Avengers: Endgame: Doctor Strange Key Scene Was Improvised

Doctor Strange’s key moment in Avengers: Endgame was improvised. As the keeper of the Eye of Agamotto/Time Stone, the future Sorcerer Supreme was able to look into the future, hence why he knew what needed to be done before Thanos was truly defeated. While he was among the unfortunate half of the universe who perished due to the snap, he was able to set things in motion so the heroes are on a path to an eventual victory five years later.

The wizard’s ability to travel through time and know what lies ahead also informed him of some unsavory details. That includes knowing that to be able to succeed, personal sacrifices were required from the Avengers, particularly Iron Man. This is the reason why despite initially insisting on holding onto the Eye of Agamotto, Doctor Strange surprisingly gave up the Time Stone in Titan to ensure Tony Stark survives until the events of Endgame. While he never explicitly pushed the genius, billionaire to wield all six Infinity Stones, he effectively reminded him that they only had one chance to succeed. From there, Iron Man exactly knew what needed to be done.

Taking it to his official Twitter account, Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson reveals that the specific moment where the sorcerer raises his finger to Stark, confirming that it’s the one timeline that they’re going to win was improvised. As it turns out, Benedict Cumberbatch himself told him this that’s why he knows despite not being directly involved in making Endgame. Check out his full tweet below:

While Marvel Studios did a good job planning out both Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, that doesn’t mean that they weren’t open for improvisation. Throughout its more than a decade run, the MCU has had some defining moments that weren’t written down in the script including Tony Stark’s decision to out himself as Iron Man in his origin film from 2008. Some of the notable improvised scenes just in the last two Avengers movies include Drax’s hilarious “why Gamora?” line, and ironically, most of the things leading to Iron Man’s death. Apparently, even the bit that motivated him to do the snap was somewhat improvised. It’s curious what that exchange between the two heroes was supposed to look like before it was altered.

As minuscule of a change as adding Doctor Strange’s gesture was in Avengers: Endgame, it was important in a couple of ways. Firstly, it effectively establishes his connection with Iron Man despite only briefly working together in Infinity War. Being the only person who knew that this was Tony Stark’s fate, it’s interesting if this would be mentioned again in his future narratives — especially considering that no one else knew of this exchange other than them. Secondly, it also highlights how Doctor Strange’s hands never really physically healed despite his growing powers as a sorcerer. This was a nifty reference to his origins story.

Source: Scott Derrickson

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