Marvel's Marvel's What If...? will explore alternate versions of familiar faces from across the MCU, and now some new details have seemingly been revealed regarding Doctor Strange. In the episode centred on the Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Stephen Strange will walk a different, much darker path, turning to the forbidden side of magic following the death of his beloved.

"This version of Doctor Strange found magic after the death of his true love which led him down a darker path with dark and dangerous magic in an attempt to change his past."

What exactly this darker path will entail is unknown, but this sounds like a much tragic origin for Strange. The mention of changing his past heavily suggests that he will still find himself in possession of the Eye of Agamotto, no doubt using the magic therein to bring back his "true love", which is presumably Christine Palmer, played in the movie by Rachel McAdams.

In his more traditional origin story, Doctor Strange begins as a selfish, arrogant neurosurgeon, who learns humility and responsibility after a terrible accident leads him into the world of magic and sorcery. This alternate take in What If...? w ill likely find Doctor Strange never learning this lesson, with his true love perhaps dying in the same accident, resulting in Strange's journey being about selfishly changing the past rather than slowly revealing his inner hero.

The animated events of What If...? will be viewed through the eyes of main character Uatu, known as The Watcher, who will be voiced by The Batman star Jeffrey Wright. Several other details of the various stories that will make up the anthology series have since been revealed, with one of the stories due to center on Peggy Carter, who, in this alternate universe is imbued with the same powers as Steve Rogers, becoming Captain Britain; "What if Peggy Carter got the powers from the Super Soldier Serum and Steve Rogers remained his scrawny self, but was given an Iron Man-type suit of armor designed by Tony Stark's father Howard Stark?"

Other storylines that are expected to be explored is the popular Marvel Zombies arc, which sees some of the Avengers doing battle with zombified superheroes and villains, including the likes of Captain America; Thor never finding himself worthy and instead becoming a party animal; Tony Stark embarking on a Thor: Ragnarok-style adventure, and finally Black Widow battling her way through a post-apocalyptic world as one of the only survivors of a cataclysmic event that came about due to the classic MCU villain, Ultron.

The series will also introduce an alternative Guardians of the Galaxy, named Guardians of the Multiverse, which will be made up of Peggy Carter's Captain Britain, Black Panther's Erik Killmonger, T'Challa as the new Star-Lord, Gamora, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, and Thor. The series will feature the voices of several members of the live action MCU, including Hayley Atwell as Captain Peggy Carter, Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa, and Tom Hiddleston as Loki.

The first season of What If...? is now scheduled to premiere in August 2021, and will consist of 10 episodes. A second 10-episode season is already in development. This comes to us from The Illuminerdi.