Avengers: Infinity War ends with the unthinkable: our heroes have been defeated and Thanos has succeeded in wiping out half of all life in the universe. The Avengers have lost half of their number and it looks like there’s no way to reverse what’s been done. Despite all this though, there are some hints that one character has had a masterplan all along. Even if they’re currently dead.
We’re talking about Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange. You could argue that the sorcerer is at least partly responsible for what happens to the universe, as he’s the one who gave up the Time Stone to the Mad Titan in order to save Tony Stark’s life. This seemed out of character for someone who’d previously stated that his mission was to protect the Stone above the lives of his allies. In his final moments, though, he explained that what he’d done was “the only way.”
Fans have theorized that Strange actually knows what he’s doing here. Earlier on in the film, he’d used the Stone to view millions of alternate futures in order to find out how many the Avengers actually won. It turns out that just a single version of the timeline resulted in Thanos being defeated. You could take this as a bad sign, but what if Strange has deliberately altered events to make sure that things lead up to that one future where the universe is ultimately saved?
Our biggest hint that this is indeed what’s going on comes from Avengers: Infinity War co-director Joe Russo. Though we don’t have a direct quote from the filmmaker, a Reddit user was present at a talk Russo gave at his old school in Iowa and revealed that the director teased the significance of Strange’s final line in answer to a question about why he gave Thanos the Time Stone, “basically confirming” that the Sorcerer Supreme has a long-term plan in place to deal with the Mad Titan.
Exactly how the Master of the Mystic Arts is going to make sure this plan comes to fruition when he’s been turned to dust, we’re not sure. But as always, feel free to leave your own thoughts and theories on all this down in the comments section below.
