– by Joseph Jammer Medina

Nearing the climactic battle of Avengers: Infinity War, in a scene that has been quoted and remembered by fans around the world, it was revealed that out of 14 million outcomes, Doctor Strange only saw one in which the Avengers would be victorious in their struggle against Thanos. It was a solemn omen, to be sure, but how exactly did Doctor Strange see these different outcomes?

When we saw Doctor Strange, he was essentially freaking out inside his own head, which lead to his head-busting seizure-like fit that finally saw him sharing his terrible message. So did he see these messages in montage form or did he actually go through them one by one?

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In a recent video from Wired, co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo answered that very question, saying:

“Strange has to exert an immense amount of energy to go into this state. he goes in there for who knows how long. he has to physically live and die in them. Right before he dies, he has to reset it and do it again, taking copious amounts of notes each time he does it.”

Okay, so obviously that not thing at the end was tongue-in-cheek, but the rest of it is very interesting. So, in his own mind, Doctor Strange has relieved those same moments millions and millions of times. One odd thing I do find, however, is that when he is in this state, he still has to physically reset the time before he dies. 

Admittedly, that’s a bit strange since he isn’t actually fully experiencing the different outcomes, but merely witnessing them…unless I’m misunderstanding. And if I am misunderstanding, then how exactly is he going through time multiple times while sitting in the air, cross-legged?

Can anyone in the comments help clarify this cognitive dissonance I’m having?





