My jaw pretty much hit the floor at the culmination of this episode, “What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?” It was not what I was expecting. While last week’s episode might have been dark, it looks positively carefree compared to what happened this week.
This episode ponders the question of what would have happened to Doctor Strange if his girlfriend, Christine, had perished in the car accident that would have destroyed his hands.
This installment is a real treat, a tour de force of drama and tragedy aided, in no small part, by Benedict Cumberbatch’s masterful voice acting as he returns to play the part of Steven Strange. This is really Cumberbatch’s episode and he owns every nanosecond of it all the way until the end. In an age when celebrity voice actors pretty much phone it in, this is Cumberbatch’s finest performance in the MCU so far.
This episode was amazing, shocking, and incredibly dark which is saying something as last week’s episode dealt with the murder of all of the Avengers. This was a mature, deep, and thrilling chapter and I was never certain where it was going.
Needless to say, this is the best episode of “What If…?” so far and I honestly can’t imagine it being topped.
But, then again…
Jason Gaston 