Welcome back to Marvelous Videos, everyone. Today, we will look into the beginnings of Doctor Strange’s evil side in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One of the Marvel superheroes, Stephen Vincent Strange, is adored by fans for his quick wit, magic-related abilities, and the wealth of information in his head.
Does he then suddenly turn evil? Or does someone transform him into a bad guy? Has he lost control of his superpowers? What precisely is happening in the Marvel Universe, which even the most powerful wizard cannot manage to control?
The recent excitement surrounding the debut of the first official trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the follow-up to Doctor Strange, has dominated as we enter Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
All of the fans have been left utterly stunned by Marvel Studios’ revelation of the mayhem that this film will cause in 2022. In the trailer, a lot of things are happening. Wanda Maximoff receives a message from Doctor Strange inquiring about her knowledge of the Multiverse. After spending so much time in the Marvel Universe, the only thing we can say with certainty is that we have no explicit knowledge of the Multiverse.
Oh, and Christine Palmer, who, as you may remember, worked with Stephen Strange at Metro-General Hospital, is also present. She is wearing wedding-related attire. Does that mean she will wed Dr. Strange?
However, as far as the events in this reality are concerned, they have split up. That is unquestionably raising our level of curiosity. But the most bizarre scene in the video was definitely when an evil Doctor Strange showed up, dressed all in black, with a black cape, a long beard, and unmistakably malevolent feelings.
The heroic Doctor Strange is seen standing next to the new, evil Doctor Strange in one of the trailer’s last images. Yes, there are actually two of them. We now know, at least, that the superhero we have always known from the Avengers will probably not turn bad and attempt to destroy the very world that he has repeatedly saved.
This is as odd as it gets. Of course, this raises the most important question in all Marvel fans’ thoughts. Who is the real Doctor Strange, and where on Earth did he originate? For the time being, let us explore all the specifics that will aid in solving this puzzle.
Who is Strange Supreme?
Marvel Studios recently released their first ever animated anthology series called What If…? It kind of twists the scripts of Marvel Cinematic Universe and revisits the famous events from the movies to tell us stories from what could have happened if a single choice had been changed. The infinite ways in which it would change our realities, and create alternate worlds from the ones we already know. Well, safe to say, that gave us some amazing experiences.
Now, Doctor Strange enters this series in the fourth episode, which is titled What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hand? Based on that if you are thinking someone is about to become a zombie, then you can relax because that would be very unlikely of Marvel.
We already know that our Doctor Strange originally was a brilliant neurosurgeon. And, as a result of a car accident, his hands became crippled. That is when he came to learn about magic, mystic arts, and alternate dimensions. We all know how much Marvel like tinkering with the spacetime continuum. And of course, after the death of the Ancient One, Doctor Strange became the protector of the New York Sanctum in New York and the Sorcerer Supreme as we know him.
Now, those events took place in our universe, which is why we have the superhero Doctor Strange. But imagine, if there was a universe where in that car accident, Doctor Strange did not end up damaging his hands and instead, something else happened. How will the story proceed in that event? That is what we find out in the fourth episode What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hand? Things are definitely about to get crazier.
In this other universe, Doctor Stephen Strange was about to receive an award for successfully completing a radical hemispherectomy. He was in the car with his girlfriend Christine Palmer. That is when their car was hit by another and Christine died on the spot. Looks like that is what it meant about Doctor Strange losing his heart and not his hands. So how did he become the Sorcerer Supreme? Well, pretty much the same way. He travelled the world in his sadness and found “The Eye of Agamotto, cradle of the temporal singularity.” Then, he began to research everything about the manipulation and alteration of timelines. Yes, that is time travel.
Both Wong and the Ancient One warned him that if he tried toying with time, he might end up bringing harm to the very existence of the universe. But soon, the Ancient One died. We already know what happens now. With The Ancient One’s dead, Stephen Strange saved the Universe from Dormammu, becoming the Sorcerer Supreme and protector of the Eye of Agamotto.
Now, it soon became very obvious that Stephen was still having a difficult time letting go of the past. So, he decided to save Christine’s life starting from the night of her two-year death anniversary. If the whole world could talk to him at that point, they would definitely tell him what an irrational decision that was. Sadly, for him, no matter how hard he tried to change the events that took place on that evening, Christine still ended up dead, in every single situation.
