Early life As a child, Stephen Strange plays on a frozen pond with his sister, Donna, who falls through the ice and drowns, causing Strange to lament his inability to save her. He becomes a doctor, and through years of study and practice, hones his skills to a high level.
Becoming a Master of the Mystic Arts In 2016, Strange is a wealthy, acclaimed but arrogant
neurosurgeon, who severely injures his hands in a car crash while en route to a dinner, leaving him unable to operate. Fellow surgeon and former lover
Christine Palmer tries to help him move on, but Strange ignores her attempts and vainly pursues experimental surgeries to heal his hands, at the cost of his wealth. Strange learns about
Jonathan Pangborn, a
paraplegic, who he had refused to treat earlier due to perceiving him having little chance of recovery but had mysteriously regained use of his legs. Pangborn directs Strange to
Kamar-Taj, where he is rescued from a band of thieves attempting to steal an expensive watch of his and taken in by
Mordo, a sorcerer under the
Ancient One. The Ancient One demonstrates her power to Strange, revealing the
astral plane and other dimensions such as the Mirror Dimension. She reluctantly agrees to train Strange, whose arrogance and ambition remind her of renegade sorcerer
Kaecilius, who had recently stolen pages out of a vital book from the Kamar-Taj library. Strange studies under the Ancient One and Mordo, and from ancient books in the library that is now guarded by Master
Wong. Strange learns that Earth is protected from threats from other dimensions by a shield generated from three buildings called
Sanctums, in New York City, London, and Hong Kong, which are all connected and accessible from Kamar-Taj. Strange uses his impressive memory and progresses quickly, secretly reading the text from which Kaecilius stole pages, learning to bend time with the mystical
Eye of Agamotto. Mordo and Wong catch Strange in the act and warn him against breaking the laws of nature, drawing a comparison to Kaecilius' desire for
eternal life. After Kaecilius uses the stolen pages to contact
Dormammu of the
Dark Dimension and leads an attack on the
New York Sanctum, killing its guardian, Strange holds off the attackers with the help of the
Cloak of Levitation until Mordo and the Ancient One arrive. Mordo becomes disillusioned with the Ancient One after Strange reveals that the Ancient One has been drawing power from the Dark Dimension to sustain her long life. Kaecilius later mortally wounds the Ancient One and escapes to Hong Kong. Before dying, she tells Strange that he too will have to bend the rules to complement Mordo's steadfast nature to defeat Kaecilius, in addition to making him choose between healing like Pangborn or serving protecting the Earth. Strange and Mordo arrive in Hong Kong to find Wong dead, the Sanctum destroyed, and the Dark Dimension engulfing Earth. Strange uses the Eye to reverse time and save Wong, then enters the Dark Dimension and creates a
time loop around himself and Dormammu. After repeatedly killing Strange to no avail, Dormammu finally gives in to Strange's demand that he leave Earth and take Kaecilius and his zealots with him in return for Strange breaking the loop. After Mordo turned his back on him after leaving him, Strange returns the Eye to Kamar-Taj, and takes up residence in the New York Sanctum to continue his studies and keeps a watchlist of various threats to Earth. In 2017, Strange learns that
Thor and
Loki have arrived and traps Loki in a portal while inviting Thor to the New York Sanctum. There he questions Thor's motives for bringing Loki to Earth. Thor explains they are searching for their father, so Strange locates
Odin, releases Loki, and sends the two into a portal to
Norway.
Infinity War and resurrection In 2018, Strange and Wong are talking in the New York Sanctum when
Bruce Banner crash-lands through the roof. He informs Strange and Wong of the imminent threat of
Thanos. In response, Strange went with Banner to find
Tony Stark, who was with
Pepper Potts in Central Park, and asked him to accompany him and congratulate him on his proposal.
