by Mike Lunsford, Editor-in-Chief of the Great Geek Refuge

*Beware, there are spoilers ahead *

Welcome back friends to another review/recap of the Marvel Studios series What If…? on Disney Plus. This week, our episode focuses on everyone’s favorite Marvel Doctor: the overly arrogant former surgeon, DOCTOR Stephen Strange. Let’s get right into that delicious recap and commentary goodness!

We’re taken back to a time when Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is still a surgeon, and preparing to receive a prestigious award. He picks up Christine (Rachel McAdams) and drives to the ceremony in his expensive sports car. Just like in the prime universe, he loses control of the car and goes careening over a cliff, only this time, instead of his hands being damaged beyond repair, Christine dies in the accident. As the title suggests, instead of his hands, Dr. Strange loses his heart. Oof. In Doctor Strange, seeing the arrogant jerk lose the functional use his hands had a certain amount of poetic justice to it. There was now a symbolic journey for him to realize there was still purpose in his life, in fact, maybe a greater one. But with losing Christine? Someone who truly cared about him - even when he was at his most obnoxious, overly cocky and abrasive - was a more devastating blow.

This version of Stephen Strange is still lost. He wanders the world, seeking answers to his broken heart. He finds Kamar-Taj and trains in the mystic arts with Wong and the Ancient One (Benedict Wong and Tilda Swinton reprising their roles). Things play out as they did in Doctor Strange: Stephen still stops Dormammu’s plans to consume the Earth, but he is haunted by the loss of Christine. He spends many a night fixated on her death, staring out the window of the Sanctum Santorum.

Alt Text: Doctor Strange watches the rain through the window of the Sanctum Santorum, contemplating using the time-altering Eye of Agamotto as Wong asks him if he's still thinking of Christine's death.

Wong warns him not to do something foolish and invites him to have some tea. Of course, he doesn’t listen. You watch this scene and HOPE he will make the right choice: that he won’t be a stubborn, head-strong, entitled douche who thinks the rules don’t apply to him…But here we are, back at that fateful night of the award ceremony. No matter what he does or how he changes his actions, Christine always dies, even if she drives the car, or they go out for pizza instead, or he stands her up, or they take a different route. Every road leads to her death.

The Ancient One shows up after the millionth attempt to save Christine fails. She explains that Christine’s death was an Absolute Point: it cannot be changed or altered. Ultimately undoing her death is a paradox: in order for Strange to possess the power to change the events of her death, she had to die in order to lead him to Kamar-Taj. Without her death, he would never become the Sorcerer Supreme. She warns him that continuing to attempt to alter her death would destroy their universe, but Strange won’t be stopped. He keeps trying, thinking there MUST be an answer and it’s just a matter of knowledge - not breaking the rules of the universe. He states that he will look for the mysterious Library of Cagliostro. The Ancient One vows to stop him, and they briefly battle before he disappears into time.

Gasp! This is so out of character for Dr. Strange! He would never be so arrogant as to ignore his teacher and think that there must be an answer to his own selfish desires!

See? See how dumb that sounds when you say that sort of thing out loud? That is EXACTLY who Dr. Strange is. He’s the Karen of the Marvel Universe, demanding to speak to the universe’s supervisor when he doesn’t get the answer he wants.

Alt Text: Doctor Strange tries to change the outcome of Christine’s death countless times. The Ancient One shows up and hopes to talk some sense into her former student, but Strange refuses and they briefly fight, with Strange disappearing into time.

He arrives in a mysterious jungle on his quest for The Library of Cagliostro. He meets a man named O’Bengh who leads him to a massive building that requirrs a spell to enter it. Strange pours over thousands of tomes, searching desperately for answers to undoing a fixed event. He even summons the now famous Shuma-Gorath, the same fiesty order of calamari tentacles seen in What If…? episode one. Strange claims that he wants to harness the evil creature’s powers in order to bring back Christine. The first attempt goes poorly but soon Strange is sucking up the dark magical abilities of creature after creature, while days, weeks, months, years, pass by. Eventually he gets a shot at revenge against Shuma-Gorath. This time, Strange consumes the beast and takes its powers.

