The Marvel Cinematic Universe has created so many instances of brilliant storytelling that it becomes hard to keep track of them all. Let’s start with the fact that the franchise started with a single movie and has now grown into a magnificent interconnected media powerhouse. From a single Iron Man movie, we received two sequels and 22 related movies and God knows how many ties in media content. This is the golden age of Marvel movies, one that will be remembered by generations to come. We will revere the characters that inspired us to greatness, most notably, people like Dr. Steven Strange. The Sorcerer Supreme is powerful and held his own against the Mad Titan but was eventually overpowered by Thanos. In the fourth episode of What if…? Things have taken a very interesting turn. Marvel has revealed in the episode how Doctor Strange could beat Thanos.
The episode is rather peculiar as episodes of anthologies go. It starts off with a strange familiarity and then devolves further and further until Strange looks into the mirror and cannot recognize himself. It is quite endearing to see a character you love so much lose himself to the dark arts. At the end of the episode, we learn that to save this universe The Ancient One used the power of the dark dimension to split Strange’s timeline into two. Thereby, splitting the path he took and making sure that there was someone who could oppose the Dark Doctor Strange. We may not have guessed it at the moment but this was not the hero arc we expected throughout the episode.
The Fall of a Hero
The episode was titled “What if Doctor Strange lost his heart and not his hands”. It was meant to signify the loss of Christine, the permanent loss of a loved one because of hubris. None of it is easy to swallow and for an intelligent control freak like Strange moving on was never really an option. Rather than quitting while he was ahead, the good doctor kept pushing the limits of the knowledge and power he could acquire, hoping that something will click while he studied. He came across the lost magic of absorption that allowed him to consume the power of mystical beasts. He used this power to change an absolute point in time and in the process destroyed his universe.
It was an emotional endeavour but also one that was ultimately useless. In the end, the only person Strange Supreme had to defeat to attain his goals was Doctor Strange himself. The evil sorcerer stripped down Sorcerer Supreme’s defenses bit by bit, to finally use absorption magic on him. This allowed Strange to collect the power needed for the spell. We are trying to highlight that even though the plan was incredibly evil, it did make the Sorcerer Supreme immeasurably more powerful than what we are used to.
A fitting comparison is done by the show itself when Strange Supreme beats Sorcerer Supreme in one on one combat. The good Strange knew that all he could do was beg for mercy, hoping that Strange Supreme will see the error of his ways, but driven by madness the man only saw red. Makes us think what would have happened if Strange Supreme took on Thanos from Infinity War.
The Epic Showdown
i mean, it is obvious that in this confrontation Thanos will be equipped with the infinity gauntlet. We are sorry to say but The Mad Titan stands no chance without it. As we write about it we realize that he only has a very small chance of survival even with the Infinity Stones. Going by how easily the good Sorcerer Supreme is dispatched by the evil one, we will be surprised if Thanos is not absorbed in an instant.
Taking a closer look at absorption magic we come to realize that there is very little that can stand up to it. Even things like the “Grand Vishanti” could not do much. So what will unlimited power get you against a void? Even if Thanos throws all of the stones at Strange Supreme at once, the Sorcerer can absorb most of them and dispatch the others. No one in the MCU can boast such power and that is the most interesting part of all. With the new Episode, we may have got a look at the most powerful character in the MCU, a universe buster in comic nerd terms. We are excited about it, how about you? Let us know in the comments below and keep watching this space for everything Marvel, DC and Hollywood.
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