Last month, it was rumored that Mads Mikkelsen's mysterious character in Doctor Strange is the Marvel Comics villain Kaecilius. This took many fans by surprise because, while in the comic books he is a disciple of Baron Mordo, (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Mordo is reportedly working alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in this movie adaptation. Still, there isn't much we know about this character yet, but now a new prequel comic has surfaced that sheds new light on Kaecilius, officially confirming him as the villain.

Towards the end of production, we got our first glimpse at Mads Mikkelsen in costume as Kaecilius, wearing unique face makeup around his eyes, accompanied by an unidentified female character. Comixology debuted the cover art for this prequel comic, dubbed Marvel's Doctor Strange Prelude, while more images surfaced on Twitter that reveal what many have speculated, that Kaecilius was a former Master of the Mystic Arts, working with The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and Wong (Benedict Wong).

The comic centers on the Masters of the Mystic Arts, who have gone on a mission to track down a powerful, ancient relic that has been stolen from the British Museum. Naturally, this relic could do significant damage in the wrong hands. The official description teases that it is a female "mysterious mystic" character who has stolen this relic, posing the question, "will they be able to track her down before it's too late?!"

What's interesting is, although he seems to be a high-ranking member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, he stands out in a few ways. While his robes are similar to the other masters, Kaecilius uses two Scythe daggers, as the rest of these masters, including Daniel Drumm and Tina Minoru, wield bo staffs. We'll have to wait and see if we get a closer look at Marvel's Doctor Strange and the mysterious Kaecilius during the studio's Comic-Con presentation later this month.

The Doctor Strange cast also includes Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo, Rachel McAdams, who is reportedly playing the Night Nurse, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amy Landecker and Scott Adkins. Scott Derrickson directs from a script he co-wrote with C. Robert Cargill, based on the Marvel Comics. Take a look at these photos from the prequel comic below, and stay tuned for more on Doctor Strange.