How did Doctor Strange 2 give Endgame an alternate ending? Marvel Studios hasn’t slowed down with the story it’s delivered so far in Phase 4 of the MCU after the game-changing events of Avengers: Endgame. Spider-Man: No Way Home introduced the Multiverse to the big screen, which expanded to new heights in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This has a lot to do with it.

Thanos, played by Josh Brolin in Avengers: Endgame, remains a constant presence in Phase 4 after his quest for the Infinity Stones made an indelible impression on the entire MCU. In Endgame, he made it clear that he was willing to wipe out all life on Earth before the Avengers defeated him and his army, first by using the six Stones to wipe out half of the universe and then by using them to wipe out themselves.

Thanos has appeared in a number of films since Endgame, including Eternals and Thor: Love and Thunder, with a possible connection to the Guardians of the Galaxy. In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the Grimace look-alike returns in a new way, showing how Avengers: Endgame could have gone in a different direction with him.

The Endgame of Doctor Strange 2 Is Revealed in a Teaser

As seen in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Endgame receives an alternate ending where Thanos was defeated on Earth-838.

The shot shows the villain with his double-bladed sword piercing his chest as the Illuminati of the MCU defeats him on Titan, his homeworld. Professor X, Captain Carter, Maria Rambeau, Black Bolt, Mr Fantastic, and Doctor Strange used the Book of Vishanti to defeat Thanos and prevent the Infinity Gauntlet from wiping out half of all life on Earth.

In the wake of Thanos’ victory in Infinity War and the subsequent five-year mass murder of half of humanity, Doctor Strange in this universe used the Darkhold to Dream Walk across the Multiverse and employ a strategy distinct from that of the original Doctor Strange.

To make up for the Mad Titan stabbing Tony Stark, Strange gave Thanos the Time Stone in the original MCU, leaving the villain with just one Infinity Stone short of completing the set.

On Earth-616’s side, this would lead to a time-heist, which would restore all life to the universe and reduce Thanos’ army with Iron Man snapping his nano gauntlet, as depicted in Avengers: Endgame.

Did Thanos have a plan in place?

This scene shows that Thanos was well on his way to re-creating the MCU’s original Thanos as he battled the Illuminati on Titan. On Nidavellir, he already had the golden Gauntlet made for him by Eitri the Dwarf. This suggests that he had a similar number of Infinity Stones as he did in Avengers: Infinity War at this point.

For the Endgame alternate ending, the Illuminati probably didn’t have to go back in time for five years to get old versions of the Stones like the Avengers did because the Book of Vishanti had the ability to grant the reader anything they needed to accomplish their goals. There is a chance that the battle may have ended before Thanos even set foot on Earth-838, leaving him without the Time and Mind Stones.

This was also before Baron Mordo was a member of the team, which was most likely because he wasn’t his universe’s Sorcerer Supreme yet, with Doctor Strange instead involved. Other Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy didn’t appear to be involved this time either, which makes sense given how powerful and intelligent the Illuminati’s heroes are.

1 win for 14,000,605 futures?

With more than 14 million options under his belt in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Stephen Strange made it abundantly clear that there was only one way to take down Thanos. This included the Avengers discovering time travel, going back to retrieve the Stones, building the Stark tech gauntlet, and bringing everyone back to life before Tony snapped his fingers and sacrificed himself to kill Thanos, as revealed in the Endgame.

There was a glimmer of hope in Doctor Strange 2 that there was another way to defeat the Mad Titan, one that didn’t necessitate the destruction of the world. Earth-616 wasn’t in danger of an Incursion or any other kind of interaction with other universes prior to Spider-Man: No Way Home, which could explain why those possibilities didn’t come up.

It’s also possible that Strange could only see successful futures in his universe. Since only certain Illuminati members were present on Earth-838 at the time of Avengers: Infinity War, it’s possible that accessing the Book of Vishanti on Earth-616 was impossible.

This new encounter with Thanos, for whatever reason, provides an entirely new perspective on how the MCU has evolved over the past 14 years and what may lie ahead.