The following contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, now in the theater.
Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) has left a trail of questionable decisions as he navigates the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), pointed out the hypocrisy behind Strange's decisions when he refused to help her reunite with her children and used the Darkhold to stop her. But was Wanda right? Did the Scarlet Witch speak the truth that no one has yet dared to say, or was she too far gone in madness?
Strange's exact justification for his decisions was, as always: "In the grand calculus of the multiverse, their sacrifice means infinitely more than their lives." He deemed that the Scarlet Witch was too dangerous with America Chavez's (Xochitl Gomez) power to travel in the multiverse, so he turned an army against Wanda and followed the dangerous footsteps of other Strange variants to dreamwalk. At first glance, his actions seem well-justified due to his motives to protect the multiverse and not for personal gain. However, once viewers look underneath his seemingly heroic speech, Stephen Strange has had trust issues despite what he tried to convince himself or others.
At the beginning of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Christine Palmer told Strange, "You have to be the one to hold the knife. I respect you for it, but I couldn't love you for it." Throughout the film, Strange couldn't trust Wanda, nor did he trust America with her own power. He would have done what the Defender Strange variant did, trying to take over America's power so he could "protect the multiverse." The only action Doctor Strange considered safe was taking matters into his own hands. The Earth-616 Strange was so arrogant that even after witnessing the destruction of a universe where his variant had read the Darkhold, he chose to use the dreamwalk spell, disregarding Baron Mordo's and the Illuminati's warnings.
By using the Darkhold to stop Wanda, Doctor Strange sacrificed the safety of the multiverse, and this isn't the first time he's done it. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Strange arrogantly used the memory alteration spell and rewrote it six times per Peter Parker's request, which tore the boundary between universes and invited villains from other universes into their own. Additionally, Strange also walked an extreme path in 2016's Doctor Strange after losing his hands in a car accident. He refused to live in a reality where he wasn't a hero, which led him to the path of becoming a Master of the Mystic Arts. He used sorcery to heal his hands, but when it came to Wanda and her children, Strange judged her.
Stephen has bent the rules for himself and others. He has also put the multiverse in great danger because of arrogance. His justification seems more like a Band-Aid trying to cover up a gunshot wound. There has always been another way, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has shown viewers that Strange could help America Chavez claim her power instead of taking over. He also could have helped Wanda navigate her grief, but he turned an army against her, and it cost lives.
Doctor Strange is flawed. He has been an arrogant hypocrite, and he's made mistakes, but Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness also saw his growth and capacity for change in Raimi's horror-infused adventure. Unfortunately, his actions still had severe consequences that could damage the multiverse, but Earth-616 Strange has a chance to do it right, as hinted in the post-credit scene. So maybe he was different from the other Stranges after all.
To see how Stephen breaks the rules once again, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently in theaters.