He puts himself through the same pain over and over again. The Ancient One then appeared in front of Stephen and explained to him that his journey toward the mystic arts began with Christine’s death. Stephen literally begged the Ancient One to help him in bringing her back. But the Ancient One reminded him that neither her nor anybody else could do so because Christine’s death was an Absolute Point in time. That made it irreversible and unchangeable, and if he tried, he would damage the universe. She also told him that if she had not died, he would never have defeated Dormammu.
And we know that defeating Dormammu was a necessary event in the reality of Doctor Strange. Things just keep getting more complicated from here on. You might have already felt that something sinister is about to happen.
So, obviously Stephen did not believe the Ancient One because he knew he could create a paradox. After all, she was the one who taught him that nothing was impossible, he only needed greater power. Looks like he is forgetting that she also taught him that tampering with time, was never supposed to be an option. She tried to warn him that if he continued on this path, it would only lead him to darkness and the destruction of their reality.
So, when Stephen activated the Eye of Agamotto, in an attempt to stop him, the Ancient One cast some spells hitting him right in the middle of his chest where the Eye of Agamotto was hanging. Stephen then wakes up in some kind of a forest. So, obviously She wasn’t trying to kill him.
He spots a man standing in front of him. And after finding out that Stephen is looking for the Lost Library of Cagliostro, the man takes him inside a massive building. Stephen tells him that he has come to study Cagliostro because according to the legend, Cagliostro knew how to break an Absolute Point in time. Well, as it turns out this man, who goes by the name O’Bengh, is actually the librarian for the books of Cagliostro.
Now, Stephen starts searching and studying all the books. Then he finds out that an immense source of power is required to break an Absolute Point in time and that power can only be gained by absorbing other beings. That surely does not sound very good. It is evident that all these decisions that Stephen seems to be making, are leading him down a dark alley, and nothing good ever comes out of that.
So, he begins to start his process of obtaining this power by asking calmly from a being that looks like an octopus, actually called Shuma Gorath, to give him its power. If only it were that easy. It attacks Stephen, no surprise there! He asks O’Bengh what went wrong, and he explains that these mystic beings are not one for bargain. And of course, even O’Bengh warns Stephen about what he is doing, but we can all agree that from the looks of it, Stephen Strange at this point is beyond any warning.
So, now that his method of “ask and you shall receive” is not going to work out, Stephen starts from small mystic beings and takes their powers through absorbing them whole. He continues absorbing a variety of mystic beings from small to extremely large and finally even absorbing Shuma Gorath, the massive being we met before. It kind of looks like they are becoming a part of Stephen now. In doing this, there are visibly a lot of changes in his appearance, he almost looks like a monster now. Even his mind seems to have been altered to a great extent.
There is no doubt about it that after obtaining such evil power, Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme has now turned into the evil counterpart, Strange Supreme. And so, there it is, the birth of a being that will bring destruction to the universe. All because he wanted to save the love of his life from death, an absolute truth. Seeing this side of Doctor Strange really tells us how one choice, one decision has the power to changed our entire reality.
But what happens next, is equally surprising because that is when we realise how there are going to be two Doctor Strange. So, we are suddenly taken back to the moment where Doctor Strange was in his study, right before the time when he decided to try and change the events of the evening when Christine died. Only this time, he did not make that choice. Instead, he kept the Eye of Agamotto aside, and walked away. Now there’s the Doctor Strange we all have known for so long. But wait, now it looks like everything around Doctor Strange is slowly starting to disappear in thin air.
To tell us why that is happening, guess who appears once again, almost like a projection. Yeah, it is the Ancient One. She reveals something to Doctor Strange that is going to shock all the Marvel fans. So, through our long-time friendship with the Marvel Universe, we know that the consequences of meddling with time is way too high than we can imagine. Remember the part where the Ancient One had cast a spell towards Doctor Strange, well as it turns out that was no ordinary spell. She tells him that, in that moment the spell had split the reality of Doctor Strange into two possibilities, creating an alternate reality within the same universe.
So, Strange Supreme is one reality and Doctor Strange is another. And since both of these realities belong to the same universe, they are now starting to merge together because of Strange Supreme, which is leading to the end of his universe. And there is only one person and one way to save the universe. Doctor Strange will have to defeat his alternate self.
