Speculation has run rampant regarding the possibility of Doctor Strange playing a villainous role in the upcoming MCU installment, Spider-Man: No Way Home, even though a lot of evidence points to the contrary. Ever since the first trailer for No Way Home seemingly showed Spider-Man and Doctor Strange engaged in some sort of fight, fans have been theorizing that Doctor Strange's actions in the film might not be entirely heroic. Those theories were bolstered by the release of Marvel Studios' What If...? Episode 4, "What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?", which introduced an evil version of Doctor Strange from an alternate universe.
What If...? Episode 4 retold the story of 2016's Doctor Strange, with one key difference, Steven Strange suffers the loss of Christine Palmer, Rachel McAdams' Character in the live-action flick, rather than the loss of his hands. This led the What If Doctor Strange down a dangerous path of grief while he attempted to gain enough power to resurrect Christine. The animated tragedy showed a different side of Strange, one that stopped at nothing to bring back what he lost, which led to the destruction of his universe. With No Way Home promising to reintroduce villains from other universes, MCU viewers are left to wonder if the evil Doctor Strange might be one of them.
Supporters of this theory seem to overlook that what motivated the alternate universe Doctor Strange to stray off the heroic path was Christine's death - an event that didn't take place in the main MCU timeline. Given that the What if...? Doctor Strange performed those flagitious acts with the sole purpose of bringing Christine back to life, he would lack the motivation to continue down this path in the main MCU, since Christine is still alive. A better explanation for Doctor Strange's peculiar actions, such as disregarding Wong's warning and fighting Peter Parker, could be manipulation or mind-control by Wanda Maximoff, who is confirmed to appear as the Scarlet Witch in some capacity in the No Way Home follow up, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness.
Even if Doctor Strange in No Way Home is the same one from What If...?, it would make little canonical sense for him to continue to be villainous after he redeemed himself by guarding the multiverse against Ultron in the season finale. The same finale did not leave the evil Doctor Strange's whereabouts unknown either; the last scene of the show indicated that the evil Doctor Strange will remain in the pocket dimension he was imprisoned in by the Watcher, overseeing Ultron and Killmonger's seemingly infinite tussle over the stones. Therefore, having the What If...? Doctor Strange appear in No Way Home would detract from the character development he underwent throughout the animated first season, and would not fit in canonically with the ending of the series.
On the other hand, Doctor Strange being under the influence of Wanda's magic would make perfect sense, and fit in with both the past and future installments of the MCU. Wandavision kicked off the MCU's phase 4 earlier this year, and followed Wanda Maximoff's journey as she embraced her Scarlet Witch persona. During the Season 1 finale, viewers learned from Agatha Harkness that Scarlet Witch is more powerful than Doctor Strange, leaving the door open for Wanda potentially overpowering the Sorcerer Supreme and subjugating him to her mind control. Doctor Strange could even be under the control of another entity fans are yet to meet, candidates include the likes of Nightmare, Shuma-Gorath, and Mephisto.
No Way Home is shaping up to be the biggest film of the year, and is expected to open up the multiverse by bringing in villains from previous Sony franchises, prior to the multiverse-focused Doctor Strange sequel. Whether the What...if? Doctor Strange is the version appearing in the Spider-Man threequel or not, he would not have any reason to revert back to his villainous ways in the main MCU timeline. The real cause of Doctor Strange's uncanny behavior remains to be seen, but if one thing is for certain, it's that fans have much to look forward to the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home this December.
More: Next No Way Home Trailer Must Show Maguire & Garfield (Or Risk Disappointing)
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