This episode gets so dark and the ending is so good. If you're picking and choosing episodes to watch, watch this. Some of the best mcu content ever.
What If...? (TV Series)
What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? (2021)
User Reviews
Review this title168 Reviews
Dark, Insane, and Great
carsonsalameh1 September 2021
This is the Real WHAT-IF
hulkantion1 September 2021
Heartbreaking, Dark, and Spectacular
vrahulrao1 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Wow, what an episode.
**SPOILERS**
To see Dr. Strange have to relieve his lover's death endlessly, knowing it was inevitable was heart wrenching.
The fact he also destroyed a universe, and felt remorse in the end (to no avail) was a chilling ending which was decidedly different than other MCU films.
The acting, stories, and animation are spectacular! So many people make this show a must watch.
**SPOILERS**
To see Dr. Strange have to relieve his lover's death endlessly, knowing it was inevitable was heart wrenching.
The fact he also destroyed a universe, and felt remorse in the end (to no avail) was a chilling ending which was decidedly different than other MCU films.
The acting, stories, and animation are spectacular! So many people make this show a must watch.
Multiverse of Sadness
SHU_Movies1 September 2021
Way too heartbreaking.
Avwillfan891 September 2021
Talk about an emotional pummelling.
A cross between Revenge of the Sith and David Cronenberg's The Fly, sprinkled with elements of the 2002 H. G Wells adaptation of The Time Machine.
Doctor Strange is of course my favourite character in the MCU and to see him suffer so much and make so many bad choices was very hard to watch.
Definitely the best episode so far. But by God does it shatter your heart in a million pieces.
A cross between Revenge of the Sith and David Cronenberg's The Fly, sprinkled with elements of the 2002 H. G Wells adaptation of The Time Machine.
Doctor Strange is of course my favourite character in the MCU and to see him suffer so much and make so many bad choices was very hard to watch.
Definitely the best episode so far. But by God does it shatter your heart in a million pieces.
Keeps getting better and better
justin-beatlesfan-tuell1 September 2021
I mean wow. If these episodes are a sign of things to come in Phases 4 and 5, then count me in. Marvel's willingness to explore extreme consequences for its principal characters is amazing, and this episode went about as dark as possible with that concept. 10/10.
Incredible
griffincolbert1 September 2021
Better than the movie?
awakaibusiness1 September 2021
Strange;Gate
ThisrandomFX1 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Marvel gets surprisingly dark here. Honestly this was a good episode, reminded me of Steins;Gate.
The evil doctor strange is cool af imo, that power set of different powerful beings could be a cool live action villain. And the place they leave this episode off, damn that's genuinely good.
Let's see more with this tone.
The evil doctor strange is cool af imo, that power set of different powerful beings could be a cool live action villain. And the place they leave this episode off, damn that's genuinely good.
Let's see more with this tone.
Strange in the best way possible.
Darwinskid22 September 2021
Strangeways Here We Come.
southdavid3 September 2021
The fourth episode of Marvel's "What if" series is certainly the darkest of this run so far, and perhaps one of the melancholiest things that they have produced under the MCU banner, as even the end of "Infinity War" wasn't the end of the story.
Instead of losing the use of his hands in the car accident, in this universe Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) loses his love, Christine Palmer (Rachael McAdams). Instead of searching the world for a way to heal himself, he does so to try and find a way to bring her back. Eventually, having become the Sorcerer Supreme and defeating Dormammu, on a bleak night he uses the eye of Agamotto to return to that evening and save her. But no matter what he does, or how many times he tries, he can't stop her from dying. Eventually his grief and frustration send him down a dark path.
Whilst I don't necessarily subscribe to the seemingly popular belief that the "darker" something is the better, it's hard not to argue that this was certainly the most affecting episode of the season so far. The series so far has either killed off, or replaced our heroes in one way or another, but this shows us a change that perhaps wouldn't have been unreasonable for Strange to take. He doesn't make an evil choice, just a selfish one, but it leads him down a path of ultimate destruction. And to an unexpected showdown that's as visually stimulating as you'd hope it would be.
Visually it's really good, vocally everyone does well. All the leads return, including Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One and Benedict Wong as Wong.
It also has the series' first moments where a character notices and interacts with "The Watcher" - which perhaps suggests that these episodes are not as entirely unconnected as we might have thought.
Still... an excellent episode.
Instead of losing the use of his hands in the car accident, in this universe Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) loses his love, Christine Palmer (Rachael McAdams). Instead of searching the world for a way to heal himself, he does so to try and find a way to bring her back. Eventually, having become the Sorcerer Supreme and defeating Dormammu, on a bleak night he uses the eye of Agamotto to return to that evening and save her. But no matter what he does, or how many times he tries, he can't stop her from dying. Eventually his grief and frustration send him down a dark path.