It sure looks like Strange Supreme still has a lot up his sleeve that no one is aware of. Strange Supreme then transports Doctor Strange back to the scene of the disaster and tells him that they must unite in order to save Christine. Strange tries to explain it to Strange Supreme that if they bring her back to life, it will create a paradox which will only end in the destruction of the world. But he is clearly driven by madness and not even the end of the world matters to him. Then they end up fighting where Strange’s Cloak of Levitation sacrifices itself to save him but the fight ends when Strange Supreme completely absorbed Strange’s soul.
So, we can now probably say that this is the true birth of Strange Supreme, in an entirely evil form. Not split in two personalities, living two different realities, but just one. The one which will bring down the world. Now that he has gained all the power he needed, it has given him the ability to give out enough energy with the eye to break the Absolute Point and bring Christine back to life. You would think that Strange Supreme finally has his wish. Well, wait until that is taken away from him.
The moment Christine comes back to life, she starts to slowly disappear, just like their whole universe. This was bound to happen because Strange Supreme successfully created a paradox. When it strikes him that even after achieving the ultimate power, he is yet again about to lose Christine, he finally realises the mistake he has made and cries out to The Watcher to help him save her. But it is common knowledge that The Watcher can never intervene. So, of course he refuses to help because if he did, it would result in even more destruction over the entire multiverse.
Well, Strange Supreme did choose this reality himself, so he can no longer run from it or change it. There is not a single spell that could fix his mistakes for him. And so, he could not do anything but watch Christine disappear from his arms once again and this time it is forever. With nothing left but the guilt and pain of what he has caused, Strange Supreme is left all alone in the void he ended up creating.
These are the consequences with which Strange Supreme has to live out his life for the rest of eternity in the What If series. Wow! That seems like nothing we could have ever imagined before. Marvel Studios has yet again outdone itself through the introduction of the dark and evil, sort of a supervillain, Strange Supreme.
He was brought to life probably not by his devotion or love for Christine Palmer, but by a delusion, and that never ends well for anybody, not even for the most powerful sorcerer. Well, now that we know who is Strange Supreme, let us take a ride into finding out about his powers.
Strange Supreme Abilities
This version of Doctor Strange is even more arrogant and stubborn. With his desire to bring his lover back to life, he grows more blind-sighted with grief, pain and hatred over the reality that her terrible death was always supposed to be her fate. His powers and abilities are unparalleled with any other being on the universe. In another episode of the What If series titled “What If… Ultron won?”, we get to see the extent of his powers.
We already know that he is the Sorcerer Supreme and holds a great level of mastery over magic since he is the most powerful member of the Master of the Mystic Arts. So, obviously he still possesses all of the original powers. He can manipulate Eldritch Magic, and create weapons and shields through constructing energy. He is capable of opening portals even without a Sling Ring and we all have seen how handy that power can be.
Interdimensional travel, energy projection, binding spell, telekinesis, holographic projection, duplication spell, protection spell that enhances the power of both the being and the thing that it is cast upon. These are just the basic original power that Doctor Strange has always had. The only difference is that even these powers got enhanced after his transformation. Strange is able to use Dark Dimension Magic after spending time at the Lost Library of Cagliostro, and that is the energy he uses to amplify his basic powers. He used this same energy of Dark Dimension for summoning the mystical beings and that is the power of Conjuration.
He is even able to turn into a Dark mass of shadow when he tricked his other self. The multitude of his powers only kept growing once he became Strange Supreme.
He used the Life-Force Absorption power to absorb countless mystical beings and contain their powers. And surprising as it may be, after doing that he acquired cosmic awareness which allowed him to sense, see and even talk to The Watcher. So, it seems that it takes becoming a villain to actually be able to communicate with The Watcher.
So, in the last episode of What If, Strange Supreme levels up his absorption magic, because guess what, he can even absorb any type of energy. He was able to absorb a galaxy-sized explosion of energy unleashed by Ultron through the power of five Infinity Stones during the fight between the Guardians of the Multiverse and Ultron. It is like Strange swallowed the energy, which made his eyes flash like fire and obviously boosted his power. That totally looked like some godly power right there!
But wait, that’s not the end, the galaxy-sized explosion of energy that he absorbed, turns out, he can counteract that power right back at the Infinity Stones. Oh, but the craziest ability he shows, has to be Shapeshifting.
Strange was able to transform into each of the mystical beings after absorbing them. Like, he manifested the Champion of HYDRA just in his hand. So, it doesn’t even have to be a complete full body shape shift. He can easily just choose to transform parts of his body. He could also transform into a mesh of all those creatures at will. And while being in that almost monstrous form, he can cast Dark Dimension energy blasts and binding spells.
