Doctor Stephen Strange: you know him as a world-renowned surgeon, Master of the Mystic
Arts, and sorcerer extraordinaire.
But do you know his whole story?
Keep watching for a run-down on Doctor Strange's entire MCU timeline.
The MCU is a universe filled with magic, but, for the first few decades of his life, Stephen
Strange is completely ignorant of its existence.
All the way up until his inevitable first encounter with the mystic arts, Strange refuses
to buy into so-called "fairy tales," preferring to believe what he can see in front of him.
"There is no such thing as spirit.
We are made of matter and nothing more."
His steadfast devotion to science and medicine, alongside his exceptional intelligence, serves
Strange well, and by 2016 he is one of the world's top neurosurgeons.
And he likely stood at the top for years, as his skills and notoriety even earned him
a spot on a HYDRA watchlist at least as early as 2014.
Going further back, we can place Strange's whereabouts during the 2012 Chitauri invasion
of New York.
As part of the time heist depicted in Avengers: Endgame, the Hulk visits the Sanctum Sanctorum
in order to find Stephen.
There, the Ancient One tells Hulk that he's about five years too early.
"Stephen Strange is currently performing surgery, about 20 blocks that way."
Even then, though, the Ancient One is well aware of the man Strange will soon become.
In 2016, Strange's life is turned upside down when a car accident costs him full use of
his hands, seemingly ending his career as a neurosurgeon.
Broken and dejected but still as headstrong as ever, Strange seeks out any and every remedy
for his condition.
After exhausting all of his traditional options, he throws the ultimate Hail Mary and flies
to Nepal, following rumors of miraculous healers in the hidden city of Kamar-Taj.
There, Strange is forcibly divested of his narrow concepts of reality and begins studying
magic in earnest.
He approaches his magical studies as he had his medical studies, accelerating the prescribed
syllabus and devouring every source of information he can, which leads him to develop a relationship
with the librarian-sorcerer Wong.
During his studies, Strange also becomes friends with the sorcerer Mordo, masters the use of
portals via the magical Sling Ring, uses the Eye of Agamotto for the first time, and learns
of the dangers inherent in the use of dark magic.
Strange's studies come to an abrupt end when the rogue sorcerer Kaecilius attacks the various
magical Sanctums that guard the Earth in his bid to summon the Dread Dormammu.
Between this attack and subsequent battles, much of the groundwork for Strange's transformation
into a true superhero is laid.
The previous guardian of the Sanctum Sanctorum, Daniel Drumm, is killed during these events,
and Strange inherits the position.
While battling Kaecilius in the Sanctum, the Cloak of Levitation also chooses him as its
new wearer.
Most importantly of all, the Ancient One dies in combat with Kaecilius, leaving Strange
as the new Sorcerer Supreme and protector of the Time Stone.
His first responsibilities are twofold: stop Kaecilius and his rogue sorcerers from bringing
the Dark Dimension to Earth, and defeat the evil Dormammu.
With the aid of Wong, Mordo, and the Time Stone, Strange succeeds in both tasks — and
irritates the heck out of Dormammu at the same time.
"Dormammu, I've come to bargain."
In 2017, Strange first encounters the Asgardians Thor and Loki.
Though only a few months into his new role, Strange has already begun compiling a list
of potential threats to Earth, and Loki's 2012 attack on New York City earned him one
of the top spots.
When Thor and Loki travel to Earth in search of their father Odin, Strange detects their
unearthly presence and within a minute has trapped Loki in a self-contained, endless
freefall.
Leaving his card behind for Thor, Strange invites the thunder god to the Sanctum Sanctorum.
Once there, Thor explains to Strange his quest to locate Odin, and Strange's reply subtly
implies the level to which he is mastering his new duties.
"I have to tell you, he was adamant that he not be disturbed.
Your father said he had chosen to remain in exile."
"Hm."
In just a few sentences, Strange reveals that he had dared to confront the All-Father when
he arrived on Earth, and that their meeting was enough for Strange to earn Odin's respect
and confidence.
The king of the gods trusted Strange alone with his secret, a secret Strange keeps until
the next king, Thor, has need of it.
After Thor and his Revengers defeat Hela on Asgard, Thanos' ship, Sanctuary II, ambushes
the survivors.
As his last act before being killed by Thanos' Black Order, Heimdall sends Bruce Banner to
Earth — specifically to the residence of Doctor Strange.
Banner warns Strange of Thanos' imminent arrival on Earth, and thus the Infinity War begins.
Strange is a key player throughout, accompanying Iron Man and Spider-Man as they travel to
confront Thanos on Titan.
After joining up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, the trio battles Thanos, who is by
then in possession of four of the Infinity Stones.
