Warning: This article contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
With fans chomping at the bit for leaks and spoilers, it can be difficult for Marvel Studios to hide the biggest surprises in its movies. Most recently, the trailers for Spider-Man: No Way Home edited Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parkers out of the final battle to preserve the worst-kept secret in blockbuster history.
The MCU’s latest highly anticipated release, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, gave away a lot of big reveals in its trailers – most notably the return of Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier – but Marvel also managed to preserve a lot of surprises.
Wanda Is The Main Villain
The trailers for Multiverse of Madness set up a standard Avengers team-up with the title character recruiting a secondary hero to pad out the poster. The early scenes of Wanda’s imagined paradise made her look like an ally to Strange. When this sequence arrives in the first act of the movie itself, however, Raimi pulls off a masterful twist: Wanda is the villain.
Strange initially approaches Wanda for help when he and Wong realize the monster chasing America was sent by a witch. But, as it turns out, Wanda is the witch trying to kill her. After WandaVision hesitated to push the Scarlet Witch into full villain mode, Multiverse of Madness tips her over the edge into mass murder.
The Star-Studded Illuminati
The MCU Illuminati introduced in the second act of Multiverse of Madness is a veritable buffet of cameos. Tom Cruise’s rumored Superior Iron Man is nowhere to be seen, but John Krasinski has finally bowed to the pressures of fan-casting and taken on the role of Reed Richards (although it’s unclear if this confirms his casting for Fantastic Four or this Reed is just a variant so Marvel can have its Krasinski cake and eat it, too).
Krasinski’s Mr. Fantastic is just one of many thrilling cameo appearances that round out this superhuman secret society. He’s surrounded by Patrick Stewart’s Professor X and Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter, who were already revealed in the teasers, as well as Black Bolt from the Inhumans TV show and a version of Maria Rambeau who replaced her best friend Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel.
Every Other Doctor Strange Is Evil
When Strange is arrested and brought before the Illuminati, he tries to explain that the Scarlet Witch poses a sinister threat to the multiverse. Professor X bluntly tells him that, in their experience, the biggest threat to the multiverse is Strange himself.
As it turns out, every other Strange throughout the multiverse turned out evil (much like the one fans were introduced to in What If…?), including a version of Strange who had to be put down by an apologetic Black Bolt in the Illuminati’s universe. In one of the film’s most heartwarming moments, America Chavez assures Christine Palmer that Earth-616’s Strange “isn’t like the other Stephens.”
The Horror Moments Are Genuinely Scary
When it was first announced, Doctor Strange’s second solo outing was promised to be the MCU’s first horror movie. The hiring of Sam Raimi, one of the genre’s most prolific and influential filmmakers, bolstered horror fans’ excitement. But there was still a lot of skepticism surrounding Multiverse of Madness’ horror elements because it’s still a Disney-mounted summer tentpole rated PG-13.
As expected, Raimi doesn’t disappoint. The spooky moments in the Doctor Strange sequel are genuinely frightening. The director packs in a few fiercely effective jump scares with Wanda jumping out at the audience.
All The Illuminati Cameos Are Killed Off Immediately
Like the X-Force in Deadpool 2, the Illuminati are killed off in quick succession shortly after their introduction. After Strange warns them of Wanda’s power, they disregard him and head down to the lobby to apprehend her. Naturally, it doesn’t go the way they hope. The unnerving sequence that follows demonstrates the grave threat posed by a villainous Scarlet Witch.
She rips Mr. Fantastic to shreds, snaps Professor X’s neck, drops a statue on Captain Marvel, cuts Captain Carter in half with her shield, and seals Black Bolt’s mouth shut so he destroys his own head from the inside.
Wanda Dies At The End (Or So It Seems)
There’s been some speculation about Wanda’s final scene in Multiverse of Madness. She seems to bring her black-magic sanctuary crumbling down on top of herself to put an end to its evil rule, but that seems like a very abrupt way to end a years-long character arc.
It’s fitting for Wanda’s villainous turn to culminate in a sacrifice, but she hasn’t quite earned redemption yet. With the multiverse laid bare and superheroes coming back to life left and right, it seems likely that fans haven’t seen the last of Wanda.
Every Copy Of The Darkhold Has Been Destroyed
The purpose of Wanda’s sacrifice was to rid the multiverse of the Darkhold. Not only does she eradicate the book of evil from her own universe; she manages to wipe it from existence across every universe.
After the Darkhold tease in WandaVision’s post-credits scene, the fearsome Marvel MacGuffin seemed to be set up for a larger arc, but now it’s gone from the entire spacetime continuum.
Strange Grows A Third Eye
Although all the Darkholds across the multiverse have been destroyed by the end of the Doctor Strange sequel, their mystical influence hasn’t quite been eliminated.
In the stunning final shot of the movie, Strange breaks down on the street as a third eye emerges from the middle of his forehead (like the variant of himself who had similarly succumbed to the Darkhold’s enchantment).
Clea’s Appearance In The Mid-Credits Scene
Like the reveal of Harry Styles’ Starfox in the end credits of Eternals, the credits scene in Multiverse of Madness introduces a deep-cut character from the comics played by an A-list star: Clea, played by Charlize Theron.
Clea is the niece of Dormammu. In the credits scene, she warns Strange that his multiversal shenanigans triggered an “incursion” and invites him to the Dark Dimension to deal with it.
The MCU’s Multiverse Officially Includes X-Men And The Fantastic Four
In the couple of years since Disney acquired 21st Century Fox (and, with it, the film rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters), Marvel fans have been waiting for an MCU project to confirm the existence of one or the other in this cinematic universe.
With Stewart’s appearance as Xavier and Krasinski’s appearance as Richards, Multiverse of Madness confirms the existence of both in a single scene.
