When the Spider-Man No Way Home trailer dropped, Marvel fans were particularly suspicious of Doctor Strange. The Sorcerer Supreme appeared to be acting rather oddly and casting the spell for the world to forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man seemed pretty outlandish and out of character for him. So since the teaser landed online, some fans think we could have been looking at Mephisto or a variant of Doctor Strange in disguise.
WARNING: SPOILERS FOR WHAT IF…? EPISODE 4 AHEAD.
Well, interestingly the latest episode of What If…? this week followed not one but two variants of Doctor Strange.
What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? saw the Ancient One split the timeline within that single reality into two using the power of the Dark Dimension.
One variant of the Sorcerer Supreme gave up trying to bring a dead Christine Palmer back to life using the Time Stone but the other refused.
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This evil variant of Doctor Strange absorbed demons and became Strange Supreme.
And after the good version of himself is also defeated and absorbed, the evil one managed to save Palmer at the scene of her car crash.
However, by doing that the fabric of this universe collapsed with The Watcher refusing to intervene to protects other realities across the multiverse.
And as Palmer died in Strange Supreme’s arms this alternate world ceased to exist, leaving a shocking ending to the episode.
We’re only four episodes into What If…? but perhaps this animated show is providing backstories to variants who will feature in live-action on the big screen later?
Sadly we’ll never see Chadwick Boseman’s Star-Lord after the star’s tragic death last year, but there are rumours Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter is in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Whatever the case, with time travel and alternate realities being the big theme of the MCU going forwards anything is possible now.
What If…? is streaming on Disney+ now, Spider-Man No Way Home hits cinemas on December 17, 2021 and will be followed by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on March 25, 2022.