Nicodemus West

: "Now's not the time for showing off, Strange!""How about ten minutes ago when you called the wrong time of death?"
: ―Nicodemus West and Stephen Strange[src]
Doctor Nicodemus "Nic" West is a neurosurgeon at Metro-General Hospital where he developed a rivalry with a fellow doctor working there, Stephen Strange. West saved Strange's life after a near fatal car accident, although his work could not save Strange's hands which developed irreparable nerve damage. West continued working at the hospital while Strange searched for a way to fix his hands. The pair came back into contact when Strange brought in the Ancient One and personally asked West to take charge of the operation, although she could not be saved.
In 2018, West was among those that were killed in the Snap. Upon his resurrection five years later, he was distraught to discover his two cats and his brother had died in that time. In 2024, he attended the wedding of co-worker Christine Palmer.
== Biography ==
=== Successful Neurosurgeon ===
==== Working with Doctor Strange ====
: "We need to get him prepped for a suboccipital craniotomy.""I'm not going to let you operate on a dead man."
: ―Stephen Strange and Nicodemus West[src]
Nicodemus West was preparing to start recovering an apparently dead patient's organs when Stephen Strange and Christine Palmer barged into the room and ordered him to stop because Strange had found an initially missed bullet lodged in the patient's brain. As Strange prepared to operate, he asked West to place his hand over his watch, as the ticking was distracting him. As West complied, Strange operated and saved the patient's life.
Immediately following the surgery, Strange asked Palmer if she and West were sleeping together. Palmer denied the accusation, stating it was against the "Strange Policy," a policy against dating coworkers that she named after him.
==== Strange's Surgery ====
: "Give your body time to heal.""You've ruined me..."
: ―Nicodemus West and Stephen Strange[src]
Stephen Strange was in a car accident where his hands were crushed on impact and were brutally injured. West and Christine Palmer oversaw the surgery done on Strange that took approximately eleven hours to save him. West was forced to put stainless steel pins inside the bones of both of Strange's hand, which left Strange's hands having permanent nerve damage.
Once Strange awoke, he was in horror of seeing his damaged hands as West ordered him to rest and let his body have time to heal. Strange told West that he ruined him, as Palmer insisted that nobody could have done a better job, but Stephen stated he could have done better. Though West told Strange to let his body rest, Strange furiously accused him of ruining his body and career, leaving the doctor to try to spend his fortune to fix his hands.
==== Operating on the Ancient One ====
Several months later, West was resting, looking for a snack, but seeing that the machine mysteriously dropped several snacks, West silently took several.
Later, Doctor Strange returned to Metro-General Hospital, rushing a mortally wounded woman to the emergency room. As colleague Christine Palmer began attempting to save the woman's life, Strange approached West and offered him a scalpel, showing West that he trusted him to save the woman's life. Despite his best efforts, however, the Ancient One passed away.
=== Death and Resurrection ===
: "While I was gone, thank you for asking, I lost my two cats and my brother."
: ―Nicodemus West to Doctor Strange[src]
In 2018, West was a victim of the Snap. Five years later, as a result of the Blip, he was restored to life. However, he found out that his brother and two pet cats had died during that time he was gone. This greatly affected him.
=== Christine Palmer's Wedding ===
: "The best surgeon and the best superhero. But you still didn't get the girl."
: ―Nicodemus West to Doctor Strange[src]
In 2024, West attended Christine Palmer's wedding and sat next to Stephen Strange, and the pair greeted each other. West told Strange he hadn't seen him in a while, in which Strange replied that he had been dust for five years. West replied that that had been a lot of people, including him. He told him when he came back, he found out his cats and brother had died during the time he was gone. Strange apologized, and West stated that what had been keeping him up nights was wondering if the Snap was their only option in saving the universe. Strange assured West that it was and he had made the only play there was.
Still upset, West remarked that Strange felt as though he had to be the best surgeon and the superhero. As Palmer entered the room for her wedding to Charlie, West commented that Strange did not get to be with her. He then stood up as Palmer walked down the aisle.
== Personality ==
: "Organ harvesting. He's a donor.""Slow down. I did not agree to that.""I don't need you to. We've already called brain death.""Prematurely."
: ―Nicodemus West and Stephen Strange[src]
West was known to be ignorant, according to Stephen Strange. He is shown as quite careless and neglectful when seen immediately trying to harvest the patient's organs without checking the patient thoroughly. Despite these negative traits, he was quite reasonable shown when he complied with Strange to cover his watch while the latter demanded absolute silence when trying to remove the bullet from the patient's head. Despite their bad relationship, when Strange's hands were injured beyond repair in the car accident, West nevertheless sympathized with his current condition and patiently advised him to give time for his body to heal.
Having been a victim of the Snap, only to return five years later to find out that his brother and his cats had died during the time he was gone, left West pretty embittered, causing him to ask Strange whether he could have find another way to defeat Thanos. Strange's attempts to assure him of the legitimacy of his actions only led him to mockingly praise him for his past successes as a surgeon and status as a famous superhero before spitefully pointing out Strange's failed relationship with Christine.
== Abilities ==
* Expert Physician: As a doctor at Metro-General Hospital, West was very good at his job. However, many surgeons out classed his skill. He prematurely announced a patient as deceased, but was proven wrong by Christine Palmer and Stephen Strange, who performed the life-saving surgery. He also was oblivious to the idea that any slight sound could mess up a doctor's concentration as his ticking watch distracted Strange.
== Facilities ==
* Metro-General Hospital: West worked as a surgeon at Metro-General Hospital. He was outshone by many doctors there, and operated on the Ancient One while there.
== Relationships ==
=== Family ===
* Brother †
=== Allies ===
* Pet Cat †
* Pet Cat †
* Metro-General Hospital
** Christine Palmer - Colleague
* Masters of the Mystic Arts
** Ancient One † - Patient
** Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange - Former Colleague and Former Rival
* Bruce Banner/Hulk - Resurrector	
=== Enemies ===
* Thanos † - Killer
== Trivia ==
* In the comics, Dr. Nicodemus West was the surgeon who operated on Stephen Strange's hands following his auto accident. He was a big admirer of Strange's intelligence and surgeon skills, and followed him to Kamar-Taj, acquiring a scarce set of mystical abilities.
== Behind the Scenes ==
* In an early draft for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Nicodemus West was going to also have an alternate self in Earth-838, working for the Illuminati alongside Earth-838's Christine Palmer. He would have been killed offscreen by Scarlet Witch during her attack at the Illuminati Headquarters in a manner reminiscent to the offscreen death of Samuel L. Jackson's John Arnold of Jurassic Park: his head would have rolled out from the elevator as Doctor Strange and America Chavez escaped from the building. However, this concept was ultimately dropped due to scheduling conflicts with Michael Stuhlbarg.
== References ==
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Nicodemus West.
# ↑ Jump up to:1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Doctor Strange
# ↑ Avengers: Infinity War
# ↑ "4/30/2018" on Scott's laptop in Ant-Man and the Wasp
# ↑ Marvel Studios' The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline
# ↑ Jump up to:5.0 5.1 Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
# ↑ Tom Cruise as 'Multiverse' Iron Man, Lady Gaga and a deleted death scene — 'Doctor Strange' screenwriter spills what might have been
== External Links ==
* Nicodemus West on Marvel Database
* Nicodemus West on Wikipedia