Whilst I don't necessarily subscribe to the seemingly popular belief that the "darker" something is the better, it's hard not to argue that this was certainly the most affecting episode of the season so far. The series so far has either killed off, or replaced our heroes in one way or another, but this shows us a change that perhaps wouldn't have been unreasonable for Strange to take. He doesn't make an evil choice, just a selfish one, but it leads him down a path of ultimate destruction. And to an unexpected showdown that's as visually stimulating as you'd hope it would be.
Visually it's really good, vocally everyone does well. All the leads return, including Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One and Benedict Wong as Wong.
It also has the series' first moments where a character notices and interacts with "The Watcher" - which perhaps suggests that these episodes are not as entirely unconnected as we might have thought.
Still... an excellent episode.
What if we had another badly thought out idea
pellewartena5 September 2021
The idea has been done and better. Sometimes the animation is nice mostly just the kinda okish one you see most of this show. The logic leaps dont really work. The time machine is a good movie, but magic doesnt add that much definitely not with inconsistent choices and silly fights in between. I like marvel i like scifi and magic and i didnt like this.
A Powerful Episode
uboppanathor1 September 2021
[9.4] The quintessential essence of everything
cjonesas14 January 2022
Yes, the best episode yet with priceless lessons to learn in life. Near flawless storyline, enthralling flow and astounding animation.
It is strange that they managed such a successful animation while real movies fail to grasp, show and deliver The quintessential essence of everything.
It is strange that they managed such a successful animation while real movies fail to grasp, show and deliver The quintessential essence of everything.
What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?
lassegalsgaard13 October 2021
There is a type of storytelling that I really like. I like to see how far you can push a hero and much it takes for him to become a villain. For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I was never hopeful enough to think that they'd actually use that sort of storytelling. In "WandaVision," I got my hopes too high and ended up being disappointed that they didn't. However, with "What If...," they had the opportunity to try and do something a little edgier with its characters. I'm glad to see that they finally decided to try it out with an episode that's definitely their best.
This was a character that I have found extremely interesting after he was first introduced to the universe. In this episode, the writers have definitely decided to make a few changes to his characteristics early, and if it hadn't helped the story, I think I would have been more bothered by it. However, due to the very emotional context of the episode, I didn't care about the changes. They managed to make me feel like I wreck after the opening moments of the episode, and despite its unclear "what if" scenario, I still think that it manages to intrigue the audience. It feels more like a sequel to the original film than a different version, but that can also work in regard to the larger universe that it is set in. They bring this character down a really dark path and it ends in an incredible fight that takes the visual aspects of this show to new heights, and I know a lot of people have found the animation style a little rough, but I personally think it is quite amazing to watch. Benedict Cumberbatch provides the most emotional version of the character so far, and despite it only being a voice performance, I am willing to say that this is the best performance he has given for the character so far, and that says a lot as he has been consistently great in the role. I'm also glad to see that the Watcher is being integrated into the story more frequently at this point.
"What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?" is an emotional gut punch that turns the MCU on its head. We see what loss can do to someone and how it makes them do stupid things, while also being the best that the MCU has to offer in terms of action setpieces.
This was a character that I have found extremely interesting after he was first introduced to the universe. In this episode, the writers have definitely decided to make a few changes to his characteristics early, and if it hadn't helped the story, I think I would have been more bothered by it. However, due to the very emotional context of the episode, I didn't care about the changes. They managed to make me feel like I wreck after the opening moments of the episode, and despite its unclear "what if" scenario, I still think that it manages to intrigue the audience. It feels more like a sequel to the original film than a different version, but that can also work in regard to the larger universe that it is set in. They bring this character down a really dark path and it ends in an incredible fight that takes the visual aspects of this show to new heights, and I know a lot of people have found the animation style a little rough, but I personally think it is quite amazing to watch. Benedict Cumberbatch provides the most emotional version of the character so far, and despite it only being a voice performance, I am willing to say that this is the best performance he has given for the character so far, and that says a lot as he has been consistently great in the role. I'm also glad to see that the Watcher is being integrated into the story more frequently at this point.
"What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?" is an emotional gut punch that turns the MCU on its head. We see what loss can do to someone and how it makes them do stupid things, while also being the best that the MCU has to offer in terms of action setpieces.
It's disappointing that Dr Strange couldn't get as powerful as his love for Christine
krispective1 September 2021
The extent to which one would go to drown in love is unfathomable even in real life. If Dr Strange became the master of mystic arts for his career, imagine what he would do for love. It majestically portrays how one would chase after their uncontainable desires and stop at nothing even if it destroys their entire universe.
