Are any of the 14M alternate futures Dr. Strange saw in IW, distinct universes part of the Multiverse, or potential branches of the 616 universe?

Question

In Avengers: Infinity War, Dr. Strange at some point used the Time Stone, to go forward in time and see all potential future outcomes of the conflict with Thanos.

I went forward in time... to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict.

Up until the arrival of latest Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness these were just that; potential alternate realities.

However, with the aforementioned movie now part of the canon, and the official confirmation that Multiverse exist, we see

on Earth-838, the equivalent of Avengers (Illuminati), defeating Thanos with the knowledge of the Book of Vishanti, without the chaos and mayhem of letting him win and sacrifice half of the universe first.

Now, I am aware that the 616-Dr. Strange did not know of the existence of this book at that time, but when he went forward in time, did he witness this parallel universe?

Were any (if not all) of the 14 million alternate futures, alternate universes or just branches of the MCU's main timelime/universe?

Answer 1

Warning: this answer contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).

I think it's safe to say that Strange did not see universe 838 while viewing alternate futures in Infinity War, for at least three reasons:

• Firstly, the premise of an alternate future is a timeline which has the same history up until the present moment, and then a different future going forward. Whereas universe 838 clearly had a different history extending at least as far back as 1941, when Peggy Carter (rather than Steve Rogers) received the Super Soldier Serum during Project: Rebirth.

• Secondly, if Strange had seen universe 838, you'd think he'd recognise individuals like Peggy Carter, Blackagar Boltagon, Reed Richards, and Charles Xavier, which he seemingly didn't when he met them in Multiverse of Madness.

• Thirdly, Strange indicated that Thanos was victorious in every one of the 14 million-plus alternate futures he viewed, except for the one he set into motion when he gave Thanos the Time Stone. Whereas in universe 838, Thanos was indicated to have been defeated by the Illuminati, using the Book of Vishanti.

So, for all those reasons, I feel confident in saying that Strange had never seen universe 838, prior to having visited it in Multiverse of Madness.

As to whether or not the alternate futures he saw were universes that actually exist somewhere out there in the multiverse, or just possible branches of the Sacred Timeline which could occur but had not done so yet, I don't think there's any evidence from an official source which can definitively answer that question one way or another. Certainly, none of the movies or TV shows provide a definitive answer to that question, and none of the interviews I've read or seen with the various creators involved do so either.

If you're interested in an educated guess, then I think Strange only saw possible future branches of the Sacred Timeline, not actual universes already in existence somewhere in the multiverse. One of the reasons I think that is that the mechanism he used to view these alternate futures was the Time Stone, which is an object focused specifically on the manipulation of time, rather than the manipulation of space or reality, each of which has its own Infinity Stone. Therefore, as powerful as the Time Stone is, its power is focused along a very specific track, and I don't think it has the capability to breach multiversal barriers on its own.

Also, Strange stated in No Way Home that "the Multiverse is a concept about which we know frighteningly little." Whereas if the Time Stone allows one to view other existing universes within the multiverse, then he and anyone else with access to that object ought to've been able to conduct pretty extensive research on the multiverse if they'd wanted to. It's possible that they had the option to do so and chose not to use it, but given that Strange seemed to be a little scared by how little he knew about the multiverse, you'd think he'd have availed himself of that option, if it were available to him.

Answer 2

Did Doctor Strange see universe 838?

As Doctor Strange was looking at possible futures, presumably those futures all relied on the starting point of where and when Doctor Strange was, in universe 616.

As such, these futures would probably all have had:

• Steve Rogers as Captain America, not Peggy Carter as Captain Carter
• Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel, not Maria Rambeau
• No known existence of a telepath called Charles Xavier, or a beardy-rubbery dude with a pretty weird surname
• Blackagar Boltagon keeping himself to himself due to embarrassment at the critical reception of his TV show
• Doctor Strange, as you mention, believing the Book of Ashanti to be a myth

As such, none of them would involve this group existing, and defeating Thanos, so they wouldn’t match universe 838.

Even aside that, Strange specifically said that he only saw one future where the Avengers won. That seems to discount witnessing anything similar to universe 838, where the Illuminati prevailed against Thanos.

Did Doctor Strange see alternate timelines, or alternate universes?

In general, it hasn't been made clear whether there's a difference between timelines and universes in the MCU. In Loki, the TVA talks about branches and timelines, but when He Who Remains lays everything out for Loki and Sylvie, it sure sounds like he's talking about different universes in a multiverse.

Then again, in What If Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?, the Ancient One specifically mentions creating two timelines within one universe, so apparently that can be a thing too? Maybe that's what the Avengers ended up creating in Endgame?

There's a whole question about universes vs. timelines attempting to unpick these issues. But don’t worry: I'm 100% sure Disney will provide a complete and detailed explanation in Ant-Man 3 next year, that's both entirely consistent with previous works, and completely satisfying to every last nerd on the internet.