Doctor Strange destroys the rules of Marvel magic in one sentence
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Even though Doctor Strange has dedicated his life to magic, he destroyed the rules of magic with just one sentence, at least the fans’ perception of those rules.
Even though Doctor Strange is the Master of the Mystic Arts in the Marvel Universe, and as such routinely does the impossible through seemingly inexplicable means, completely destroying the preconceived rules of magic in a single sentence—rules he’s had to abide by ever since turn into a sorcerer, and he does so simply by explaining it.
Dr. Stephen Strange was a neurosurgeon before he suffered a serious car accident that completely destroyed the function of his hands. Since no surgery could help him, Strange sought other forms of medicine and healing until he came across the mystical arts. Strange learned from the Ancient One, and given his inherent brilliance, he learned quickly. It wasn’t long after he began his studies as a wizard that Stephen earned his title of Wizard Supreme, and the rest is history, but with a catch. As it turns out, throughout all of this training and all of his subsequent missions as the heroic Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange didn’t use magic at all, and neither did anyone else in the Marvel Universe, well, kind of.
In What if? Avengers disassembled by Jeff Parker and Aaron Lopresti, fans are treated to a glimpse into an alternate reality within the vast multiverse, one that, like all What if? stories: comes from the main timeline of Earth-616. In that What if? story, begs the question: what if the Scarlet Witch had not acted alone? This, of course, refers to the wildly popular and horribly tragic expansion Avengers: Endgame in which Scarlet Witch orchestrated a series of attacks on the Avengers (resulting in the death of Scott Lang’s Ant-Man) after losing his mind after the ‘deaths’ of his children years before. In that What if? Conte, Scarlet Witch wasn’t acting alone and instead had the support of perhaps the greatest tactician in the Marvel Universe: Captain America. With Cap’s help, the Scarlet Witch’s despicable efforts are much more effectively executed and impactful. However, before the Avengers realize the truth, they believe that the Scarlet Witch is acting alone as she had in the original story, leading them to seek help from Doctor Strange to combat her magic.
Doctor Strange reveals that there is no difference between magic and science
Beast and Captain Marvel, who effectively took the lead in stopping Scarlet Witch, sought the help of Doctor Strange, who gladly agreed to offer his help after the two heroes rescued him from the clutches of a demon While Doctor Strange was casting his desired spell, Beast and Captain Marvel start talking about how powerful Wanda is with chaos magic, at which point Doctor Strange says that basically there is no chaos magic, nor any magic. Doctor Strange reveals that what is known as “magic” is simply the use of ancient symbology that short-cuts the laws of the natural world, and that casting a spell is no different than working out a mathematical formula.
When fans think of magic, they probably think of spells and mysticism that can instantly do the impossible and can’t be explained, but this issue shows that Doctor Strange is turning that misconception on its head. Apparently, magic only does what science has yet to explain, implying that, given enough time, there will be no difference between spells and technology. So when the Avengers went to Doctor Strange for help in taking down the Scarlet Witch (and Captain America), they got a little more than they bargained for in terms of mind-blowing information about the secrets of the mystical arts, already what Doctor Strange completely destroyed preconceived notions of Marvel magic in just one sentence.
