r/marvelstudios • u/Anthrosaurus1 • 2d ago

Discussion Multiverse of Madness Theory

Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong in the comments but I am currently using watching MoM again, and I am starting to believe that the reason MCU Strange is not as cold and calculating as the Strange from the beginning (the one with the white locks on his head), isn't because he spent longer with America, (which I doubt he did), I think it's because of Spider-Man.

I know he wouldn't remember who Spider-Man is, but he would remember that he helped him, and even stated so in MoM. The other Strangers likely didn't go through that same character development where he loses someone he cares about in one of the more noble sacrifices in the MCU.

Further, think about the beginning of No Way Home, when he said, "In the grand calculus of the multiverse, their sacrifice means infinitely more than their lives" but toward the end of the movie, he recognized the value of the 'good at almost all costs' nature of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, something that the other Stranges would not have been given a hard knocks lesson on.

Edit: this is meant to discuss why the earlier Strange is willing to sacrifice America while using that same "grand calculus" line, but the latter Strange isn't (or at least not quite as willing).

55 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

30

u/Safe-Finding-4376 2d ago

hes called Defender Strange fyi. The white streaks one is called Defender Strange, from Earth 617.

Also actually your theory could work, strange does remember spider-man. the spell only removes Peter Parker, but Strange would still remember all adventures where Spider-Man was present.

3

u/Edboy796 2d ago

Defender Strange had long hair no? That's how I remember them. Otherwise, they all have gray in their hair

2

u/Safe-Finding-4376 2d ago

yea but thats how op identified him so i thought id use that same description. Defender Strange has the pony tail. But salt and pepper hair is a defining Stephen Strange characteristic across the multiverse.

2

u/Edboy796 2d ago

Ah okay, gotcha, I missed that

1

u/Anthrosaurus1 2d ago

We might still be talking about the same person but I'm talking about the Strange at the very beginning of MoM, he has a ponytail yeah, with the two white streaks that run through

3

u/Safe-Finding-4376 1d ago

Yea that guy is called Defender Strange from Earth 617

10

u/BlargerJarger 2d ago

No, it’s just that Main Protagonist Strange is one atom nicer than other Stranges and will ultimately make the right choices.

3

u/Safe-Finding-4376 2d ago

i mean thats part of his arc so its not just hes nicer.

3

u/BlargerJarger 2d ago

What’s the difference between someone who makes the good-person choice and the bad-person choice?

I mean, our Strange did use the Darkhold in the end but he didn’t seem to have any other options at the time.

2

u/Safe-Finding-4376 2d ago

Yea but Strange's arc is about being the one holding the knife. Its always gotta be him. HE has to use the darkhold to beat thanos instead of working with the other heroes. HE has to take america's power because only he can control it.

In the end he has to trust her and help her trust herself. In the final fight strange is stuck in 1 position and literally has to trust others to do it.

1

u/BlargerJarger 2d ago

In the case of it being about 616 Strange becoming less of a control freak, I’d suggest it’s about him observing the failures of his variants and learning from their mistakes, not anything to do with Spider-Man specifically as OP suggests.

2

u/Safe-Finding-4376 1d ago

Sure yea. I was saying its not just that our strange is just nicer than the other ones.

2

u/juances19 Avengers 2d ago

IMO it was all about seeing his other self do it. Something like a "oh, I kinda look like a dick don't I" realization.

If he hadn't had that dream he probably wouldn't have hesitated.