Mcu at its best
lovishbansal-315551 September 2021
Incredible Episode
rangojalex8 September 2021
This episode is a masterpiece. It does a good job at minimalizing the plot and the scope of the world being built to allow for a connection to be made to the characters and therefore letting feeling and emotion shine through. The actual animation was also the smoothest and best in the series so far. The ending is the chefs kiss.
I don't think they'll be able to top this episode at least in terms of emotion.
I don't think they'll be able to top this episode at least in terms of emotion.
Not for me
Elewis11951 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Maybe I'm too much of a sucker for a happy ending, or, give me a sad ending with hope, or, give me an unexpected twist but don't give me
. . . . .
The end of the universe because our favorite sorcerer supreme made a mistake. OK, that's my rant. I didn't like the ending. I understand why other's liked it, I didn't.
In the DS movie, Strange is warned not to mess with time and in this one, we see the worst outcome of messing with time. Wong's warning "or never having existed at all", has a ring of truth to it here.
Strange undoes the event that makes him sorcerer supreme and in doing so, dissolves his universe - at least, that's how I read it, or you can read it, there was no-one to stop Dormomu this time. Either explanation works.
I didn't like it cause there was no surprise there, just the bad strange wining, which I guess, the bad guy wining is kind of a surprise in the Disney Universe, but I wasn't impressed, it was just . . . Sad.
I couldn't help seeing parallels between this and the Michael Korvac what if, but in Korvac's case, he was misguided and hopeful and wanted to build a better universe and in Korvac's what if, he nullified everything trying to fight off his enemies including himself. It was unexpected and sad and it made sense.
Strange saved Christine, he performed the unforgivable sin and paid the highest price imaginable. I don't want to say predictable, but I want to say, I wanted a bigger twist than, do the wrong thing, get punished, which was ultimately, the lesson here. Not a bad lesson, but it doesn't hit the ball out of the park, especially since we've come to expect better from Strange, who may be reckless, but he's . . . I want to say, better than this.
Others can disagree, but I felt the power corrupts and destroys everything fell flat.
Very well animated but needed at least one more twist. Preferably something not quite so action / result / end oriented. 6 stars. Not bad. Not a fan.
. . . . .
The end of the universe because our favorite sorcerer supreme made a mistake. OK, that's my rant. I didn't like the ending. I understand why other's liked it, I didn't.
In the DS movie, Strange is warned not to mess with time and in this one, we see the worst outcome of messing with time. Wong's warning "or never having existed at all", has a ring of truth to it here.
Strange undoes the event that makes him sorcerer supreme and in doing so, dissolves his universe - at least, that's how I read it, or you can read it, there was no-one to stop Dormomu this time. Either explanation works.
I didn't like it cause there was no surprise there, just the bad strange wining, which I guess, the bad guy wining is kind of a surprise in the Disney Universe, but I wasn't impressed, it was just . . . Sad.
I couldn't help seeing parallels between this and the Michael Korvac what if, but in Korvac's case, he was misguided and hopeful and wanted to build a better universe and in Korvac's what if, he nullified everything trying to fight off his enemies including himself. It was unexpected and sad and it made sense.
Strange saved Christine, he performed the unforgivable sin and paid the highest price imaginable. I don't want to say predictable, but I want to say, I wanted a bigger twist than, do the wrong thing, get punished, which was ultimately, the lesson here. Not a bad lesson, but it doesn't hit the ball out of the park, especially since we've come to expect better from Strange, who may be reckless, but he's . . . I want to say, better than this.
Others can disagree, but I felt the power corrupts and destroys everything fell flat.
Very well animated but needed at least one more twist. Preferably something not quite so action / result / end oriented. 6 stars. Not bad. Not a fan.
What if... Doctor Strange lost my interest...
rorycbanks4 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Come on, this episode was ridiculous and reinforces for me why I hate magic so much when it's used in storytelling like this.
There's any number of ways Dr Strange could of brought back Christine if he put his mind to it. But no he just kept trying the same method, over and over again. Regardless of warning upon warning. Good god, some of these characters need to get over themselves and spend some of their millions on therapy. I'm looking at you as well Bruce Wayne.
Still the animation was nice and I enjoyed the way the magical power was depicted, so not quite a total waste of time.
There's any number of ways Dr Strange could of brought back Christine if he put his mind to it. But no he just kept trying the same method, over and over again. Regardless of warning upon warning. Good god, some of these characters need to get over themselves and spend some of their millions on therapy. I'm looking at you as well Bruce Wayne.
Still the animation was nice and I enjoyed the way the magical power was depicted, so not quite a total waste of time.
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