Marvel Studios What If…? gets dark in its newest episode.
Marvel’s What If…? continues to be a phenomenal watch. Even if you don’t know the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the Marvel Comics characters, it’s clear that you can enjoy this. The show began with two lighthearted episodes. Episode three was a bit sadder. Now, we’re at the fourth installment of the Disney Plus series and it ripped out the heart of Doctor Strange.
Like the previous episode, we saw that even the most minor of Marvel Cinematic Universe characters can have monumental effects on the timeline. This may have been the perfect example. This episode of What If…? shows that an entire reality can be destroyed by one person and their obsession. Despite the universe being destroyed, we still have five questions we need answered.
5. How many realities did Strange ruin and create?
There are always going to be consequences to time travel. Among them are the creation and destruction of timelines. We learned that in Loki and continue to see it in What If…?. Doctor Strange went back and tried to save Christine Palmer more times than we may know. Each time he went back may have resulted in the creation of a new timeline. There’s another thought to ponder. How many timelines did Strange ruin when his reality was destroyed? It’s doubtful that this was an isolated incident.
4. What If…? The Watcher interfered
Uatu the Watcher always shows up when major incidents are occurring. In this episode, he appears while Doctor Strange is taking in more demons. Instead of stopping or even announcing his presence, he leaves. What would have happened if he stayed or if his presence was noticed before he disappeared?
Would Doctor Strange have attempted to take his powers with him? Could he have done it? Uatu has powers that some gods envy. And if Doctor Strange tried, how would Uatu have reacted? He’s not supposed to interfere. Does this mean at the threat of his life as well.
3. How many demons did Doctor Strange absorb?
In order to bring the love of his life back, Doctor Strange needed power. He started by going after a powerful demon – one that looked a lot like the one Peggy Carter faced off against in the first episode of What If…?. That encounter ended with the demon knocking him out. Strange realized that he had to start small and build up to the first one who defeated him. He did just that.
Strange said that he was taking the energy of demons for centuries. We, the viewers, saw it as him taking only seconds to take them in. For all we know, that time was sped up for our benefit. No matter how long it took, you have to wonder how many beings he absorbed during that time.
2.Could he have beaten Thanos?
This Doctor Strange may have been the most powerful Sorcerer Supreme of all time. He was powerful enough to ruin a reality which would have, in turn, destroyed the Infinity Stones. Granted, no one had control of them at the time. If Thanos had them, though, would he have been able to beat the darker Doctor Strange?
With five of the six Infinity Stones, Thanos took on and defeated all of the Avengers (minus Stormbreaker Thor). Without the Time Stone, could the Mad Titan have beaten this deranged and powerful Stephen Strange?
1. Can What If…? get darker?
As this writer mentioned earlier, What If…? has become darker as the series has gone on. This episode right here may have been the darkest thing we’ve ever seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The entire universe was destroyed. To top it all off, Strange will be left by himself until he dies (or when he appears in another episode of What If…?). All he could do was cry as Christine left him, asking what he’d done.
The entire universe was destroyed and a person we knew as a hero was left in tears. Then, the credits started to roll with little to no sound. This was easily the most depressing episode of What If…? thus far and it makes you worried that this could just be the beginning of the depressing episodes to come.
What If…? releases new episodes on Disney+ each Wednesday.
What do you think? Did this episode of What If…? make you feel unwanted feelings of sadness? Can this series get darker? Let us know in the comments below.