Doctor Strange Actor Accused Of Sexual Abuse

An actress from Doctor Strange has been accused of sexual abuse of a child in what is shaping up to be a very tragic story.

By David Harrison | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

Some terrible news is coming out of the United Kingdom with a trial underway surrounding child abuse allegations that are fairly horrific in nature. A defendant is claiming (via the BBC) that Zara Pythian and her husband Victor Marke are accused of having sex with a then-13-year-old from the years 2005 to 2008. The defendant is claiming she was groomed by the couple at the time and that the acts were videotaped. Zara Pythian has a number of different acting credits, though the biggest one was in a bit part for 2016s Doctor Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

During the trial, the accuser made a number of very disturbing claims about Zara Pythian and her husband during those years in the early-to-mid 2000s. At the time, Pythian and Markle were martial arts instructors and apparently used this as influence over the child in order to perform sexual acts. During testimony, the accuser said the first incident followed the couple giving her alcohol and then coercing her into a sexual act with Markle. And apparently, this abuse went on for years with the accuser feeling like she was unable to contact the authorities because the couple had said no one would believe her.

Zara Phythian

Now an adult, the accuser has made statements to police which outline years of systematic abuse by Zara Pythian and Victor Marke though there hasn’t been word of how or when it exactly ended. Regardless, this is a brutal set of circumstances, disgusting in every way if proven to be correct. But according to some reporting (via ComicBook.com) there are other charges against Marke from a different accuser, so things are pointing in a pretty terrible direction.

With the trial continuing against Zara Pythian and Victor Marke, there is likely more to come out along these lines and if other testimony is entered into evidence then further details could continue painting a very tragic picture. While the timelines are a bit nebulous with these details just coming out, there’s some chance this alleged abuse overlapped with Zara Pythian first beginning a small career in Hollywood as an actress and stuntwoman. Her first credits were in smaller productions in which she played higher types. In fact, nearly all of her films are lower budget, mostly unknown flicks in which she had very small roles.

The biggest credit for Zara Pythian, by far, was in Marvel’s Doctor Strange in which she was credited as Brunette Zealot, a follower of Mads Mikkelsen’s Kaecilius in the movie. They are seen at various junctures in the film with the latter’s story being at the heart of what Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange is working to fight against. Pythian isn’t part of the upcoming sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which is set to hit screens next week on May 6th in wide release. There has been no word from Marvel about this ongoing trial having to do with one of its former actresses. It doesn’t stand to reason we will hear from them on that front.