Infinity War Tony Stark & Doctor Strange Theory Makes Endgame Death Even Worse
A fan theory suggests that one MCU character was more affected by Iron Man's death than he let on.
Back in 2019, as audiences headed to cinemas to see Avengers: Endgame, few of them expected to walk out heartbroken and in tears.
Perhaps the most devastating moment came when the superhero who started the MCU, Iron Man aka Tony Stark, sacrificed himself to defeat Thanos and save the universe.
Even though this tragic death was a fitting end to the arc of the ingenious inventor, for both fictional and real observers it was a painful and unexpected moment.
Somehow, we thought Tony Stark was immortal. But in fact, there was at least one character who knew Tony's fate and even pushed him to make the final play against Thanos. It was Doctor Stephen Strange.
In one scene in Infinity War, Strange uses the Time Stone to go through 14,000,605 alternate futures. And he comes back with a disturbing result.
Out of 14 million possibilities, only one leads to the Avengers defeating Thanos. Apparently, he already knows at this point that Iron Man will have to make the ultimate sacrifice. But that's not all.
Fans discovered a detail that added to their empathy with Strange and grief over Tony. Before the scene, Strange and Stark were having a sort of spat, and at best were calling each other by their last names. But after seeing all those 14 million scenarios, Stephen started calling Iron Man nothing but Tony.
Fans theorized that this happened not only because Strange knew Tony would sacrifice his life and respected him for it.
Having basically lived through 14 million realities, Stephen has undoubtedly spent a lot of time with Iron Man and other superheroes, and now probably knows more about them than anyone else.
He has seen them plan battles, do whatever it takes to save the day, suffer, lose, regroup, and do it all over again and again and again.
It's safe to say that having seen Tony for who he really is, and not just on the surface, he has come to like and respect him. In some reality, they've probably become real friends, hence the first name-calling.
In the end, it must have been agonizing for Strange to push his friend to an untimely end. And this theory certainly puts Tony's death and Doctor Strange 's personality in a new, even more tragic perspective.