What causes a third eye to appear on Doctor Strange's forehead?
Is it a useful tool, or a really bad sign?
Keep watching for what the comics can tell us about what it all means.
Warning: spoilers for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" are ahead.
Before the climactic final battle in "Multiverse of Madness," Earth-616 Stephen becomes stranded
in a universe that's collapsing in on itself.
A variant Strange is isolated in a Sanctum tower with the Darkhold, a book full of evil
spells.
At first, our Strange doesn't realize that this Strange has gone to the dark side.
He and Christine Palmer initially plan to ask for help defeating Wanda Maximoff.
But then Sinister Strange grasps the Darkhold and a third eye appears on his forehead.
"Things just got out of hand."
616 Stephen learns that the Darkhold corrupted his alternate self to the point that he became
obsessed with finding a reality in which he ended up with Christine.
That reality doesn't exist anywhere in the multiverse, however, and Sinister Strange
confesses that in his failed quest, he killed numerous other Strange variants.
They battle, and 616 Strange eventually wins out.
After America Chavez defeats Scarlet Witch by showing her the futility of her plan, the
film ends with Strange calmly attempting to cross an intersection, only to be suddenly
forced to his knees by what seems to be intense pain.
A moment later, a hideous third eye manifests on his face.
The movie cuts to the credits as Strange screams in horror.
The eye then briefly comes back in a mid-credits scene in which Clea, a powerful sorceress
who has been romantically entangled with Doctor Strange in the comics, makes her MCU debut.
She tells him that an incursion is destroying another universe and that they must fix it.
The eye appears again as Clea opens a portal and guides Strange through it.
We don't know for sure how much time has passed in between the end of the movie and the mid-credits
stinger, but clearly Strange grew accustomed to that third eye fairly quickly.
When Doctor Strange faces the Illuminati, they explain that accessing the Darkhold's
power comes at a great cost.
That's true even if the user has good intentions, as their Strange did when he used it to defeat
Thanos.
The corrupted Strange later reinforces this idea.
Since it appears on Stephen's face only after he's used the Darkhold himself, the third
eye could very well be the price he paid.
After all, no one is immune to the corrosive effects of the Darkhold's magic.
Wanda, too, has clearly been affected by the Darkhold.
But she doesn't have a third eye on her forehead.
This might be because she was its intended user or because she's a Nexus Being.
"Did you know that there's an entire chapter devoted to you in the Darkhold?
That's the Book of the Damned."
Or perhaps the third eye popping up is something specific to Doctor Strange's use of the Darkhold,
considering his connection to another key magical item.
Along with the effects of the Darkhold, the eye may be related to the amulet Strange wears
around his neck.
That magical relic is called the Eye of Agamotto, and it was introduced in the first "Doctor
Strange" film.
"Wise choice.
You'll wear the Eye of Agamotto once you've mastered its powers."
It used to house the Time Stone, which gave Strange the ability to manipulate time and
see various future probabilities.
Thanos destroyed the stone, but Doctor Strange has refurbished the Eye of Agamotto itself.
There's just no green gem inside anymore.
But the amulet is plenty powerful on its own.
In comics, it's named after Agamotto, one of the members of the Vishanti and the very
first Sorcerer Supreme.
It's Wong, not Strange, who currently holds that title in the MCU, but important relics
have chosen a non-supreme Strange before based on his talent for mysticism and his readiness
to take on tough foes.
In this instance, his old magical item may have imbued him with new powers after his
encounter with the Darkhold.
A bodily manifestation of the Eye of Agamotto could mean Doctor Strange is ready to take
on even more dangerous adversaries in the future.
Along with the Cloak of Levitation, the Eye of Agamotto is one of Doctor Strange's most
trusted accessories in the comics.
And yes, it sometimes produces an actual third eye on the sorcerer's forehead.
It was introduced in the same issue as Strange himself, 1963's "Strange Tales" #110.
The amulet's design is loosely based on the All Seeing Eye of Buddha, a Nepalese symbol.
In comics, the third eye isn't necessarily anything for Doctor Strange to be worried
about.
It's sometimes referred to as the Eye of Truth, and it often manifests more like a blinding
light than an actual eyeball.
In fact, in comics, it's not the "heavy toll" the corrupted Strange describes.
Its pure light wards off evil and lets Strange into the minds of others to read their true
intentions.
It can also break illusions, reveal disguises, and even control time and space.
The Eye of Agamotto's usefulness and Doctor Strange's stature among the current Avengers
indicates that the MCU could be headed in some exciting directions.
After the events of "Loki" and that mid-credits stinger, time-traveling and portal-jumping
abilities could certainly be valuable, but what might really be handy are the eye's powers
of clarity and revelation.
The new "Secret Invasion" series, with Nick Fury and the shape-shifting alien Skrulls,
is in the works at Disney+.
The all-seeing eye would be a game changer for deducing the identity of Skrulls should
they turn against our heroes.
Likewise, a version of Kang the Conqueror showed up in the finale of "Loki" and one
will return in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania."
"I'm older than I look.
This game is for… the young."
Given Kang's prominence in the comics, it's exceedingly likely we'll continue to see him
in movies and TV series, perhaps as the MCU's new big bad.
Kang can travel across timelines and the multiverse, change his appearance, and exist as multiple
versions of himself at once.
Plus, fans have been anticipating that a Kang-focused take on the comics' "Secret Wars" storyline
will eventually make its way to the big screen.
If that third eye really is an expression of the Eye of Agamotto, it could be the secret
weapon our heroes need to get them through to Phase Five.
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