My current theory for Avengers 4 and Dr. Strange’s plan has come down to the following points you need to pay attention to.
1. Gamora’s soul is bound to the soul stone.
She was bound because she was sacrificed in exchange for the stone.
2. After The Snap, Thanos found himself at a quiet, orange colored, watery place, where he briefly speaks to Gamora as a child. This place was inside the soul stone, and it was Gamora’s soul. Note that the color fits.
3. Everyone who became dust and Gamora’s soul can be saved. Other manual deaths may be permanent.
4. Dr. Strange has seen the one possible future where the heroes succeed. Strange is planning to set up everything so that this timeline occurs.
5. Likely on Titan, Dr. Strange travels into the past via the Time Gem and recruits Heimdall, The Hulk and possibly Loki.
6a. The Hulk is crucial for the victory timeline, and he must do something at the right moment. For this reason, Heimdall sacrificed himself to send Hulk back to Earth, and Hulk refuses to show himself until the time is right. If Loki was recruited as well, his job was to ensure Thor’s survival, because he is crucial for the victory timeline.
6b. Note that Dr. Strange had Heimdall send Hulk to himself on Earth, so Strange knew beforehand that someone had sent Hulk, and he may have realized later that it was himself. This is how he knew what to do.
7. Dr. Strange sacrifices the Time Gem at to correct moment to save Tony, because Tony is required for the victory timeline, saying to Tony: “It was the only way.”
8. Furthering point 7, all the major technicians (Rocket, Tony, Bruce, Shuri) are still around. They may be required to combine their brilliance in order to beat Thanos.
9. For each infinity stone, a character sacrificed themselves or someone they loved, at least attempting to do so. These sacrifices usually happened in the presence of a particular stone. It may be that these sacrifices make different characters the real masters of the stones.
Power Gem: Groot sacrifices himself out of love (Guardians vol. 1) Space Gem: Loki for Thor Reality Gem: Quill -> Gamora (attempted in presence of the gem) Soul Gem: Gamora -> herself (for Nebula, but not in presence of the gem) Mind Gem: Wanda -> Vision Time Gem: Strange -> unclear at this point (maybe himself & his duty)
Even with Dr. Strange’s sacrifice being unclear and Gamora not being in the presence of the soul gem, all of this is a pattern, and pattern implies purpose. This leads me to consider that these characters, when working together, have full control over all the stones, and the stones may refuse Thanos even if he wields them.
This theory is great because it explains why Heimdall sent Hulk to Earth instead of Thor, which didn’t make any sense to me. And also gives significance to Loki’s line “The sun will shine on us again.” Which is strange because how can Loki be so optimistic? Well, maybe because he is following Strange’s plan.
It would be great if the movie actually made this much sense… but often I think the fans put in more thought than the screenwriters do.
Because I have only 4 days until I see “Infinity War,” I’m prioritizing by rewatching “Doctor Strange” first and I’ll come back around to “Ant-Man” and “Civil War” if I have time.
I’m already confused and slightly nauseated by the spinning buildings… though that might also be residual hangover.
There are all these little allusions to time: rebuking the other doctor for calling the wrong time of death for a patient, telling him to cover his watch so the noise wouldn’t distract him during surgery, his collection of fancy watches…
I’m not sure I remembered that the first candidate patient he turns down as “boring” while talking to someone on the phone in the car was Rhodey.
Wtf is a Sling Ring, anyway? I get that the Infinity Stones and all the other various macguffins in the MCU are inherently ridiculous, but macguffins are just so thick on the ground in “Doctor Strange” that it makes the ridiculousness even more apparent.
What bothered me about this movie the first time was that there seemed to be no rules about what was and wasn’t affected by turning back time. Maybe practitioners of the mystic arts can resist it if they know what’s going on…? Because somehow they can sense that a time-reversal spell is happening?
Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character strongly reminds me of his Operative character in “Serenity.”
Because I have only 4 days until I see “Infinity War,” I’m prioritizing by rewatching “Doctor Strange” first and I’ll come back around to “Ant-Man” and “Civil War” if I have time.
I’m already confused and slightly nauseated by the spinning buildings… though that might also be residual hangover.
There are all these little allusions to time: rebuking the other doctor for calling the wrong time of death for a patient, telling him to cover his watch so the noise wouldn’t distract him during surgery, his collection of fancy watches…
I’m not sure I remembered that the first candidate patient he turns down as “boring” while talking to someone on the phone in the car was Rhodey.
Wtf is a Sling Ring, anyway? I get that the Infinity Stones and all the other various macguffins in the MCU are inherently ridiculous, but macguffins are just so thick on the ground in “Doctor Strange” that it makes the ridiculousness even more apparent.
What bothered me about this movie the first time was that there seemed to be no rules about what was and wasn’t affected by turning back time. Maybe practitioners of the mystic arts can resist it if they know what’s going on…? Because somehow they can sense that a time-reversal spell is happening?
Because I have only 4 days until I see “Infinity War,” I’m prioritizing by rewatching “Doctor Strange” first and I’ll come back around to “Ant-Man” and “Civil War” if I have time.
I’m already confused and slightly nauseated by the spinning buildings… though that might also be residual hangover.
There are all these little allusions to time: rebuking the other doctor for calling the wrong time of death for a patient, telling him to cover his watch so the noise wouldn’t distract him during surgery, his collection of fancy watches…
I’m not sure I remembered that the first candidate patient he turns down as “boring” while talking to someone on the phone in the car was Rhodey.
Wtf is a Sling Ring, anyway? I get that the Infinity Stones and all the other various macguffins in the MCU are inherently ridiculous, but macguffins are just so thick on the ground in “Doctor Strange” that it makes the ridiculousness even more apparent.
Because I have only 4 days until I see “Infinity War,” I’m prioritizing by rewatching “Doctor Strange” first and I’ll come back around to “Ant-Man” and “Civil War” if I have time.
I’m already confused and slightly nauseated by the spinning buildings… though that might also be residual hangover.
There are all these little allusions to time: rebuking the other doctor for calling the wrong time of death for a patient, telling him to cover his watch so the noise wouldn’t distract him during surgery, his collection of fancy watches…
I’m not sure I remembered that the first candidate patient he turns down as “boring” while talking to someone on the phone in the car was Rhodey.
Loki is the Philosopher King 