Marvel's What If...? (Ep. 4)
This article was originally published on October 19, 2021
Written by Thomas Salerno
The first three episodes of Marvel’s What If…? were fun re-imaginings of familiar MCU characters and story lines but I couldn’t help feeling that the writers seemed to be playing things fairly conservative. In retrospect, it appears obvious that this was probably their plan all along: to ease the audience into the concept of the multiverse with a few conventional stories before really opening the throttle with alternate realities that are well and truly strange.
I had been advised by friends that the fourth episode was “bleak” and “depressing.” “Be sure to watch it on a bright and sunny day,” I was told. Not eager to immerse myself in such an apparently upsetting story, I put off viewing this episode until I felt I was in the mood. It turned out, ironically, that my concerns were groundless. Indeed, this episode is probably the best one so far in terms of audacious storytelling and provocative themes.
What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?
In this universe, Dr. Stephen Strange tragically loses his girlfriend, Dr. Christine Palmer, in a brutal car accident while escaping uninjured himself. Searching for some kind of meaning in life, Stephen immerses himself in the mystic arts under the tutelage of the Ancient One and Wong.
Very much like Ep.3, this story feels like the heart and soul of a big-budget Marvel movie in the body of a forty-minute television episode — and it works! I was totally engrossed from beginning to end. I’m a fan of the Doctor Strange film and it was really neat to see this darker, tragic take on the character.
From this point on, I’m going to have to enter into spoiler territory to properly examine the themes of this episode. If you haven’t seen this one yet, turn back now. Abandon all hope of avoiding spoilers, ye who enter here.
His judgement clouded by feelings of grief and guilt, Strange repeatedly uses the Eye of Agamotto and its power to manipulate and alter time in a vain attempt to save Palmer’s life. But every time Strange tries to alter the past, fate catches up with him and Christine dies anyway.
The Ancient One informs Strange that Christine’s death is an “Absolute Point in time” — it cannot be changed — and warns him that “this path leads only to darkness and the end of this reality.” But Strange is too obsessed with his need for control over time, over life and death, to heed this warning, saying that “nothing is impossible… I only require more power.”
Strange travels to the Lost Library of Cagliostro where he meets its protector, a man named Obengh. By studying the library’s ancient tomes, Strange learns that in order to break an absolute point in time, he must acquire more and more power by absorbing mystical beings into himself. Consumed by his obsessive desire for unlimited power, Strange declares, “If they won’t surrender their power, I’ll take it.” Strange has become like the devils in C.S. Lewis’s famous book The Screwtape Letters, whose only desire is to relieve their insatiable hunger by devouring the pain and anguish of damned human souls. Strange spends centuries absorbing demonic energy, becoming corrupted into Strange Supreme.
Strange offers to use his newfound powers to help the dying Obengh live forever, but Obengh refuses saying, “Death is part of the plan,” to which Strange replies, “I can’t accept that.”
It is true that, according to Scripture, death as we know it was not part of God’s original plan for humanity. But, as St. Paul teaches us, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22 Revised Standard Version) We believe as Christians that through his death and resurrection, Christ has won ultimate victory over death: “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:25-26 RSV) We believe, according to the Nicene Creed, in “the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” Stephen Strange, lacking this Christian hope, is deceived into believing that the death of Christine is final and irrevocable loss.
Strange Supreme eventually confronts an alternate version of himself who accepted Christine’s death and never embarked on this dark path. This good counterpart exposes Strange Supreme’s self-centered hypocrisy: “This isn’t love! This is arrogance. This is our need to fix everything…. You need to let go.” But Strange Supreme cannot let go of his past. He cannot forgive himself for his mistakes and is blind to the reality of his situation: that his arrogance and recklessness helped cause Christine’s death and is now killing the entire universe!
Strange Supreme ultimately overpowers and absorbs his virtuous other half and uses the surge of power to resurrect Christine, but at an horrendous cost: the very fabric of reality is damaged and Strange Supreme’s entire universe begins to collapse in on itself. Strange begs the Watcher to intervene but the cosmic being refuses, saying, “I’m not a god. And neither are you.” The desire to be gods, masters of reality, is at the root of all human sin. Recall that in the Book of Genesis, the Serpent tempts Adam and Eve with the lie that if they eat of the Tree of Knowledge they “will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5 RSV) In other words, humanity will be able to decide for itself the nature of right and wrong, to mold reality according to their own will and desires. But such a disordered worldview, the will to power, has been a recurring source of destruction and misery up and down human history.
Stange is left utterly alone, the only survivor of his universe. The episode could have ended on a crushingly bleak note, except for one small sign of hope: At the moment of utter despair, Strange finally abandons his pride and egotism, finding somewhere deep within himself the humility to repent.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this episode. Going in, I expected something punishingly dark and nihilistic but was pleased to instead find a thoughtful and at times moving cautionary tale about the all-too-human pursuit of power and control. After all, we all know where ends the road that’s paved with good intentions.
Brainy Pixel’s COO and Creative Director Brannon Hollingsworth was also a big fan of this episode and I asked him to chime in with some of his thoughts:
As usual, the animation was outstanding. I really think the over-the-top inter-dimensional magic of Doctor Strange is almost tailor made for animation. What are your thoughts on that?
Without a doubt, this is a brilliant use of the medium to enhance and underpin setting and story. This is one of the things that really gets me excited about working in animation, when the unique properties of the medium are used to help bolster and enhance the story and are not solely used as a medium of delivery. SO. STOKED. TO. SEE. THIS!
Did anything in particular about this episode really appeal to you as a writer of strange fiction?
I think a better question is what did not appeal to me...this, so far, is my favorite episode but I'm personally drawn to darker stories of this nature. Empire, for instance, has always been my favorite Star Wars movie. I guess I just love stories where the payment comes finally due and we see the price of our choices laid bare before us in an undeniable and inescapable manner.
This episode raised a lot of interesting questions about fate, life-and-death, and human nature. How well do you think the writers handled these subjects?
Again, I think this episode was so well done and so expertly plotted. I also love the ending, where it feels like the end and yet there's this oh-so-subtle hint that there could be more to come. I am so excited! My hat is off to the writers, as well, because they took a character that we know very well and yet with one subtle question (DUH!), we were able to enjoy this entirely divergent path and story arc.
I think Strange Supreme’s moment of repentance redeems what would otherwise be a very hopeless ending. Would you agree?
I do, absolutely, but I also love that Strange Supreme is not let off the hook. We see him face the finality of his own choices and he is ready to pay the price of his crimes. It is done very subtly and written very well and honestly, it makes me want to know more about what could happen with him next. He's grown as a character and now, despite his track record of deliberately (and repeatedly) choosing wrong, I know want to see him turn the corner and choose right!
It’s been confirmed at this point that we’ll see Strange Supreme again. Are you excited for his return?
WHAT?!?! I did not know that!!! YYYESSSS!!!
