Doctor Strange Variants Are Key To Him Fulfilling The Ancient One’s Prophecy

The trailers for Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness have revealed several Doctor Strange variants, and they all could play a vital role in fulfilling a prophecy from The Ancient One. Ever since her debut in Doctor Strange, the Ancient One has demonstrated some amazing powers. A fascinating feat was her ability to see into possible futures. More specifically, she was able to see into Doctor Strange’s future and learn a great deal about him.

During an encounter with Bruce Banner in Avengers: Endgame, the Ancient One resisted giving up the Time Stone. She was then surprised to learn that Doctor Strange had given the Time Stone to Thanos. In her amazement at that news, she proclaimed, “Strange is meant to be the best of us.” The “us” could have been referring to all of the MCU sorcerers, or more likely the Masters of the Mystic Arts. Nevertheless, her prophecy alluded to Doctor Strange’s future greatness. In Doctor Strange, she also taught him the most important lesson, a flaw preventing him from obtaining greatness. She simply said, “It’s not about you,” pointedly meaning that his arrogance and self-centeredness are what was holding him back. 

The Doctor Strange 2 trailer revealed that he’ll meet with at least one of his variants, and they may serve a vital role in helping to fulfill the Ancient One’s prophecy about Strange becoming the best version of himself. The trailer also shows a universe in which Strange sees a statue of himself. Strange could meet that version of himself and recognize his potential for greatness as a hero. The most likely of encounters is with Strange Supreme. Of course, the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer could be deliberately misleading, but it appears the two wizards will meet just like they did in What If…?. In the animated series, Strange Supreme went down an extreme path in his quest for the power to break a fixed point in time and resurrect his love, Christine Palmer. It wasn’t until the dark variant destroyed his entire reality that he finally learned the error of his ways. If Doctor Strange engages with his dark counterpart, then Strange could learn the value of being less selfish and considerate of others. Learning that lesson from his variant’s past mistakes could help Strange become as great as the Ancient One envisioned. 

There’s certainly a recent precedent for it in the MCU. Audiences received a heavy dose of variants in the Loki series. Loki encountered many of his variants, each of which had unique traits and histories. More importantly, his variants provided a necessary lens for Loki to understand himself differently. For example, when he met the powerful Classic Loki, it helped Loki realize that being alone and away from his brother Thor may not be the best outcome. Sylvie, meanwhile, helped him to learn to trust. In so many ways, the variants of the multiverse can serve as a means of self-reflection for the main MCU heroes. The very same situation could happen for Doctor Strange in Doctor Strange 2.

The lessons learned from the variants can undoubtedly lead to Doctor Strange growing as a character. In addition to that, he could also become stronger than ever due to magical abilities or spells he learns from them. It’s even possible that Doctor Strange could become Sorcerer Supreme, this time officially. Whatever happens, Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness should be a wild ride with endless possibilities for Marvel audiences.