Doctor Strange 2 Hints Avengers Knew More About The Multiverse Than Revealed

The Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer inadvertently reveals that the Avengers knew more about the multiverse than initially revealed. Marvel Studios kicked off the marketing campaign for the upcoming Sam Raimi and Benedict Cumberbatch flick via the release of its first proper promotional clip. While the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer mostly focused on the titular sorcerer’s upcoming adventure, a subtle detail featured in it somehow hinted just how much Earth’s Mightiest Heroes were aware of the existence of multiple realities.

Marvel Studios has long been teasing in the idea of multiple realities. Doctor Strange and Ant-Man both touched on it, but it wasn’t until Avengers: Endgame that it directly factored into the franchise’s narrative. After the Infinity Saga, the MCU is fully delving into the concept through WandaVision, Loki, Marvel’s What If…?, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Now, however, it is properly exploring the multiverse through its next blockbuster. Despite this, the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer hints that the idea has been discussed more extensively before by Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Aside from Doctor Strange’s arc in the new sequel, there’s also interest in Wanda Maximoff’s (Elizabeth Olsen) story in the film. It’s still unclear what kind of dynamic the pair will have in the sequel, but Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness‘ first trailer featured a couple of interactions between the pair. At one point, the sorcerer asked Wanda what she knows about the multiverse. According to her, Vision (Paul Bettany) thought that it was a dangerous place. Considering the MCU’s timeline, it doesn’t seem like the couple had the chance to talk about this during WandaVision, which means that this conversation may have very well happened before Avengers: Infinity War. If the idea of multiverse seeped into Vision and Scarlet Witch’s conversation, it might be a topic of conversation among the Avengers — or, at least some of them.

It’s worth mentioning that before Avengers: Endgame, only characters from Doctor Strange and Ant-Man movies were aware of MCU’s burgeoning multiverse, and even they had limited knowledge about the idea. Vision didn’t have any access to either of those heroes; in fact, he never knew Stephen Strange and Scott Lang (Paul Rudd). Instead, he was primarily with the Avengers, which means that they’re the only ones he more likely talked about the multiverse. Perhaps it wasn’t extensively discussed, maybe not everyone was in on the conversations about multiple realities since there was no urgency in taking time to understand it. That being said, this establishes that it wasn’t a totally foreign idea to the Avengers when it came up in Avengers: Endgame.

There’s a presumption that the inevitable Avengers 5 will deal with the multiverse. Meanwhile, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) would be the franchise’s next Thanos-level threat. Truthfully, it’s too early to say at this point. But since Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to properly explore the idea, Doctor Strange and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will be more adept at dealing with the aforementioned villain as they learn more about the idea.