Doctor Stephen Strange is a heroic character from Marvel Comics and other associated media. In most Marvel lore, he was once a gifted neurosurgeon, though his talents afforded him an extreme sense of self-importance as well as wealth and glory. That all ended one fateful night when Strange was injured in a car accident, severely damaging his hands and leaving him unable to perform surgery again, ending his career.
After exhausting his wealth and resources seeking treatment, Strange resorted to more unorthodox methods. He traveled to a place called Kamar-Taj in Nepal where he met the Ancient One, who introduced him to the Mystic Arts. Though initially skeptical of the existence of magic, Strange's eyes were soon opened to the limitless possibilities that the Mystic Arts held. While he originally wanted to heal his hands, Strange found that he had an uncanny affinity for the arcane. He studied whatever texts were available dilligently and quickly mastered several spells that would become of great use to him, not in the operating theatre but in protecting the Earth from extra-dimensional threats. After the Ancient One was killed in battle and Strange banished Kaecilius to the Dark Dimension, he would assume the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme and take on the task of defending the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York.
Deaths[]
Doctor Strange (portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch) has appeared in four titles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date, beginning with Doctor Strange in 2016. He has already died multiple times, the majority of these deaths occurring in his debut film alone.
Doctor Strange[]
During his final showdown with Kaecilius in Hong Kong, Doctor Strange uses the Eye of Agamotto to reverse the flow of time and undo the death and destruction the Zealots have wrought in their attempt to merge Earth with the Dark Dimension. Having studied the Eye closely for some time, Strange casts a spell that creates a continuous temporal loop before leaping through the dimensional rift, into Dormammu's realm.
Strange addresses Dormammu and states that he wishes to bargain, but Dormammu is disinterested in the sorcerer's pleas. The Dread Lord releases a beam of destructive energy, vaporising Strange, but as soon as Strange dies, the temporal loop he created causes the event to repeat. Over and over again, Strange appears before Dormammu only for the colossal demon to kill him, whether by disintegration, crushing him or impaling him with crystalline shards. Dormammu has no power over time and cannot break the temporal loop, but Strange can and promises to break the loop if Dormammu agrees to leave Earth alone forever and take Kaecilius and his Zealots with him. Furiously, Dormammu agrees and Strange restores the flow of time to normal, after which Dormammu destroys Kaecilius' physical body and draws his essence into the Dark Dimension before disappearing.
Avengers: Infinity War[]
In 2018, the Mad Titan Thanos seeks out the six Infinity Stones: ingots of great power that each represent a particular aspect of existence. One of these stones, the Time Stone, is contained within the Eye of Agamotto, making Doctor Strange a prime target for Thanos. Strange is forced to team up with Iron Man and Spider-Man in order to protect the Time Stone and defeat Thanos' Black Order.
After a battle against Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian in Greenwich Village, Strange is captured by the villainous aliens. Iron Man and Spider-Man manage to board the aliens' ship and kill Maw and his minions, freeing Strange, but the ship is locked on course for Titan and cannot be redirected. Before the group arrive at their destination, Strange warns Stark that he is willing to sacrifice him and Spider-Man if it means keeping the Time Stone from falling into Thanos' hands, knowing full well what Thanos intends to do with the stones.
After arriving at the ruined world of Titan, Strange, Stark and Parker encounter the Guardians of the Galaxy Star-Lord, Drax and Mantis. After a tense standoff, both parties realized they shared the same goal, before deciding to work together to ambush Thanos, who they expected to be arriving soon. Awaiting for Thanos' arrival, Iron Man, Spider-Man and the Guardians attempted to formulate a plan of attack, while Strange activated the Time Stone to view all possible outcomes and futures of the coming battle. While examining all timelines, Strange contemplated cutting off Thanos' hand with his Sling Ring, but desisted upon realizing that the Titan's skin was almost impenetrable and that if he failed to cut it on time, Thanos would still be able to snap his fingers and accomplish his goal. Out of the 14,000,605 possible timelines he viewed, there was only one where the heroes would triumph, but Strange would not tell the others how it played out, believing that it wouldn't happen if he told.
When Thanos arrived at Titan, the heroes sprung their attack, desperately trying to pull the Infinity Gauntlet off of Thanos' arm. However, Thanos already had four of the stones, making him already impossible to defeat. Strange used every trick and spell at his disposal to confound the Mad Titan, but each one was merely a delaying tactic. Eventually, Thanos grabbed Iron Man and was about to kill him before Strange begged him to stop, presenting the Time Stone that he had removed from the Eye of Agamotto. While it appeared that Strange was surrendering, he knew that giving up the Time Stone now was the only way to bring about the future he had seen where the Avengers would triumph over Thanos. Thanos released Stark and took the stone, then conjured a portal and disappeared from Titan to travel to Earth where the last stone was located.
Not long after their defeat, the heroes on Titan felt the effect of Thanos' Snap after he had acquired the last Infinity Stone. A wave of death expanded throughout the entire universe, destroying 50% of all life. Strange was one of the countless victims of the Snap and disintegrated into dust along with Spider-Man, Star-Lord, Drax and Mantis, leaving Iron Man alone and stranded.
Avengers: Endgame[]
Five years later, Strange was resurrected following the Blip enacted by Bruce Banner. Knowing what had transpired during the five years due to looking into the future with the Eye of Agamotto prior to the Battle of Titan, Strange enlisted the assistance of Spider-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy, before recruiting the Masters of the Mystic Arts to find every hero who was resurrected in order for them to assist the surviving Avengers in the fight against Thanos. In the end, Iron Man used the Infinity Stones to destroy Thanos and his entire army, saving the universe at the cost of his own life.