Doctor Strange fought Thanos on the planet Titan alongside Iron Man, Spider-Man, and the Guardians team in Avengers: Infinity War. Before Thanos’ arrival, Doctor Strange used his Time Stone to view 14 million possible outcomes, of which only one results in a win for the Avengers. The 14,000,605 outcomes theory, which Doctor Strange claims are ‘all’ the possible outcomes, remains a subject of ongoing debate among fans.
Several MCU fans claimed that 14 million is a limited number when it comes to the probability concerning the Universe, which could be infinite. They further believed that Doctor Strange might not have actually foreseen every possible outcome.
Fans Expose Doctor Strange’s ‘All’ Possible Outcomes Claim
As fans revisited the MCU phase 3 finale movies, they found a number of inconsistent theories including Doctor Strange’s 14 million outcomes. Doctor Strange’s prediction plays a crucial role in the final battle between Thanos and the Avengers, leading to Tony Stark’s sacrifice, as it’s the only outcome where the Avengers win.
Fans exposed Benedict Cumberbatch’s character claiming that Doctor Strange couldn’t have viewed all the possible outcomes. They recalled the scene where Wong cuts off Cull Obsidian’s arm and suggested that Doctor Strange could have similarly severed Thanos’s head. They claimed that MCU used the one possibility thing as a convenient “get out of jail free card”.
I hope you know that there isn’t ONLY 14,000,605 outcomes, that’s just the amount the Strange seen.
meaning that there’s an outcome where Strange does this on Thanos and instantly kills him.
The 14 million thing is not the get out of jail free card some people think it is https://t.co/KVhntqGVSf pic.twitter.com/UBlaTe1St3
— ❓ (@capeshitsucks) August 23, 2023
Strange seeing 1 in 14 million outcomes doesn’t mean that there’s only 1 way to beat Thanos
Strange could’ve easily pulled that move on Thanos’ arm here and the conflict would be over.
He doesn’t see the outcome when he looked, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have worked. pic.twitter.com/DCkl89ZRMN
— ❓ (@capeshitsucks) August 23, 2023
Not only that, but like Ancient One Strange likely can’t see past his moment of death so he couldn’t have looked at any outcomes where he died but Avengers won, so there’s countless other possibilities but Strange’s ego led him to think he had to be there for it.
— Silverscreen (@Slvrscrn91) August 24, 2023
Dr Strange stopping before he finds a million other timelines where they all win with zero casualties and everyone ends up happy forever pic.twitter.com/1V6VliF4Nl
— Spacecore (@Spacecore17) August 24, 2023
However, some fans also came in defense of Doctor Strange. They claimed that with his amount of knowledge of exploring the timelines, Doctor Strange would have first opted for the easiest paths to destroy Thanos.
Tbh I always assumed it was just the outcome with the most long term success. Like, in one they beat Thanos, but the Eternals don’t stop the Celestial’s birth (due to the lack of a snap), so everyone dies anyway.
— Achilles 🏳️🌈 #BlueBeetleBattalion (@SkyeAchilles04) August 23, 2023
Well Thanos would actually have to go through the portal… they can’t create portals around ppl… i don’t think it would of been easy for them to pull off.. unless Thanos willingly went through a portal or punched through one.
— Khalil Underwood (@RealKhalilU) August 24, 2023
People also don’t take in the fact that some outcomes they won but the damage it caused or amount or amount of lives taken were to great to be considered a victory
— MID EXCELLENCE (@IBeenAAron) August 24, 2023
However, the fan theory challenging Doctor Strange’s 14 million outcomes is not something without merit.
Also Read: 5 DC & MCU Stars Rejected Doctor Strange Until Benedict Cumberbatch Turned It Into A $1.6B Success
Marvel Used Doctor Strange’s 1 In 14 Million Outcome To Justify The Avenger’s Mistakes
In the Avengers: Infinity War, Earth’s superheroes make a number of critical mistakes. The first mistake traces back to Captain America: Civil War, when the Avengers split into two teams fighting against each other. If the heroes remained united when Thanos’s army arrived, they would have had a better chance.
The heroes continued to make mistakes as Loki willingly surrendered the Tesseract, only to get killed. Doctor Strange later refused to destroy his Time Stone, only to give it to Thanos in exchange for Tony Stark’s life. Star-Lord’s emotional outburst derailed the best chance they had of defeating the Titan. Finally, Thor messed up by not going for Thanos’s head when he had the chance.
Only Doctor Strange’s “single possibility to win” theory could justify these mistakes, as they serve as essential elements to reach the final outcome. The story followed the premise that there could have been only one way to save the Universe and this was it.
When you come to think of it, it is unfair what happened to heroes like Tony Stark and Black Widow due to these mistakes. The MCU movies are now available for streaming on Disney.
Source: Twitter
