How did Doctor Strange become so powerful and skilled in the mystic arts by the time of Avengers: Infinity War?

 How did Doctor Strange become so powerful and skilled in the mystic arts by the time of Avengers: Infinity War?

I think some people missed an obvious explanation here, actually. Well, a couple of obvious explanations actually.

First, let’s backtrack to some of the complaints against Doctor Strange in his own movie. Some people pointed out it was weird that he could pick up the Mystic arts in such a short span of time, exceeding the expectations of his teachers.

But I think they missed this little tidbit:

That’s Doctor Strange, using his astral form to study as he’s asleep. Right then and there he’s giving his productivity a huge boost because he can spend time learning and training while his body sleeps. His astral form could be giving him anywhere from 5–9 hours of extra studying every single night. Not bad.

Another thing to consider is a later scene:

The Ancient One uses her astral form to slow down time for herself. She stretches one moment into a thousand, squeezing everything she can out of her rapidly ending lifespan.

It’s never clearly stated how she does this, or if it’s even exclusive to herself. I think it’s entirely possible that Strange was able to use this technique as well, maybe not yet in his own movie, but sometime before Infinity War he probably figured it out. Stretching out his time as an astral form like that would exponentially increase all studying time and training time and any time he needs.

While his body sleeps, his astral form could spend literal days poring over different texts. He had more than enough time to not just improve his Mystic Arts but master them.

However, that aside, let’s address Infinity War itself.

Some people have commented that Doctor Strange seems… inconsistent. His fight against Thanos is unbelievable. If Thanos hadn’t had several Stones to back him up, Strange would have beaten him. The sheer power and ingenuity of his spells would have easily overwhelmed Thanos.

But against Ebony Maw, he was demolished. What’s the deal?

Here’s the deal:

Strange saw over 14 million different outcomes. He saw 14 million different incarnations of himself and 14 million different techniques that he used in each different potential future, and he knew all of them because he knew what to do to accomplish the one.

Seeing all the spells and tricks that 14 million different Doctor Stranges used gave him the boost he had against Thanos. That’s how he got so good, he had 14 million different simulated outcomes to draw from and learn from. He knew what worked and what didn’t, and knew how to employ each spell. He probably even learned new spells from those potential futures.

I mean, even assuming that Strange only spent 1 minute exploring each possible future, that’s still twenty-six and a half YEARS of learning. You can’t tell me a quarter of a century of simulated Thanos scenarios wouldn’t make Strange more powerful.

---

So let’s summarize.

1. To quickly become more powerful and skilled in the Mystic Arts leading up to Infinity War, Strange was able to use his astral form to study while he slept and probably to stretch out his studying time.
2. To quickly become more powerful and skilled before his match against Thanos, Doctor Strange likely spent decades exploring scenarios and learning new tips and tricks.

When you think about it, Strange’s portrayal makes perfect sense.

I just can’t wait to see what he’s learned going into his second movie.

EDIT: Since so many people have commented on this, let’s be clear: no I did not forget he has an incredible memory. That’s what is explicitly said in the movie. I use this answer to show you what isn’t explicitly said in the movie. I’m already assuming you know the stuff explicitly said.

WHO WAS WANDA TALKING ABOUT AT THE END OF ENDGAME?

WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE FOR MARVEL MOVIES ON MAY?

WHY DID DOCTOR STRANGE NOT BATTLE THANOS (AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR) IN THE MIRROR DIMENSION?

DURING THE FINAL ACT OF INFINITY WAR, WHEN THANOS ARRIVES AND SYSTEMATICALLY BEATS DOWN EACH OF THE HEROES ON HIS WAY TO VISION, WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG FOR THOR TO ARRIVE AT THE LOCATION?

dr strange comic

doctor strange (film series)

doctor strange wiki

dr strange powers

doctor strange real name

doctor strange comics

doctor strang