MCU: Doctor Strange Tragedy & Death Teased In New Trailer for Disney+ What If

Doctor Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, appears in a new trailer promising tragedy and death in the next What If...? episode on Disney+.

By Nora Ambrose Updated:
Doctor Strange What If Marvel Show

So far, What If...? has offered up a trio of very different Marvel stories. The first episode was a grounded, fast-paced retelling of Captain America: The First Avenger.

For Episode 2, fans got a wild adventure showing a very different universe where T'Challa was Star-Lord. Both were light-hearted stories that were fun to watch and gave glimpses of interesting alternate worlds.

Episode 3's murder mystery vibe gave fans their first look at a darker style of What If...? story-telling, and that's a thread that seems likely to continue. Marvel Zombies is on the docket in some fashion, and recent uploads from Marvel Studios point to Episode 4 revolving around a darker version of Doctor Strange.

In a newly posted trailer, Marvel has given a glimpse at the lengths Benedict Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange will go to in order to bring back his lost love.

NEW TRAILER SHOWS STRANGE SEEKING POWER

On Twitter, Marvel Studios released a new trailer for the next episode of What If...? featuring Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Stephen Strange. The post asks "What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?" 

Christine Palmer
Marvel

In one segment of the trailer, it states that Strange will lose the love of his life, Christine Palmer, showing an altered version of the car crash originally seen in 2016's Doctor Strange.

doctor-strange-what-if-1
Marvel

Other clips show Strange seeking more power so that he can resurrect his lost love.

The full trailer can be seen in the tweet below:

 

DOCTOR STRANGE TAKES A DARKER TURN

From what little is shown in this trailer, it's clear that Episode 4 of What If...? will be a significantly more tragic tale. With the love of his life gone, Strange turns to sorcery not as a way to heal his own injuries, but rather as a way to resurrect Christine Palmer.

In doing so, Strange will be walking a familiar, albeit darker path from the one he took in Doctor Strange. In both cases, his motives for seeking magic are inherently selfish. In the film, he wanted to restore the use of his hands so he could continue as a surgeon. In the upcoming What If...? it seems he'll seek power at any cost to bring back Christine, likely putting the rest of the world at risk in the process.

So, while Marvel is setting up a different story for Strange, they aren't setting up one that is out of character for him. He was always originally motivated by a selfish desire to regain something he'd lost. This time the loss is even deeper, the pain of it even sharper, and that doesn't bode well for those who stand in his way. 

In the main timeline, Strange became the protector of the Time Stone and Master of the Mystic Arts. Whether this version of the sorcerer will be saved from his fall to darkness is up in the air.

Fans can look forward to finding out when Episode 4 of What If...? airs Wednesday, September 1, 2021.

- In This Article: What If...? (Season 2)
Release Date
December 22, 2023
Platform
Actors
Jeffrey Wright
- About The Author: Nora Ambrose
Nora Ambrose has been a Writer at The Direct since 2021. She specializes in all things Star Wars and Marvel, with a particular eye towards representation in media.