Doctor Strange review: How does it impact Infinity War?

How will the events of this movie play into Infinity War?

The most obvious link here comes in the form of the Time Stone. Or as it is known in this film, the All-Seeing Eye of Agamotto, the incredibly powerful necklace that Strange discovers and uses to defeat Dormammu.

Previews of Infinity War have show one of Thanos’ Black Order–the herald, Ebony Maw–torturing Doctor Strange, and it’s a good bet that the Sorcerer Supreme gets his pretty green Infinity Stone taken from him forcefully at some point.

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Likewise, we know that his ever-present sidekick Wong shows up as well, that the Hulk crashes into the Sanctum, and that, along with Spiderman and Iron Man, Strange is one of the defenders of New York when the Mad Titan arrives

Beyond that, everything is speculation.

Two things of note, however. As the undisputed master of the mystic arts, Doctor Strange is one of the most powerful heroes among those opposing Thanos, with only Vision, Scarlet Witch, Hulk, and Thor coming close. More than that, his powers are different, less codified, more unpredictable. It may be that his array of unusual abilities prove more useful that the predictable strength of the Hulk or even Thor’s godly array.

In the comics, one of the keys players in this saga is Adam Warlock, someone against whom Strange has held his own on at least one occasion. Without offering spoilers, Adam Warlock plays a SIGNIFICANT role in the Infinity War arc from the comics. One wonders if Stephen Strange might eventually find himself taking some of that mantle upon himself in this tale.

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Furthermore, if Infinity War (and the subsequent film) ends up being the blood bath some worry it might be, the Time Stone has a chance of looming large. We’ve already seen the stones immense power. It is, without exaggeration, a get out of oblivion free card, a cosmic cheat, the one object capable of, say, resurrecting dead heroes or repairing a shattered universe. As the defacto wielder of that object, Strange may have a major role to play in the resolution of all this, if Marvel goes that route.