Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness debuts in theatres on 6 May. The first film in the franchise was released in 2016. If you don’t recall every detail, here you go.
1. Doctor Strange, a brilliant but arrogant surgeon
Racing along a narrow road to an event, Doctor Strange crashed his car into another vehicle, sending him flying off the road into a body of water. Despite an 11-hour surgery, Strange sustained severe nerve damage in his hands and multiple torn ligaments.
Wonder why his fingers have scars? His former colleague, Dr Nic West, had put 11 stainless steel pins in his fingerbones.
2. Before Doctor Strange crashed
Doctor Strange is told that the 22-year-old woman had an electronic implant in her brain that was struck by lightning. At the time, it referred to Madalyn Joyce aka Miss America.
America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), the new Miss America in the comics, is set to appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In the comics, Chavez inherited the powers of the original Miss America.
3. Doctor Strange and Christine Palmer’s romance in the past
By the end of Doctor Strange released in 2016, Christine no longer loves Strange, but Strange still has feelings for her. Trailers for Multiverse of Madness have teased that Christine is getting married to another man in the sequel as Strange is at the wedding.
4. Doctor Strange keeps a watch from Christine
The back of the broken watch has an inscription from Christine, reading: Time will tell how much I love you.
Strange still has the watch in the trailers for the sequel. It’s a reminder of how he can’t let go of his former flame.
5. Laminectomy
Palmer suggested it could be called the Palmer-Strange technique, something Strange found amusing. Will this be brought up in a small aside between the two?
Wonder if this may be brought up in a small aside between the two.
6. Wanda grieves the loss of the love of her life and entire family
Disney+ series WandaVision dealt with Wanda’s grief after Vision’s death in Avengers: Infinity War. Thanos ripped one of the infinity stones out of Vision’s head, effectively murdering the android.
On the show, Wanda harnessed her magic to create an illusion so powerful that she brought Vision back to life. Additionally, she created a family for them with two twin sons, Tommy and Billy. Though the illusion was lifted by the end of WandaVision, Wanda is still grieving the loss of Vision, and now, her two boys.
7. Wanda tries to find a way to bring Tommy and Billy back
At the end of WandaVision, Wanda is seen going through the Darkhold, an ancient book of spells created in the Dark Dimension, the dimension where Strange fought Dormammu in Doctor Strange.
In WandaVision, Wanda is told that there’s an entire chapter on the Scarlet Witch in the Darkhold. Wanda appears to be going through the book and searching for her sons in another dimension to reunite with them. At the show’s very end, she hears Billy and Tommy cry out to her for help.
Expect to see both of them return in some way since they appeared in a recent trailer for the sequel.
8. Wanda’s fingertips start to turn black
Look closely at the trailers for Multiverse of Madness, and you see that the tips of Wanda’s fingers are starting to turn black similar to Agatha Harkness’ fingers on the WandaVision finale. Wanda’s blackening fingers are best teased on the final official poster for Multiverse of Madness.
Possibly, using the Darkhold, a forbidden book, is taking a toll on Wanda. It can be a sign that dark magic is taking a hold of, and possibly corrupting, Wanda as she searches for a way to reunite with her family. Otherwise, it’s unclear what is causing Wanda’s fingers to turn black.
9. Wong is now the Sorcerer Supreme, not Doctor Strange
When Doctor Strange disappeared for five years after the events of Avengers: Infinity War, someone needed to take on the title of Sorcerer Supreme and protect Earth.
Strange confirmed in Spider-Man: No Way Home that Wong took on the role when he was snapped into oblivion in Infinity War. At the film’s end, Thanos used the infinity stones to wipe out half of all living creatures in the universe from existence.
10. Wanda Maximoff more powerful than Sorcerer Supreme
In the WandaVision finale, Agatha Harkness tells Wanda that the Scarlet Witch (Wanda) is more powerful than the Sorcerer Supreme (Wong). She also mentions that it’s Wanda’s destiny to destroy the world.
Wanda is not only more powerful than Wong but also one of the most powerful characters in the MCU, if not the most powerful. The only characters who may be as strong or stronger than her currently are Captain Marvel and Thor. Both Wanda and Captain Marvel were able to go up against Thanos single-handedly.
Thanos only retreated from Wanda.
11. Marvel Cinematic Universe made up of infinite universes
In Doctor Strange of 2016, the protagonist learns of the existence of an endless number of worlds. The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) tells Strange that some of those worlds are benevolent and life-giving. Others are filled with malice and hunger. See a bit of both in Multiverse of Madness.
12. Doctor Strange broke Multiverse in 2021
While trying to make people forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, Doctor Strange cast a spell that went awry and fractured the multiverse. It resulted in characters from other Spider-Man universes and films coming into No Way Home.
Though Doctor Strange sealed that spell by the end of No Way Home, we may see the ongoing repercussions of that decision in Multiverse of Madness.
13. Multiverse twice-broken
If Disney and Marvel want to stay separate from Sony’s Spider-Man movies (remember those movies are made by Sony Pictures in association with Marvel Studios), Multiverse of Madness may use the 2021 Disney+ series starring Tom Hiddleston’s Loki to explain why the multiverse is fracturing.
In the season one Loki finale, the sacred timeline that the Time Variance Authority (TVA) swore to protect was compromised. The finale ended with over 60 alternate realities starting to branch off from the main one we’ve followed since the MCU began.
in the finale, Kang (Jonathan Majors) cautioned that if he was killed, variants from other timelines would start a multiversal war, the very thing that Miss Minutes warned about on the series premiere of Loki. Loki’s variant, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) did not heed that warning and killed Kang. As a result, the multiverse started to fracture.
In Doctor Strange six years ago, Baron Mordo briefly warned the central character about the dangers of creating time branches and unstable dimensional openings. Both were forewarnings of events to come.
14. Two home bases for Masters of the Mystic Arts on Earth
In Doctor Strange, it’s noted that the first Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, Agamotto, created three Sanctum Santorum locations — home bases for Masters of the Mystic Arts — in Hong Kong, New York City, and London. The London one was destroyed in the 2016 film Doctor Strange.
Combined, the three sanctums are supposed to shield the planet from other dimensional beings that threaten the universe. Don’t be surprised if we see any or all of those locations in Multiverse of Madness if the world is threatened.
15. Doctor Strange can temporarily separate a soul from a body
Doctor Strange can knock a person’s soul out of their body and put them on what’s called the astral plane. He most recently did this to Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Time in the real world is slowed down while one is in the astral plane.
16. Stephen can send people to mirror dimension too
As its name suggests, the parallel dimension is a mirror of the real world. However, anything that occurs in the mirror dimension doesn’t affect the real world.
Sorcerers use the dimension to train, but we’ve also seen Doctor Strange use it to try and contain threats. If he needs to battle any villains or aliens in Multiverse of Madness without causing damage to the people and world around them, Strange may bring them into the mirror dimension.
Most recently, Doctor Strange was trapped in the mirror dimension in most of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
17. Baron Mordo working on ridding the world of sorcerers
When Mordo realises that the Ancient One has been drawing power from the Dark Dimension in Doctor Strange, he is horrified to learn that everything he believed about his teacher has been a lie. He is further bothered when Strange later uses one of the infinity stones to save Earth, claiming that his actions will have consequences at some point down the line.
In response, by the film’s end, Mordo decides to stop devoting his life to the Mystic Arts. Instead, he dedicates his life to destroying every sorcerer and stripping them of their magic. That may put Mordo, Strange, and Wanda Maximoff at odds in the sequel.
You must log in to post a comment.