Doctor Strange's Accessory in 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Unlocks Even More Wild Theories
Aug. 31 2021, Published 9:22 p.m. ET
After a record-breaking 355 million views in 24 hours, Marvel fans are coming up with more questions than answers when it comes to the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home. The third movie in the MCU Spider-Man saga seems to be bridging multiverses and production companies like never seen before. But the biggest red flag in the trailer is Doctor Strange’s “strange” behavior.
Not only is he acting a bit out of character, but he’s also wearing the Eye of Agamotto in the trailer, which is a powerful relic created by the first Sorcerer Supreme to contain the Time Stone. But, wait a second — wasn’t the Time Stone destroyed in Avengers: Infinity War? So does Doctor Strange somehow still have the Time Stone?
The Time Stone was destroyed in ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ but there are some theories about the Eye of Agamotto.
In the trailer, Doctor Strange is wearing the Eye of Agamotto, but fans were quick to point out that that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Time Stone is in the Eye. The Eye is an heirloom, passed down from the first Sorcerer Supreme all the way to Doctor Strange, the future Sorcerer Supreme, that was used to contain the Time Stone to make it safe to use for sorcerers.
However, some fans think that Doctor Strange is wearing a decoy Eye of Agamotto — most beings don’t know that the Infinity Stones were destroyed, and it would be good to keep it that way. So, it would make sense for Doctor Strange to make a decoy Eye just to make sure most of the universe’s enemies are kept at bay.
Another theory is that Doctor Strange is wearing a different Eye. In the comic books, there are three Eyes created by Agamotto that each has different powers. One was for Truth, one for Power, and the third for Prescience.
Each of these Eyes of Agamotto has its own powers and abilities, so Stephen Strange could very well just be wearing a different Eye of Agamotto than the one that contained the Time Stone.
There is a way that Doctor Strange could still have the Time Stone in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’
Doctor Strange’s uncharacteristic behavior has spawned some fun theories — mainly that either an imposter is pretending to be Doctor Strange or that he’s a variant from another timeline. It’s a bit too mischievous of him to just agree to make a major universal change just to make Peter Parker’s life a bit easier, so some rumors started that maybe an imposter is pretending to be Doctor Strange.
Whether this imposter is Mephisto or Loki or someone else that can use similar powers, it would make sense for them to not realize that maybe Doctor Strange has no use for the Eye of Agamotto anymore.
Now, if Doctor Strange is actually a variant of himself, that’s a theory that would mean that he does potentially have a Time Stone. Plus, with the fourth episode of What If…? centering around a different Doctor Strange, one without a "heart," the multiverse is wide open.
Now that we know there is a potential multiversal war on the horizon and an infinite number of variants, Doctor Strange could be anyone. Could What If…? introduce us to the more chaotic Doctor Strange we meet in No Way Home?
New episodes of What If...? drop every Wednesday on Disney Plus, and Spider-Man: No Way Home is set to release on Dec. 17, 2021.