Strange plays perhaps the biggest role in the fight — not just in opposing Thanos,
but also in scanning alternate futures to determine the single course of events that
will lead to the Mad Titan's defeat.
At the end of this confrontation, Strange gives up the Time Stone to Thanos, a choice
only he knows is right.
"Tony…
There was no other way."
The war against Thanos ends with the Blip, an event in which half of all life disappears
in a matter of moments.
In several films and TV shows, characters explicitly state that the Blip lasted five
years.
As Thanos Blipped Strange, he spent 2018 to 2023 simply not existing.
Those who were Blipped didn't notice the passage of time at all, and so to Strange, one moment
it was 2018, and the next it was 2023.
During Strange's five-year absence, the remaining population of the universe carried on, and
a few notable events took place.
Two are worthy of particular note, as they undoubtedly held a place of importance in
Strange's tour of alternate futures.
First, around a month after the Blip, the remaining Avengers locate Thanos and kill
him, but not before learning that the Infinity Stones are all destroyed.
The second event takes place five years after the Blip, when Scott Lang is finally freed
from the Quantum Realm and returns to Earth.
Lang's return and his first-hand knowledge of the reality of time travel kicks off the
time heist, which begins in 2023.
After the Avengers successfully undo Thanos' snap, a younger version of the Mad Titan attacks
the Avengers compound.
Here, Strange plays a crucial role in his defeat.
Knowing how the entire sequence of events must play out, Strange recovers from the Blip
faster than most.
He quickly begins gathering the Blipped heroes from across the galaxy, as well as an army
composed of sorcerers, Asgardians, Ravagers, and Wakandans.
Using his mastery of portal teleportation, Strange gathers all the allied armies and
heroes to Avengers Compound, leading to the final, epic showdown against Thanos and his
forces.
During the battle, Strange reminds Tony Stark that there's only one successful path to victory,
the details of which Stark instinctively understands.
Stark seizes the Stones and Blips away Thanos and his armies, sacrificing himself in the
process.
"And I… am…
Iron Man."
A few days later, Strange and Wong attend Stark's funeral as the Infinity Saga officially
concludes.
Soon after his return to existence, Strange learns that he is no longer the Sorcerer Supreme.
Since he had been nonexistent for five years, the title had passed to Wong, in what Strange
describes as "a technicality."
Though no longer the Earth's chief sorcerer, Strange is still an exceptional magician and
comes to the aid of Peter Parker when he needs a little magical help.
In 2024, Strange attempts to cast a spell to conceal Parker's secret identity from the
world.
Thanks to Parker's interference, however, the spell goes awry, leading to a breakdown
in the structure of the multiverse.
Due to Strange's magic, beings from other universes begin crossing over into the MCU's
main Earth, and though he's no longer the Sorcerer Supreme, Strange sets out to hunt
down these aberrations.
He and Parker disagree over the fate of the multiversal beings, leading to a lengthy battle
between the two that ends with Strange trapped in the Mirror Dimension.
When he finally frees himself, he returns to Earth, fixes as much of the multiversal
damage as he can, and finally casts the original spell to make Parker anonymous once more.
The Disney+ series What If? is unique in that it is firmly canonical in the MCU but takes
place in different universes than the other movies and shows.
The episode "What If...
Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands" follows a version of Strange who lost
his longtime love Christine Palmer instead of his ability to perform surgery.
This variant of Strange tries to fix that loss with the same energy that the prime MCU
Strange used to master the mystic arts, except this version is burdened with far too much
grief to become the best version of himself.
His quest brings him unparalleled power, but only through the use of dark, predatory magic,
and it soon leads to the near-annihilation of his own universe.
Before long, though, the alternate Strange has been recruited to join the Guardians of
the Multiverse — but this isn't the last time MCU fans will be seeing a Strange variant.
"Things just got out of hand."
The events of Spider-Man: No Way Home take place in 2024, and the events of Doctor Strange
in the Multiverse of Madness are set to directly follow them, as Strange's damage to the multiverse
during Spider-Man's adventure is what kicks off the plot of his own sequel movie.
However, given that the Hawkeye series also takes place at the very end of 2024 — and
never mentions any multiverse-level war or giant tentacle monster — it's possible that
Multiverse of Madness could be set later, placing it in early 2025.
Whether it's set in 2024 or early 2025, Multiverse of Madness is Strange's most important quest
yet.
Even the events of the Infinity Saga can't compete; half of the universe's population
sounds like a lot until the fate of millions of universes' are on the line.
Strange will encounter multiple versions of himself in his next adventure, team up with
a potentially unstable Scarlet Witch, meet the multiverse-hopping heroine America Chavez,
and possibly even meet Marvel's infamous Illuminati.
No matter what happens, however, you can safely bet that Doctor Strange's timeline is far
from over.
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