Well, this power certainly comes with a lot more benefits. It also allows him to resist the manipulation of Time Stone over him. Because we saw him moving freely inside Ultron’s time sphere. And it is probably safe to say that all of his powers combined are multiverse equipped because the Time Stone used by Ultron was from another universe than the one Strange belongs to.
Pretty sure this is what we get if Marvel combines a superhero and a supervillain. So, if you are thinking what else can he do at this point, hold that thought because Strange Supreme only keeps getting stranger.
Immortality. That is right, Strange was able to extend his lifetime much beyond that of typical human beings by drawing strength from the Dark Dimension. You know how he was able to absorb all of those creatures? Yeah, he used magic to remain frozen for centuries in order to be able to do that. And by absorbing their abilities, he became immortal. So, guess we better hope he redeems himself.
Along with all these powers, he can also manipulate Mirror Dimension Magic. Back when the resurrected Christine was dying, he was able to use Mirror Dimension Magic to create a barrier to protect the two of them from the crushing darkness and maintain a bubble. That bubble is now the only thing left in his universe. And he can also trap people inside such a bubble without them realising. That is what he did to Erik Killmonger and Arnim Zola when they were fighting to obtain the five Infinity Stones for themselves after defeating the alter Ultron.
Well, looks like he could finally be doing something good for the universe. And of course, there is the infamous power that made him the Strange Supreme. The power of Absolute Point Reversal and Resurrection. Our sadistic Doctor Strange definitely likes to play with the concepts of death and time.
We can probably minimise his evil side by remembering his somewhat human abilities of having a photographic memory, the genius-level intellect, expert in the Martial Arts and of course his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees.
Well, let us still not forget he did kind of destroy an entire universe and did a pretty damn good job at that. Maybe all the Marvel fans should hold off just yet, before you decide whether to hate Strange Supreme or love him. It’s not a doubt that in the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we surely will discover a lot more about him.
Evil Strange Aka Strange Supreme Is In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Ever since the first official trailer for Doctor Strange 2 got released, fans are going crazy over it. There are so many possible hints of what we could expect in the movie. And of course, multiple fan theories are starting to take over the internet.
Based on the events of Loki, What If…?, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, it will probably not come as a surprise that the chaos in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness might definitely be trying to clean up the huge mess that has been created with the timelines and realities between dimensions in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The trailer might have confirmed some of the Marvel fan theories. It looks like we might finally get to see Miss America step into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, her identity was given away by her jacket in the trailer. In one scene, Strange is fighting this creature that looks very much like Shuma Gorath from a dark dimension. Now, we saw in What If…? that Strange Supreme had absorbed this monster. And in the last footage from the trailer, we find out that Doctor Strange and Evil Strange or Strange Supreme, are going to have an encounter. So, does this mean that maybe it is because of Evil Strange that we have Shuma Gorath appearing in Doctor Strange’s universe?
Well, some other fan theories also suggest that Shuma Gorath could actually be after the powers of America Chavez, because her powers will allow it to consume any dimension it wants. Now, the Marvel Comic fans know that the true form of Shuma Gorath cannot be seen by mortals, so he tentacled monster with one huge eye is the limit of his form in the physical world. So, maybe he can change into several forms in the movie, and might end up being Strange Supreme? We don’t know, anything could be possible!
Marvel’s What If…? series ended with Strange Supreme kind of redeeming himself by being a Guardian of the Multiverse, but it is still possible that his sudden change of heart might not have been genuine. And maybe, the responsibility he had taken to keep an eye on Killmonger and Zola, might have been based on his own personal agenda.
Oh, but since the movie is going to dive in the depths of the multiverse, it could be possible that the Strange Supreme featured in the trailer is a completely different version of Strange Supreme who was never connected with the Guardians of the Multiverse and so he never had a chance at redemption.
We could go on and on about these brilliant theories, there is definitely no end to it. Crazy as they all might sound, there is of course no way for us to find out which event will exactly lead to the occurrence of the Evil Strange in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. From the one dialogue we have heard him say in the trailer, it sure looks like “Things just got out of hand”.
Comment down below, and let us know your own fan theories about what to expect from the movie. And if you liked this video, make sure to like and subscribe. Until then, stay safe and have a good one!