By [ad_1]
The latest episode of What If…? does the unthinkable to an entire reality — and shares a similar fate as a world from a classic issue of What If?
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for What If…? Season 1, Episode 4, “What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?” streaming now on Disney+.
Thanks to the episodic and unconnected nature of the What If? brand, the realities featured within it can be radically altered in ways far different from the core timelines. This sometimes leads to complete and utter devastation, as the Disney+ What If…? series revealed in the fourth episode of the series.
The Stephen Strange of What If…? who became Strange Supreme may have wiped out his entire reality — but at least he didn’t do it on purpose, as one variant of a minor Avengers villain did in an early issue of What If?
In What If…?’s fourth episode, “What If Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead Of His Hands,” Stephen Strange is still in a relationship with Christine Palmer the night of his fateful car accident. Losing Christine in the wreck, Strange ventured around the world and eventually became Sorcerer Supreme. But driven by his lingering grief and pain, Strange embarked on a quest to amass the power to break an Absolute Point in time and revive her. His efforts resulted in him absorbing countless magical beings and becoming a monstrous form of himself, and in shattering the Point he broke reality and caused it to collapse on itself. Afterward, only Strange himself remained in a small pocket of land, with Christine fading from existence in his arms.
It’s not the first time a reality featured in What If…? ended in such a manner. One of the most infamous issues of the original What If? series was What If? #32 (by Mark Gruenwald, Greg LaRocque, Rick Parker, and Glynis Wein). This reality focused on Korvac — a man born in the 31st century who, after being sent into the past and becoming an Avengers villain, was able to absorb the same cosmic energies that fuel Galactus. Korvac became a universal level threat, with the Collector’s daughter Carina trying to help manipulate him. But she fell in love with him, setting off a chain of events that resulted in her father’s death and the Avengers attacking them. Doubt behind her eyes left Korvac in despair, and he allowed himself to die, with his final moments restoring the Avengers who died fighting him.
But on Earth-82432, Carina was not nearly as doubtful of Korvac, and her belief in him inspired him to finish his wholesale slaughter of the Avengers. Reviving a handful of them but tweaking their loyalties to be completely committed to him and his cause, Korvac then went about encasing the world in a protective barrier to prevent any cosmic forces or godly figures from interfering with his plans to create a utopian universe — banishing the greatest threats (Phoenix, Doctor Strange, and Silver Surfer) from this reality. The threat to his reality was so dire that the Watcher of this world appealed to his fellow multiversal beings and begs for their assistance in intervening, only to be met with a resounding refusal. Undeterred, the Watcher ventured into the cosmos and rallied an army of powerhouses to confront the insane villain.
Effectively becoming a reality-warper in the worst way possible, Korvac continued to attack his enemies regardless of their power — even reviving Captain America for the sole purpose of claiming the Ultimate Nullifier and using it to destroy Galactus. He absorbed the life force of all living beings on Earth, growing in power and hatred for the rest of existence. Claiming the Ultimate Nullifier for himself, Korvac faced off with his entire reality and ultimately turned the Nullifier on Eternity, wiping out all reality in the process. While Strange Supreme may have made many mistakes that resulted in the end of his reality, Korvac embraced his choice and created a reality where in the end, only death was victorious.
About The Author
[ad_2]
