Now that Doctor Strange has arrived to keep the magic of the MCU alive, it’s time to look at the biggest questions, surprises, and WTF moments that went down in the Benedict Cumberbatch film. Of course, we’re talking full spoilers here, so click away from this page if you haven’t seen the movie yet.
Still here? Then by the hoary hosts of Hoggoth, let’s do this! Here are the five biggest WTF questions we have coming out of Doctor Strange.
As we said, full spoilers follow…
Well, not Doctor Strange, that’s for sure. Viewers will be forgiven if they left the film not quite knowing who had taken over as Sorcerer Supreme after Tilda Swinton’s Ancient One exited this mortal coil. In the comics Strange assumes that mantle when his master dies, but it seems Marvel doesn’t think the character is quite ready for the role yet.
This actually tracks with how things went down in the comics. The Ancient One didn’t die (or “die” -- long story) on the page until about 10 years after Doctor Strange’s 1963 debut. (In fact, Strange himself killed the Ancient One -- another long story.) But it was only at that point that he assumed the role of Sorcerer Supreme.
One of the film’s screenwriters, Jon Spaihts, recently confirmed with Crave Online that Strange is not the new Sorcerer Supreme at the end of the film. He’s obviously moved into the sweet Sanctum Sanctorum in Greenwich Village as its new protector, but he also returns the Eye of Agamotto -- traditionally worn by the good doctor in the comics -- to its home at Kamar-Taj for now. Speaking of which…
Near the end of Doctor Strange, Wong says out loud what we’ve all been thinking since long before the film was even released: The Eye of Agamotto is actually an Infinity Stone (or at least contains a Stone). Specifically, it’s the Time Stone, which explains its user’s ability to manipulate time (and give the film a pretty cool climax).
But if Wong and Mordo and the Ancient One all knew the true nature of the Eye, then doesn’t that imply that they also know about the other Stones? Like the Space Stone, which was used by Loki to open a portal for an invading alien army to attack New York City? Or the Reality Stone, which Malekith and the Dark Elves harnessed in their attack on London (well, really on all of the Nine Realms)? Even the Mind Stone, which resides safely on the Vision’s forehead at the moment, was a threat at one time as part of Loki’s staff (where it was also used by HYDRA scientists in an attempt to create super-powered beings).
All of which is to say, if the Ancient One was aware of these threats, where was she and her fellow sorcerers all these years when the planet needed them most?
This is a kind of nerdy point (relatively speaking, of course, in a discussion about a mystical guy in cape), but way back in Captain America: The Winter Soldier fans were very excited when Agent Sitwell mentioned “Stephen Strange” as a potential threat to HYDRA. Could the sorcerer already be active at this time, we wondered? Winter Soldier was released in 2014, months before Doctor Strange’s movie even had a director. Cool!
But now that we’ve seen Doctor Strange, it’s clear that the character was just a regular old arrogant surgeon at the time he was namedropped by Sitwell. So why would he be targeted by HYDRA’s Project Insight alongside guys like Bruce Banner, Tony Stark and the president? It seems the answer is a mundane combination of Marvel Studios not worrying about details like this quite as much as the fans, and also the fact that Project Insight targeted hundreds of thousands of potential threats. Strange was a pretty talented guy even before he became a sorcerer, so it makes sense. Sort of.
The movie begins with Mads Mikkelsen’s rogue sorcerer Kaecilius executing the Kamar-Taj librarian and stealing precious pages of mystical text that will power his plan throughout the film. The Ancient One pursues Kaecilius in this scene, but he escapes.
The story then gets to the business of Stephen Strange, New York surgeon extraordinaire, and his eventual journey to meet the Ancient One, but one must wonder why the Sorcerer Supreme isn’t more concerned with the theft of those pages. Knowing what it could all lead to -- the arrival of Dormammu’s Dark Dimension on Earth itself -- why isn’t she actively pursuing Kaecilius and trying to stop him before he can implement his plot? Also, since she could see what would transpire in her life up until the moment of her death, shouldn’t the Ancient One have been better prepared for Kaecilius’ attack?
Strange uses the Eye of Agamotto to turn back time during the film’s big finale, undoing much of the havoc wreaked on Hong Kong as the Dark Dimension begins to seep into our reality. He even brought Wong back to life! But could the Doctor have used the Eye to turn back time even further?
If so, he could undo not just the Hong Kong carnage, but also the death of the Ancient One. He could go further back, and save the sorcerer guarding the New York Sanctum, and others. Hey, why not go back even more and prevent Kaecilius from stealing the pages from the library in the first place? Or… maybe the Eye is just kind of like your DVR, which never works quite as well as it should.
What questions do you have about Doctor Strange? Let’s discuss in the comments!
Talk to Senior Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottCollura.
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