Avengers: Endgame scene creates Doctor Strange plot hole

The franchise has been good at avoiding continuity issues, but one critical plot hole has arisen

There is a major plot hole in Avengers: Endgame concerning the Ancient One’s faith in Benedict Cumberbatch’s character, Doctor Strange.

Digital Spy came up with the continuity problem, recalling the time-travel heist seen in the 2019 blockbuster.

During these scenes, the Avengers try and fail to get three Infinity Stones from New York in 2012.

Hulk then goes to see the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) at her sanctum, hoping she will give him one of the precious stones.

Initially, she doesn’t want to give away the stone as taking them can create darker timelines. She explains: “It’s the duty of the Sorcerer Supreme to protect the Time Stone.”

But, Hulk persuades the Ancient One to give him the Infinity Stone by telling her that Doctor Strange gave it away.

The Ancient One concludes that Doctor Strange must have given it away for a good reason because “Strange is meant to be the best of us”, so she gives the stone over to Hulk.

Here lies the inconsistency. In 2016’s Doctor Strange, the Ancient One refused to train Strange when he visited Kamar-Taj. If she knew the prophecy about the stone in 2012, why would she refuse to teach him?

“Stubbornness. Arrogance. Ambition. I’ve seen it all before... I cannot lead another gifted student to power, only to lose him to the darkness,” the Ancient One tells Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor).

Why, then, would the Ancient One would be so convinced of Strange’s ability four years earlier? Entrusting the Time Stone to a stranger, purely based on the news that it was his desire, seems like quite a big stretch.