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The latest episode of Disney+’s What If…? explores a reality in which Doctor Strange went down a much darker path.
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+.
After spending its first two episodes showing how a small change could positively impact a reality, What If…?’s last two entries have shown how things can take a much darker turn for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s characters. “What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?” follows the events of 2016’s Doctor Strange, only instead of losing his hands in a car accident, Dr. Stephen Strange loses the person he cares about most in the world.
On his way to an event to accept an award, Strange picks up Christine Palmer, who agreed to be his date so long as she got dessert out of it. Sadly, on the way there, the car is struck by another vehicle, and Christine dies. In need of answers, this version of Strange also seeks out the mystic arts and comes to learn about the Eye of Agamotto. The ensuing events play out exactly as they did in Doctor Strange, with the Ancient One meeting an untimely end and Strange having to fight Dormammu.
But instead of accepting that Christine’s death, Strange decides to go back in time and try to save her from the accident. However, as hard as he tries and no matter the situation, she continues to die. Everything then comes to a head after the Ancient One arrives at the accident and tells Strange to move on. He’s unable to take no for an answer, and after a brief fight, he’s transported to a jungle, where he plans to search for the lost Library of Cagliostro.
Cagliostro knew how to change an “Absolute Point” in time, so Strange intends to find the lost knowledge and use it to reverse Christine’s death. But once he arrives at the library, he’s greeted by O’Bengh, who claims to be the librarian for the books of Cagliostro. O’Bengh takes him to the books, but after a brief encounter with a cosmic being leaves him injured, Strange is forced to change his plan. Instead of asking the beings to borrow their power to change time, he intends to steal it.
After stealing energy from countless creatures, Strange returns to O’Bengh, only to learn he had frozen himself for centuries and the librarian was nearing his end. While O’Bengh declines Strange’s offer of eternal life, before he goes, he does inform the Sorcerer Supreme that another version of himself exists in the universe. As it turns out, when the Ancient One fought with Strange, she splintered reality to allow two versions of him to exist at one time — one that never returned to the past and the one that did.
The Ancient One informs Strange he’s the only one who can stop his other self, but as he finishes a protection spell, the newly dubbed Doctor Strange Supreme finds his doppelganger. Strange Supreme attempts to bargain with his good self, claiming that if they reunite, they’ll have the power to save Christine, but Doctor Strange sees right through his delusion. The two sorcerers then engage in a battle that leads to the Doctor Strange being absorbed by Strange Supreme.
Strange Supreme uses his newfound power to bring Christine back, but after realizing his decision is destroying his reality, he immediately regrets it. He attempts to convince The Watcher to stop it, as the world shouldn’t have to pay for his mistakes, but the omnipotent being explains that he can’t interfere. Out of options, Strange Supreme has to watch as the very reality he was sworn to protect comes to an end.
To see Doctor Strange’s evil turn, the fourth episode of What If…? is streaming now on Disney+.
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