Ebony Maw and
Cull Obsidian, members of the
Children of Thanos, arrive to retrieve the Time Stone kept by Strange in the
Eye of Agamotto, and end up drawing the attention of
Peter Parker, who arrives to help. Maw captures Strange, but fails to take the Time Stone due to an enchantment, so he takes him to his spaceship to be tortured until he breaks the spell. However, Stark and Parker infiltrate the ship, kill Maw, and rescue Strange. Landing on the planet
Titan, where Maw is supposed to meet with Thanos, the trio meet
Peter Quill,
Drax the Destroyer, and
Mantis and together form a plan to combat Thanos once he arrives. While waiting for him, Strange uses the Time Stone to view millions of possible futures, seeing only one in which Thanos loses. The group, along with
Nebula, fight Thanos and are nearly successful in removing his Infinity Gauntlet with the
Infinity Stones, until an enraged Quill unintentionally breaks their hold on him. After a brief duel with Thanos, Strange is defeated while Stark is severely wounded, but is spared when Strange surrenders the Time Stone. Once
the Blip occurs, Strange tells Stark there was no other way and disintegrates. In 2023, Strange is restored to life and he along with Wong and the other Masters of the Mystic Arts transport Parker, the restored Avengers, the
Guardians of the Galaxy, the
Wakandans, the
Asgardians, and the
Ravagers via portals to the destroyed
Avengers Compound to join the final battle against an alternate Thanos and his army. During the battle, Strange keeps the battlefield from being flooded by the lake and hints to Stark that this is the one future in which they win. After Stark sacrifices himself to defeat alternate Thanos, Strange attends his funeral.
Helping Peter Parker In 2024, much to Strange's disappointment, Wong has assumed the title of Sorcerer Supreme. That fall, Strange is visited by Parker, after his identity as Spider-Man is exposed to the world by
Quentin Beck / Mysterio. Not possessing the Time Stone, Strange offers to help Parker and suggests casting the spell called the Runes of Kof-Kol to make the world forget he is Spider-Man, to which he agrees despite Wong's warnings of the spell's danger. The spell backfires when Parker inadvertently distracts Strange by talking while he is performing it and changing the parameters multiple times, tampering with the
multiverse, causing people from other realities who know that Parker is Spider-Man to enter Strange's universe, including two alternate versions of Parker (one from
The Amazing Spider-Man film series, and the other from the
Sam Raimi film series), as well as their adversaries
Otto Octavius,
Norman Osborn,
Flint Marko,
Curt Connors, and
Max Dillon, and, unbeknownst to both Strange and Parker,
Eddie Brock and his
Symbiote companion
Venom (from
Sony's Spider-Man Universe). Strange apprehends Connors and tasks Parker and his friends,
Ned Leeds and
Michelle Jones, to retrieve the other visitors. Once the villains have been captured, an annoyed and weary Strange tries to send them back to their home universes using a relic known as The Macchina de Kadavus, but after learning they will die once they return and intending to cure them before sending them back, Parker steals Strange's spell-containing relic and Strange pursues him into the Mirror Dimension where they briefly duel. Strange becomes trapped in the Mirror Dimension when he is caught off guard and Parker steals his sling ring. Twelve hours later, he is inadvertently released by Leeds (who had Strange's sling ring with him) and witnesses Parker and his alternate selves (
Peter-Two and
Peter-Three) curing the villains. Strange's relic is destroyed by Osborn, resulting in the multiverse continuing to break open. Parker tells Strange to cast the spell again, this time having the world forget about the existence of his civilian identity altogether instead. Strange, although initially reluctant and warning Parker of the cost, agrees and casts the spell, resulting in the alternate Parkers, their villains, and Brock and Venom returning to their home universes while everyone from Strange's universe, including himself, forgets Parker, but still remembers Spider-Man, and Beck's victory over Spider-Man has now been finally removed. Elsewhere, it is revealed that his spell had the unintended effect of displacing a former adversary of Spider-Man, the imprisoned
Adrian Toomes, into an
alternate universe.
