Avengers 4: Is THIS Doctor Strange Infinity War moment key? NOT for the reason you think

Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange was one of the victims of the Snap at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, after he gave Thanos (Josh Brolin) the Time Stone as a trade for Iron Man’s (Robert Downey Jr) life.

This came after he foresaw 14 million possible outcomes of Thanos’s plight – and only one in which the Avengers won.

“In the whole 14 million possible futures situation, I don’t think Strange saw them win one and attempted to mimic it, rather he was saying he created one that he knew they could win with,” Marvel fan meme_abstinent wrote on Reddit, in a theory that has been 90% upvoted.

“Doctor Strange knows about the Soul World and it’s connections to the Quantum Realm.

“He knows this by two possible reasons. He’s seen the future, all the way up until they WON, so the Quantum Realm had to be a part of it. Or maybe he just knows cause he’s a wizard.

“So Strange travels to the future, notifying Stark that the heroes are still alive in the Soul World. He then prompts Stark to begin a rescue mission through the Quantum Realm with Marvel and the surviving Avengers.

“Strange plays an instrumental role in assisting the Avengers with rescuing everyone from the soul stone.”

They added: “This is contrary to everyone’s idea that Stark is key to the single future Strange saw, and rather it’s Strange’s meddling in the current future that is ultimately what saves the day.

“Strange will also time travel to reunite with the Ancient One. She praises him, as she always saw greatness in his future, and gives him the Time Stone.”

Whatever the outcome of the movie, Doctor Strange is featuring in more and more intricate fan theories – so it’ll certainly be a disappointment if he doesn’t feature prominently in the resolution.

Indeed, Cumberbatch has already revealed that he was one of few stars permitted to read the full script, indicating his importance in proceedings (or just the fact that he can be trusted with leaks more than anyone else).

Avengers 4 is going into reshoots in the coming weeks, as the Russo brothers put the finishing touches to what will inevitably be one of the biggest movies of 2019.

Black Panther’s King T’Challa – another victim of the Snap – has been rumoured to feature heavily in the reshoots, leading to speculation that he could have an increased role to play, perhaps after the huge success of his own solo movie earlier this year.

The headline news of Avengers 4, though, will be the involvement of the most powerful superhero in the Marvel repertoire: Captain Marvel.

Played by Brie Larson, the character will be introduced in her own 1990-set solo vehicle in early 2019, shortly before the release of Avengers 4.

Avengers 4 is out on April 26, 2019.