Doctor Strange
Avengers : Endgamehas last explained how the events ofDoctor Strangefit into the Marvel timeline . The MCU ’s chronology just about whole works , but the Devil has always been in the detail ; cut into a little too much , and the share cinematic universe has a routine of timeline problems . Some are glaring , such as the infamous,“very incorrect " Eight Years LaterinSpider - Man : Homecoming , but others are more subtle .
Doctor Strangehas always been hard to send in the MCU timeline . It ’s one of the most self - control movies in the entire MCU , with only a brief coup d’oeil of Avengers Tower to fix it in sexual relation to the respite of the Marvel blockbusters . According to theatre director Scott Derrickson , the events ofDoctor Strangespan about a year - but which year ? Some have evoke 2015 through to 2016 , meaning the photographic film would end approximately around the clip of its release ; some argue for 2013 through to 2014 , free-base on a throwaway mention of Doctor Strange inCaptain America : The Winter Soldier ; and there have even been claimsit could be define in 2020 through to 2021based on date briefly shown on - screen .
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Thankfully , retaliator : Endgamefinally locksDoctor Strangedown . In one sceneset during the outcome ofThe Avengersin 2012 , the Hulk visits the Sanctum Sanctorum and confronts the Ancient One . He attempt to barge past her , telling the then - present Sorcerer Supreme that he ’s come attend for Stephen Strange . gratuitous to say , she ’s rather amused , and tells Bruce that he ’s " about five year too early . " Per the consequence ofDoctor Strange , the Ancient One has been using the Time Stone to peer into the future , and while she could n’t see beyond the minute of her demise , she ’d blemish Stephen and bed when he was specify to become a sorcerer . The effect ofDoctor Strangeare thus pin down as running from 2016 through to 2017 , fit absolutely with awards on Strange ’s bulwark at the get-go of the film that conduct a 2016 day of the month .
This subtle item carry crucial implications for the MCU . It think of that Doctor Strange is actually a relatively new practitioner of the Mystic Arts . It ’s true that Strange is a colossal bookman , with a photographic memory that ’s well - suit to spellcraft ; what ’s more , he also spent an indeterminate stop of time in theDark Dimension crusade Dormammu , apparently gaining mastery of his powers . But in terminal figure of real software , he ’s not had a long sentence with them due to the restrictions placed on his struggle by the Time Stone . That neatly explains why Strange had n’t foreseen the Black Order ’s arriver on Earth inAvengers : Infinity War , and perhaps even why he did n’t use what Thanos turn over his " great weapon system " against the disturbed Titan . He may simply not have recognise how to .
From an out - of - universe perspective , the Ancient One ’s line also feels like an comic meta - put-on . The first mention of Doctor Strange in the MCU was inCaptain America : The Winter Soldier , when he was named as a Hydra priority target . Itnever really fit out with the MCU ’s canyon , given at the meter Stephen Strange was nothing more than a noted sawbones . Like the Hulk inAvengers : Endgame , the reference point was just a few twelvemonth too early on .
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