Fighting the Scarlet Witch In the Sanctum, Strange dreams of a young girl and an alternate version of himself running from a ribboned creature in an unknown location. The creature ends up killing the alternate version of himself and tries to capture the girl, but she opens up a star-shaped portal that causes her and the deceased Strange to fall through. Soon after, Strange attends Palmer's wedding and speaks with his former colleague, West, in the church, who had also been a victim of the Blip. Afterwards, Strange attends the wedding reception and apologizes to Palmer for his past conduct and congratulates her with her husband named Charlie, who appears to be a fan of Strange. Suddenly, upon hearing a disturbance outside, Strange leaves the reception and confronts an invisible creature that is attacking the city. Strange reveals the creature as an inter-dimensional octopus-like being,
Gargantos. When Strange is overpowered, Wong joins the fight and the two eventually kill it while saving a girl, who introduces herself as
America Chavez. Chavez explains she can travel through the
multiverse and that other creatures are after her power including a Strange from another universe, and Strange told her that they did have experience with the multiverse in a recent event with Spider-Man. Chavez takes Strange and Wong to Strange's body, who had betrayed her, after which Strange declares that he too was in his dream, and Chavez explains that it was not a dream, she and Strange's variant were searching for a book of pure magic called the Book of the Vishanti, which, according to Strange, was not real. After Strange buries his variant, he takes Chavez with Wong to Kamar-Taj, and also discovers that the symbols of Gargantos and his variant weren't of sorcery and were of witchcraft. Strange meets with
Wanda Maximoff in her self-imposed isolation, not realizing that she has already been taken over by the
Darkhold and had taken on the identity of the
Scarlet Witch. Strange tells Maximoff that he is not there to talk about the
Westview incident but about Chavez, however, she accidentally reveals she already knew of her and intends on using her to take her power to be with alternate real versions of her children
Billy and
Tommy. Strange attempts to reason with her that they are not real but refuses to give her to Maximoff, who attacks Kamar-Taj, killing many sorcerers. During the attack, Chavez's powers are triggered and she and Strange escape in a portal falling through several universes. Strange and Chavez end up in an alternate universe, designated as "Earth-838", where they explore this place, explaining their questions until Strange climbed onto a memory platform, which displayed a memory of him and Palmer on a date. Chavez uses the machine as well and Strange sees the moment she gained her powers, resulting in her mothers being pulled into one of her portals, never to be seen again. Strange comforts Chavez, assuring her that her mothers are still alive. After talking about Strange's complicated relationship with Palmer, he and Chavez arrive at the Sanctum, until they are greeted by this universe's
Mordo. During his visit, Strange and Chavez are then drugged by him and taken into custody. When he wakes, Strange meets this universe's Palmer who designates his Earth as "
Earth-616". Mordo takes Strange to the
Illuminati, consisting of Mordo himself,
Captain Peggy Carter,
King Blackagar Boltagon,
Captain Maria Rambeau,
Dr. Reed Richards, and
Professor Charles Xavier. They explain how their Strange's reckless use of their universe's
Darkhold to defeat their
Thanos triggered an "incursion", destroying another universe, which led the Illuminati to kill him, making Mordo the new Sorcerer Supreme and taking Strange's vacant spot on the Illuminati. The Illuminati then claim that Strange-616 is also dangerous and refuse to believe his warnings about Maximoff. Strange then sees footage of Maximoff, having dream-walked into her 838 counterpart, attacking the Illuminati headquarters, killing all of them except for Mordo, who is defeated by Strange. Strange, Chavez, and Palmer escape to the gap junction, the space between universes, where they find the Book of the Vishanti. Maximoff appears, destroys the book, and takes over Chavez's mind, using her powers to send Strange and Palmer to another universe. Strange and Palmer enter an incursion-destroyed universe where Strange meets that universe's Strange, who was corrupted by the
Darkhold. That universe's Strange tells him that there is a high price for anyone who would use the
Darkhold, by showing him his
third eye. In a fight, Strange kills this universe's Strange and takes his
Darkhold to dreamwalk into Defender Strange's deceased body and go after Maximoff. When Palmer enters, knowing what he is going to do, she declares that all Doctor Stranges in every universe were the same, and Strange agrees, stating that, at that moment, Chavez needs him and cannot do it without his help. Before beginning the ritual, Strange instructs Palmer to protect his body from the Souls of the Damned while he dreamwalks. As the ritual begins, Strange projects his consciousness into the corpse of his zombie-like alternate self, opening the Interdimensional Portal to Mount Wundagore. After being attacked by the demons, who overwhelm him, Palmer dispatches them by destroying them with the Brazier of Bom'Galiath and telling Strange to use them to his advantage thanks to his knowledge of the mystic arts. He grabs them and uses them as a cloak to fly to
Darkhold Castle and confront Maximoff. With help from Wong and Chavez, who managed to gain control over her powers, they transport Maximoff back to "Earth-838" to that universe's Maximoff household in Westview, where she is freed from the
Darkholds control by frightening that universe's Billy and Tommy in front of their mother. Realizing what she has done, Maximoff destroys the
Darkhold in all universes and kills herself. Strange says that he loves Palmer in all universes, and that it was not about him not wanting anyone to care for her or look after her, but he was simply afraid. They are then saved by Chavez, who opens a portal, and they return to their universes. Strange sees the reconstruction of Kamar-Taj, as Chavez begins training there before returning to the New York Sanctum. Strange takes his time to finally repair his watch that Palmer had given him on their date, and once it is repaired, he puts it away, a gesture of acceptance and improvement on Palmer's part. While strolling through the streets, Strange develops a third eye as a result of dreamwalking and is approached by a
sorceress who invites him to avert an incursion in the
Dark Dimension. ==Alternate versions==