Hearing Benedict Cumberbatch call Doctor Strange an Avenger is music to every comic book fan’s ears. The Sorcerer Supreme has been rumored to make an appearance in Avengers: Infinity War for some time now, joining Star-Lord, Vision, Thor, Scarlet Witch and the rest of the budding team to defeat Thanos. Now that Strange has officially made his debut in the MCU, pledging to wield off any interdimensional threats to Earth, it’s only right he’ll have a hand in disturbing Thanos’ quest to fill the Infinity Gauntlet and retrieve the many Infinity Stones granting him an array of amazing powers.
“I won’t spoil it for you – but there’s a moment near the end where I thought, ‘Oh yeah, that’s it, he’s a superhero, he’s going to be an Avenger,’ so that’s really cool,” Cumberbatch told ScreenRant at the Doctor Strange press event in London.
The Doctor Strange end credits scene confirmed The Sorcerer Supreme will have at least a small role in Thor: Ragnarok, but since Thor 3 is “the road to” Avengers: Infinity War , it’s a safe bet Thor and Hulk will acquire threatening knowledge on their rumored journey across the Nine Realms. Tack that on top of the forthcoming events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2… something’s going to bring all these heroes together under The Avengers name.
When you think Avengers in the MCU, Dr. Stephen Strange probably doesn’t come to mind. But in the comics, he had ties to every major Avenger and was one himself. He’s got a long history with fan-favorite superheroes such as Spider-Man, Luke Cage and Captain America. He often consults super teams like the Fantastic Four, X-Men and the Avengers when they face interdimensional or mystical threats.
Strange formed the original incarnation of The Defenders, which at the time included Hulk, Namor and Silver Surfer . He also appeared on and off in The New Avengers and was part of a secret group called Illuminati that dealt with future threats to Earth. The group consisted of Namor, Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt and Professor X. Also a member of the New Avengers, he worked on a team lead by Luke Cage with Iron fist, Jessica Jones, Hawkeye, Spider-Man and Wolverine. The team-up didn’t last long, but after the events of Civil War, the group went into hiding at Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum. Strange strongly opposed the Superhuman Registration Act, calling it “disgusting” and cut ties with supporters Iron Man and Mister Fantastic.
Doctor Strange has a part in both the Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War arcs. He protects the Soul Gem during the Illuminati period. They go on a variety of missions to prevent “incursions,” which are contractions in the Multiverse timeline. During a second “incursion, the Illuminati decided to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet to stop the threat. Captain America used the Gauntlet and to stop the incursion, but it was destroyed in the process. Strange erased Captain America’s memory and voted him out of the Illuminati.
Strange has had numerous run-ins with the Infinity Gems across the years. He eventually comes across Thanos in the Dark Dimension, who destroyed half of the universe’s population before Strange and others defeated him and used the Infinity Gauntlet to reverse the damage.
It’s not a coincidence Doctor Strange will be in Infinity War. We’ve seen four of the six Infinity Stones in the MCU, and Doctor Strange may have one of the final two Thanos needs to fill the Gauntlet: The Eye of Agamotto.
“The Cloak of Levitation [and] the Eye of Agamotto are his two signature pieces,” Producer Kevin Feige tells Entertainment Weekly. “In this film, the Eye is a very important relic that can be quite dangerous if used in the wrong hands, because it has the ability to do any number of things, the most dangerous of which is, it can sort of manipulate probabilities. Which is also another way of saying, ‘screw around with time’ — which is part of our story.”
It remains to be seen how Doctor Strange will be reeled into The Avengers arc. His role in Thor 3 will be his first MCU crossover, with Infinity War next in line. We’ll likely see more of these Infinity Stones in both Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 , the two Marvel films arriving in theaters before Infinity War in 2018. Doctor Strange hits theaters Nov. 4.
