy. He taught Math-1, a project-based course in which students explore the basic principles of algebra and geometry to work in mystical disguise.
Rintrah’s first appearance
Rintrah made his debut in Doctor Strange #80 (September, 1986), in a story authored by Peter Gillis and Chris Warner. Rintrah had meet Doctor Strange two issues before, when Strange asked Enitharmon to repair his Cloak of Levitation, which had been torn in a battle against the Khats; Rintrah wasn’t actually seen in #78, but it was later implied that he had been there when Strange brought the Cloak.
Is Rintrah good or bad?
Knowing now what we know about the guy, we can easily deduce that Rintrah is a good guy in the comics, which means that he will probably be one in the movie as well. Both on his home planet and while working closely with Doctor Strange, Rintrah was clearly on the side of good and there is absolutely nothing that hints at him being a villain in the movie, unless we see an alternative version of the character.
Rintrah’s powers and abilities
Because of his alien physiology, Rintrah has superhuman strength and endurance, especially in the muscles of his legs. His horns and hooves can be used as weapons, although he prefers not to use them as such.
Rintrah is a moderately strong magic user. He has the potential to one day become as powerful as Doctor Strange and Enitharmon the Weaver. His full repertoire of spells is unknown, but he has demonstrated effects such as dimensional travel, projecting his astral form, firing bolts of mystical energy, and erecting shields of mystical power.
He is able to mystically see the “threads of fate” that hover around all living beings. Thanks to his teacher Enitharmon, the weaver, Rintrah could immediately experience the entire history of everything by touching just one of these threads. He often exclaimed, “By the veil and weft of the woven world!” This kind of magic was unknown to Doctor Strange.
Rintrah is able to change his appearance to resemble humans when he is on Earth. He enjoyed taking the shape of actors and other popular entertainers he saw on television. One of his favorite characters was the movie star Humphrey Bogart.
Like his master Doctor Strange, Rintrah has a tremendous intellect and the ability to learn things quickly. He learned many spells and processes much faster than his human counterparts. He is an expert mathematician with knowledge of the principles of algebra and geometry.
RIntrah’s weaknesses
Rinrah does not have any specific weaknesses in that aspect. He is a powerful otherworldly being and is not explicitly weak to anything. His true form, though, does tend to frighten humans, which is definitely a setback, especially since he would often forget to cast the spell to hide his true appearance on Earth, although he was skilled at illusions.
Who is playing Rintrah in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?
Now, if you’ve seen the trailer, you know by now that Rintrah is set to appear in the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. He was briefly seen in a scene, from the back. Now, since Rintrah is going to be a CGI character, he might not even have any dialogues, so there is a possibility that he might not be played by anyone in the movie. On the other hand, even if he does having up a speaking role in the film, we still don’t know who is going to play him in the movie, as that piece of information has not yet been revealed.
