Since the Marvel Cinematic Universe first made its debut in 2008 with the release of Iron Man, Tony Stark’s character has been crucial to developing the superhero world as fans know it. He’s been in more films than any other hero has to date, proved himself to be the greatest Avenger to ever live when he sacrificed his life to save the world, and has left a lasting impression on fans and Marvel Studios alike.
Without Tony Stark, the MCU wouldn’t exist and his absence has been felt deeply during Phase 4. He can never be truly replaced, but it seems as if Doctor Stephen Strange is being set up to become the next great hero holding the franchise together.
With a second installment of his own story, and an appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Strange’s mystical powers will prove to be a key component of restoring the MCU multiverse. Thanks to the events of Loki and WandaVision, fans know that protecting the sacred timeline will be a huge challenge for Marvel’s heroes in a lot of their upcoming projects, and Doctor Strange could be at the center of it all.
Strange seems to be the most confident in his abilities out of all the magic-wielding characters that have been introduced to the MCU so far and he also has a wide range of knowledge at his disposal, thanks to Wong and his massive library of sacred texts. Tony Stark was the creation of Marvel on the big screen, but Stephen Strange was the first character to have hinted to fans that the possibility of a multiverse truly exists. His name was thrown around quite some time before he ever joined the Avengers in their heroics and the first reference to Strange was made all the way back during 2014.
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a Hydra agent revealed to Steve, Natasha and Sam that Zola’s Algorithm was targeting Stephen Strange because he would one day become a major threat to them. Although this moment was brief, it proves that Doctor Strange has been in the picture longer than fans realize and perhaps hints at the possibility of Hydra knowing about the multiverse long before the Avengers did.
According to Marvel’s official timeline on Disney Plus, there are seven films that occur between the events of The Winter Soldier and the first Doctor Strange. This means that when Zola’s Algorithm was targeting Strange, he was just a successful surgeon trying to make a name for himself in the medical world. His journey as a sorcerer was nowhere on the horizon, but Hydra’s knowledge of him hints that they might have had a clue about what he would become, thanks to time travel or the multiverse.
Hydra’s desire to eliminate him illustrates that Doctor Strange is extremely powerful and has been important to the Marvel Universe for quite some time. Other references to his character have been made in more recent series like Loki, when Kang was eating an apple, and WandaVision where a monarch butterfly finds its way to Vision, similar to the way Doctor Strange saw a monarch butterfly while being sent through the multiverse by the Ancient One. Bits and pieces of his origin story can be found scattered all throughout the MCU, proving that his character is an important presence in the franchise.
Although Doctor Strange might not have as much screen time as Tony did, it seems as if he’ll be taking on the role of keeping the heroes together, not unlike what Tony tried to do in the past. Tony was one of the team leaders for the Avengers and didn’t hesitate to take potential talent, like Peter, under his wing. Now that the multiverse of madness is running awry in the MCU, someone with great power and even greater knowledge will have to step up in order to help the heroes. That person just might be Stephen Strange.
Now that fans know he’ll be showing up in Spider-Man: No Way Home, there’s been some speculation that he’ll continue the mentoring process that Tony started with Peter before his death. Peter and Strange have worked as a team in the past and suffered through the tragedy of Avengers: Infinity War together. That’s obviously something that will bring them closer the next time they reunite when Strange helps Peter defeat the bad guy.
Fans also know that Wanda and Loki will be featured in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and their experiences within their respective Disney Plus series have shown that they don’t know too much about their powers. Wanda has no idea how to control her magic and Loki is just now becoming aware of the things he’s capable of, thanks to Sylvie and Classic Loki’s sacrifice in episode 5. Doctor Strange has already suffered through the hardships of controlling the mystical arts and had plenty of time with his mentor before she died. He would be the perfect person to step up and help Wanda and Loki reach their full potential while they fight to protect the balance of the multiverse.
Even though Tony Stark can never be replaced, the heroes need guidance now that he is gone. Doctor Strange appears to be the most qualified individual to carry on Tony’s work and continue protecting the world from otherworldly dangers.