"What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?" is the fourth episode of Marvel's Disney+ series What If...?. It premiered on September 1, 2021. It was written by A.C. Bradley directed by Bryan Andrews. This episode is based on Doctor Strange.
Synopsis[]
A grief-stricken Doctor Strange uses the Eye of Agamotto in a dangerous effort to change the past.
Plot[]
Opening narration[]
- “We have watched how one moment, one choice, can ripple across space and time, giving birth to new stories, heroes, whole universes. But what if it's the wrong choice? What if the best of intentions has very strange consequences?”
- ―The Watcher
In this universe, Dr. Strange is picking up Christine Palmer for his award ceremony. As they ride to the party, she teases him for his acceptance speech. Strange tries pass a slow-moving truck, nearly getting hit by an incoming vehicle. A vehicle then serves into the car from the back, causing them to crash much like in the film. However, Strange is perfectly fine; Christine on the other hand, is dead.
- “In this universe, Stephen Strange didn't lose his hands... but his heart. Grief-stricken, Strange sought answers across the world and in the mystic arts. And when the threat came and the Ancient One was lost, Stephen Strange stood tall. The man of science became the Sorcerer Supreme. Yet despite all he'd gained, Stephen Strange could not let go of the past.”
- ―The Watcher
After Christine's funeral, a broken Strange traveled the world for answers, following the same path from the film, where he defeated Kaecilius and Dormammu. Despite all he gained, Strange's pain couldn't be healed. 2018 at the Sanctum Santorum. Doctor Strange is drinking cheap liquor while viewing the stars. Wong approaches him, asking how long its been; it's been two years since that night. Wong goes to make tea, hoping Strange won't do something drastic. Examining the Eye of Agamotto, Strange rewinds himself to 2016, the night of his car crash. However, the same idiot rear-ends the car and makes them crash again.
Strange rewinds again, this time taking a different route; a car rams into them on Christine's side, killing her. Next rewind, Strange tries to get her to stay with him at home and enjoy pizza. Christine convinces him that he deserves his award. While on the dance floor, Christine suddenly dies from a heart attack. Next rewind, they eat pizza at a diner. However, someone walks in and shoots Christine. Strange rewinds again; hoping leaving Christine at her apartment will work However, the next day, Strange hears on the news that she died among numerous casualties of a fire. With silent rage, Strange goes back again. He openly asks why they can't be happy, with Christine offering to drive in his place. Christine tries to cheer him up, only for the same car to cause the crash. Despite being on the opposite sides of the car, Christine still died.
A broken Strange safely gets out of the wreck and falls to his knees, crying at his inability to save the woman he loves. The Ancient One appears from a portal, telling Strange that the death of Christine is an Absolute Point in time and it cannot be changed as it leads him onto his path to become Sorcerer Supreme. Strange tells the Ancient One that he is creating a paradox, but she says that reverting a Absolute Point in time could destroy their universe. Strange argues that she taught him nothing was impossible and he just needs more power. Convinced that lost books on magic hold the answer, Strange ignores her warnings to that his path will lead to darkness and the end of reality, quickly using the Eye to escape back to the time of Cagliostro's library; though not before the Ancient One manages to hit the Eye with a magic blast.
Strange awakes in a jungle and meets the librarian, who is named O'Bengh, whom mistakes his name for Armani (after a comment about Strange's clothes). Lead to the library, Strange finds the books in the "T" section, quickly moving them around with magic; finding one with the knowledge he needs. The power he needs to break an Absolute Point in time can only be obtained by absorbing other beings. Strange summons a tentacle being, asking for a portion of its power; it instead grabs Strange and smacks him around like a rag doll. Strange wakes up under O'Bengh's care, being told bargaining with other dimensional beings will not get him the power he wants; beating Dormmamu was pretty much a fluke since he made the entity rage quit from trapping him in a time loop. He asks if Strange's lost love is worth all the pain he has put himself through as love can make one delusional. Strange confirms that it all is worth it.
Strange starts small, absorbing a gnome. Then a bug gets summoned; Strange steals the cloak it's wearing, as he draws the line at bugs. He does the same for days and eventually years, absorbing being after being. As a consequence to absorbing all these magical beings, Strange's body starts becoming inhuman; the montage of absorption shows his face transforming into those of creatures he absorbs. Nearby, the Watcher observes Strange and comments that he is on the wrong path. However, the Watcher chooses not to intervene, saying that the fate of Strange's universe is not worth risking the safety of all others. At this moment, a winded Strange hears the Watcher's voice and turns around looking for the one speaking, but finds no one. Regaining his strength, Strange continues.
- “He's on the wrong path. I could warn him; intervene, but the safety of his universe is not worth risking the safety of all others. Besides, I doubt he'll listen.”
- ―The Watcher
Time passes as Strange continues, with greenery outside notably changing. After absorbing enough power, Strange then calls for his "old friend", cutting off its tentacles and absorbing them. Strange finds O'Bengh as an old man, realizing that he spent so much time in the library, he lost track of the years; with the absorbed magic maintaining Strange's youth, akin to how the Ancient One uses the Dark Dimension. Strange offers to restore O'Bengh's youth, but is turned down as the sorcerer has accepted his impending end. O'Bengh then warns Strange that he is only half a man; there is another Strange out there who did not go on this journey and accepted fate.
