Marvel's ‘What If..?’ Episode 4: “What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?” Recap and Review
In a twisted reimagining of Doctor Strange’s origins, we trace the dark and destructive paths he takes for true love.
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
The latest instalment of What If..? asks the question: what would Stephen Strange do to save his late love Christine Palmer? The answer is as heartbreaking as it is poignant - anything. In a devastating portrayal of grief and denial, we watch the universe bend and fall to the whim of one broken man, helplessly consumed by unwarranted hope. The episode is surprisingly emotional and resonant, whilst staying true to the characters involved and including stunning visuals and bold colours that make this episode stand out way above the rest.
The Recap
When Stephen Strange arrives to pick up his girlfriend Christine Palmer before their date, none of them could have known just how familiar this scene would become. The car ride that ensues is touching and heartwarming, as the couple discuss their relationship and their feelings towards each other, but things rapidly switch tone. Another car jams into the back of Strange’s, sending them hurtling over the edge of a cliff and sharply crashing on the ground several meters below. As Stephen begins to come to his senses, he turns to see Christine dead in the passenger seat. From there, things play out almost exactly as they did in the original film - Stephen seeks answers all across the world and eventually gets involved in the mystic arts, tying himself up in the plights of Dormammu. Strange grows to be the Sorcerer Surpreme that we all know, but one thing is missing - Christine. He’s clearly not the same man that we know him as - deflated and grief-stricken even two years later. As a result, Strange begins to use the Time Stone to take himself back to that fateful night and prevent Christine’s untimely death. But, to Strange’s surprise, it never seems to work. We see him divert the course of the car, change their plans last minute, and even not drive at all, but every scenario ends in Christine’s death.
After several attempts to prevent the disaster, Doctor Strange is confronted by a familiar friend - The Ancient One. She informs him that Christine’s death is an absolute fixed moment in time that cannot be reversed, as it directly leads to his development into the Sorcerer Supreme. He’s created a paradox that he can’t undo without unravelling the fabric of the universe. Unable to accept this information, Strange uses the Time Stone to send himself to the Lost Library of Cagliostro. The derelict library is full of masterful wizard Cagliostro’s books on magic and sorcery, and it doesn’t take long for Strange to find the spell he’s looking for - a way to undo an absolute, immutable moment in time. The spell requires him to absorb the spirits of many different mystical monsters, which soon grows tiresome and weary for Strange, who begins to take on the identities of the creatures that he’s absorbing. Strange’s powers begin to grow darker and more dangerous as he absorbs the spirits of numerous different interdimensional creatures (including one that looks eerily similar to Red Skull’s creature from episode one), and begins to lose himself in the dark magic. Just as hope appears lost, we learn that another version of Doctor Strange - a version that has not been consumed by this dark power - exists within the same universe. The Ancient One appears to this version of Strange and reveals that when she appeared to him earlier, she split his soul into two and allowed a second version of him to exist in order to combat this dark, strayed version
As our new Doctor Strange sees the fabric of reality begin to collapse, he prepares for battle with his dark counterpart. Soon enough, he is summoned to the Lost Library of Cagliostro and confronted by his double. The dark Strange proposes a solution - to merge their souls together and gather enough power to undo Christine’s death without collapsing the universe. Having been given the chance to move on from Christine’s death and see the consequences of his double’s exploits, our Strange refuses the offer and an absolutely explosive fight sequence ensues. The two versions of Stephen battle it out, but eventually the dark forces are too much for ‘good’ Strange, and he is absorbed into the soul of his other half. He uses his unstoppable powers to resurrect Christine, but unurprisingly she’s terrified of the man in front of her and doesn’t accept her new fate. With the universe collapsing around him, Strange notices the presence of the Watcher and calls for help, but to no avail. As Strange realises his mistake, the universe collapses around him and humanity is lost.
The Review
As you can tell, this week’s episode is nothing to be laughed at. The themes that Marvel are dealing with here are extremely important and this story is expertly crafted to explore them in an interesting and useful way. It’s a great character study of Doctor Strange which feels true to the person that we know, whilst adding more to his development and purpose. The story is totally original and unpredictable, and the narrative often goes to shockingly bold places that we’ve never seen before in the MCU. It doesn’t deal with many characters or many subplots, but delves deep into Doctor Strange’s mind and backstory and creates something that is just as heartbreaking as it is thrilling to watch. This is perhaps the first episode of the series that truly feels like it’s adding something to the universe, and I hope this development of Doctor Strange’s character is still relevant by the time we see him in Spiderman: No Way Home later this year. By making the character confront his own demons (literally), we see another side of Strange that hasn’t been explored before in film, and this is exactly where What If..? thrives. With the combination of last week’s episode and now this, the series has truly found its place within the cinematic universe. It’s a perfectly imaginitive medium to explore these characters and display scenarios that aren’t possible in the main universe.
It’s also worth noting that this is the most visually appealing episode yet. The colours are vibrant and bold, the animation is stunningly designed and the action sequences are choreographed brilliantly. It’s not just a great addition to the series, but it also stands up as a separate piece of media. Anybody can watch this without a full understanding of the story, and whilst it might not have the same emotional effect, it makes sense and doesn’t rely on previously established MCU logic. The show’s writing, direction and visuals are a huge step up from the previous instalments, and if they manage to keep this quality running through the rest of the episodes, then What If..? is about to become a fantastically entertaining addition to the Marvel Universe, and I can definitely see this being a concept that’s going to stick around.