Strange comes to visit O’Bengh who is now dying of old age. Strange tries to reverse this with the Eye of Agamotto, but O’Bengh refuses, stating that death is inevitable. Strange says “I refuse to believe that,” which prompts O’Bengh to reveal there are actually two Stephen Stranges in this universe and maybe the other Strange will understand that concept. “You’re only half a man” O’Bengh states, explaining in Strange’s warped mind why he hasn’t become powerful enough to save Christine. WHAT???? This was an interesting twist!

The Ancient One split the timelines creating two Doctor Stranges: one who went to pursue the occult in order to save Christine,and the other who was more sensible and had some tea with Wong in the Sanctum Sanctorum. She does this is hope of having someone who could potentially stop the Sorcerer Supreme: another Sorcerer Supreme. This ends up being a cataclysmic event as Sensible Strange is now on a collision course with the evil “Dick” Strange. (Or “Strange Supreme” as the subtitles call him. I like to refer to him as “Dick.” Cuz he is. He’s a complete dick.)

Alt Text: The two versions of Doctor Strange face each other as Sensible Strange tries to stop Dick Strange from destroying the fabric of the universe

Doctor Strange and Strange Supreme have an epic showdown as Dick tries to convince Steve to work with him in order to bring back Christine.

They work out an agreement, Christine comes back to life and every one lives happily ever after. Even the Ancient One comes back and they all have pizza at Lombardi’s in New York City! Right?!

If only…

There is no happy ending to this story. Sensible Doctor Strange fights valiantly, even his cloak puts up a hell of a fight. Ultimately, Strange Supreme overpowers his counterpart, and sucks the benevolent half into himself. Now, with nothing to stop him, Dick Strange uses his insane power and resurrects Christine. While successful, it destroys reality and she is horrified at the monster he has become: an amalgamation of all the evil beings he absorbed along the way. Since he has become infinitely more powerful than a normal person, Dick Strange has been sensing the Watcher for quite some time. He pleads with the Watcher to help save his universe, admitting he was wrong and asking that he be the only one to suffer punishment. Although the Watcher would love to punish Strange and save Christine, he cannot interfere. It’s not his place. Thus this universe ends, leaving nothing behind but a sobbing Strange and a haunting cry of “nooooo” from the Sorcerer Supreme.

Alt Text: Doctor Strange holds Christine after resurrecting her but because he altered an Absolute Point, she is now disintegrating like the rest of the universe.

This episode was gut-wrenching. You know the further Dick Strange continues down his arrogant path of destruction, the more his entitlement and selfishness are amplified as he gains more power. It reminded me of the cautionary tale of Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars: you can be the most powerful dude in the galaxy, but it’s meaningless without discipline, and the self reflection to realize your own pride can be your undoing and that there are some things you can not change. And how did both stories end? Countless dead, including the ones they loved and sacrificed the most for.

Just like (inexplicably) people love seeing Superman turn bad because of some unfortunate events, watching Doctor Strange go evil because of a broken heart was fascinating. We all want our heroes to be strong and resolute, but what makes them interesting and relatable is their humanity. They are flawed. They have weaknesses. And seeing them overcome those weaknesses is just as interesting to watch as seeing them defeat an evil pan-dimensional being by annoying the shit out of them. However, it’s also incredibly fascinating to watch them fall into darkness and see how one choice can have massive ramifications on the world. That’s what keeps me tuning in to these What If…? episodes: you never know how the story is going to go. It could end in triumph (Captain Carter and T’Challa Star Lord), a revenge story with a glimmer of hope (The Avengers That Never Were), or in the case of Doctor Strange, a true tragedy.

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