Was The Celestial Emergence Part Of Doctor Strange’s Infinity War Plan?

Among the many questions that Eternals has raised about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one directly linked to Avengers: Infinity War is whether Doctor Strange knew about the Celestial Emergence. From the battle in Titan against Thanos to Tony Stark’s ultimate sacrifice, every event was anticipated by Strange as being the only path out of more than 14 million possible outcomes that would lead to the Avengers’ triumph in the end. However, Eternals may have added yet another reason why that specific order of events was chosen by Strange as the correct one.

Eternals has established a lot about the MCU’s cosmic past, in a film that alternates between the birth of the universe and the post-blip world. While the movie does a lot of necessary world-building for the franchise, it also creates new gaps in the overall MCU storyline that will have to be filled in future films. Eternals’ connections to Thanos, the Snap, and perhaps even to the long-awaited mutant evolution make the film one of the most important entries in the MCU.

The Emergence, an event that would have sacrificed the entire population of Earth to bring a new Celestial into the universe, was very close to occurring. It was thanks to Thanos’ snap that the secret mission known only by Ajak and Ikaris ended up being postponed. Without half its population, Earth did not have enough energy to give birth to Tiamut and the plan had to wait. Given that Doctor Strange had watched every possible outcome for the fight against Thanos, it is possible that in many of those outcomes, the Avengers defeated the Mad Titan before he even had a chance to perform the Snap. However, that would have eliminated any chance of delaying the Emergence, and Earth’s Eternals would never have found out the truth. As it would not make sense to trade one world-ending event for another, it is likely that at least postponing the Emergence was also part of Strange’s plan.

Up until Eternals, it was assumed by many that the “only way” referred to by Strange was the only outcome in which the Avengers would have eventually won. With the reveal of the Celestials’ plan, however, it is possible that the victory mentioned by Strange also considered delaying the Emergence and giving the Eternals a chance to stop it. The wizard could have chosen to alert the Eternals of the Celestials’ true goals, but the way it all played out in the Eternals film may have been necessary to encourage at least some of them to rebel against their orders.

Doctor Strange’s plan in Infinity War led to the universe’s survival against Thanos, and may also have saved Earth from a catastrophic Celestial Emergence. That said, whether Strange will ever reveal the mysteries behind his decision-making process on Titan is unknown. By expanding the MCU on a scale that no other film has, Eternals will have audiences looking back at other important moments in the series for years to come and wondering how it all fits together.