- “It was true... he wasn't alone... he wasn't even the only, Doctor Strange in this universe.”
- ―The Watcher
In 2018, another Strange instead leaves the Eye alone and joins Wong for tea. The next day, Strange heads outside to find the world and people dissolving into black ooze; Strange wonders what was in his whisky the previous night. A portal opens and an echo of the Ancient One arrives, confirming its the end of the world. She reveals that when she attacked Dr. Strange who used the Time Stone, she used the Dark Dimension energy to split the timeline and this second Strange was created as a result. If the misguided Strange breaks the Absolute Point, it will destroy the universe. Strange and Wong begin working on a way to protect Strange from the first Doctor Strange as the world falls apart.
Strange is pulled into a portal to a dark place in time, where he sees a writhing shadow. Its the first Doctor Strange, now Strange Supreme, who is now further disheveled-looking and seemingly malnourished; Strange Supreme brought second Strange there to keep Wong and the Ancient One from interfering. The first Strange has clearly lost his sanity, unwilling to see anything beyond his wish to revive Christine; muttering over and over that they didn't know her like they, Stranges, do. Strange Supreme takes them to the crashsite, where he explains his plan to fuse to complete their power; then he will break time and save Christine. The second Strange tells him it's not love, but their arrogance and need to fix things is what drives them, but they can still repair the world.
Strange Supreme tries absorbing the other Strange, but fails due to the protection charm. A fight begins, with Strange Supreme admitting he's gone too far to turn back. They continue with Strange Supreme easily fending off the second Strange's attacks and vice versa; their cloaks begun fighting each other as well. Strange Supreme restrains his counterpart, blasting the sigils of protection off him. However, the Cloak of Levitation of the second Strange sacrifices itself to save its master. Strange Supreme pulls them into another realm, where they continue the fight. The second Strange's runes are beaten off him, begging his counterpart not to follow through; Strange Supreme replies in a demonic voice that they must, swallowing his other self.
With all the power he needs, Strange Supreme uses the Eye to break the Absolute Point and bring Christine back from death. He turns into a chimera of all the things he's absorbed, pulling her free of the car. She wakes up and is horrified upon seeing his altered face, but then recognizes Strange when he changes back to his normal appearance. Strange Supreme sees she is vanishing as well and tries to fix everything. Christine becomes confused as she sees the reality beginning to collapse in on itself, while Strange Supreme tries to keep it from happening. Strange calls out to the Watcher, whom makes himself visible to both. He asks the Watcher to fix the universe, having read about him and felt his presence. The universe should not have to pay for his mistake. However, once again, the Watcher refuses to interfere.
- “I am not a god. And neither are you. [...] Honestly if I could fix this. If I could punish you instead, I would. But I can't interfere. You more than anyone else should know meddling with time and events only leads to more destruction.”
- ―The Watcher to Strange Supreme
The Watcher then leaves Strange Supreme to deal with the consequences, fading back into a silhouette with eyes just outside the collapsing reality. Strange screams in despair as his magic ultimately fails to stop the implosion of the universe. Everything goes black. The screen pulls into the blackness of what was once this reality, revealing a small purple gem; from which Strange's voice emits. Inside of it is all that Strange managed to save of the reality, roughly a room's roof. He holds a confused Christine as she finished dissolving into the black ooze. Now utterly alone due to his own arrogance, Strange swallows in grief and despair. The camera pulls put of the gem, showing it in the black void.
Closing narration[]
- “One life, one choice, one moment, can destroy the entire universe.”
- ―The Watcher
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange
- Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer
- Benedict Wong as Wong
- Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One
- Ike Amadi as O'Bengh
- Leslie Bibb as Christine Everhart
Guest Stars[]
- Chuck Billy as Additional Voices
- Robin Atkin Downes as Additional Voices
- Fred Tatasciore as Additional Voices
Trivia[]
- This is the first time we see the Watcher's full face.
- Christine Palmer returns since her appearance in the 2016 Doctor Strange film.
- This is the first time someone realizes the existence of the Watcher.
- Strange getting mistakenly called Sorcerer Armani is a callback to Kaecilius calling him "Mister Doctor" due to not understanding his name.
- The collar of the cloak Doctor Strange acquires after summoning a bug matches the design of his cloak in the comics.
- In an early version of the story, the death of "Regular Strange" was a lot more gruesome, where he was beaten to death by the Eye of Agamotto. This was changed during storyboarding sessions to Strange Supreme absorbing Regular Strange, in order to make it more visual and fantastical instead of horrifically violent.[1]
- This episode has the smallest cast of characters in the series.
- There is a deleted scene where Doctor Strange is violently beaten to death by the Eye of Agamotto.[2]
- Doctor Strange's reality being destroyed in this episode, is later mirrored in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Prime universe (616) Stephen Strange comes to another universe (838) in the film where he comes across another version of himself named Sinister Strange. Sinister Strange's universe was destroyed after he used the Darkhold, much like the Doctor Strange in this episode destroyed his universe when he tried to resurrect Christine Palmer.
Gallery[]
External links[]
What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? on IMDb
What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? on Wikipedia
What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? on Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki
