Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

***Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness*** is an upcoming superhero film, based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name. The film is a sequel to *Doctor Strange*, *Avengers: Endgame*, *WandaVision* and *Spider-Man: No Way Home* crossover with *Alpha: Rise of the Phoenix Force.* It is the twenty-ninth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the eleventh instalment of Phase Four. The film was released on May 6, 2022.

The film is directed by Sam Raimi and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Karl Mordo, Benedict Wongas Wong, Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez, with Michael Stuhlbarg as Nicodemus West, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer and Calum Kelmer as Alpha the Eternity Warrior.

## Synopsis

In Marvel Studios' *Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness*, the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.

## Plot

While in isolation in the mountains of Sokovia for her actions in Westview, Wanda Maximoff is attacked by Mordo, who is still on a quest to kill all magic users, using magic from the darkhold she absorbs his power before decapitating him. Meanwhile; in the Gap Junction, the space between universes, America Chavez and Doctor Strange race to the Book of Vishanti while attempting to evade a Ribboned Creature. Strange's attempts to contain the monster prove futile, leading him to try to steal Chavez’s power to travel across universes, knowing that the process would kill her. However, the demon kills Strange before he could do so, and Chavez inadvertently opens a portal to Earth-616 which she and Strange’s corpse fall into.

Doctor Strange wakes up, believing this vision to be a nightmare. He then dresses up to attend Christine Palmer’s wedding as he remains sentimental about the time they were together, but Palmer insists that the relationship would’ve failed regardless. During the celebration, an invisible entity begins to terrorize the streets of New York. Strange is forced to respond and reveals the entity as a Gargantos, a gigantic tentacled monster. Also present is Chavez, whom Strange recognizes from his "nightmare" and rescues her. Wong arrives at the scene from Kamar-Taj, and together they kill Gargantos by gouging its eye out. Strange and Wong consult Chavez, and she explains that the demons were hunting her for her powers. As the two remain skeptical, she takes them to Defender Strange's corpse to prove that Strange's "nightmare" was actually a peek into his counterparts across the Multiverse.

Upon further inspection of Defender Strange's corpse, Strange discovers runes of witchcraft that were also present on the tentacled monster. Thus, he visits Wanda Maximoff at her farm to ask her about what she knows about the Multiverse but discovers that the farm is a chaos magic conjuration. With the Darkhold in her possession, Maximoff reveals herself as the one who sent the demons after Chavez, believing that she can reunite with Billy and Tommy once she is able to take over the Multiverse. She also gives Strange before sundown to surrender Chavez otherwise, she would hunt her down herself. Strange rejects her demands.

As Chavez is over at Kamar-Taj, the Masters of the Mystic Arts fortify the place in preparation for Maximoff's assault with a magic shield and various other defenses. However, Maximoff's telepathy targets one sorcerer and disables his magic, leading the shield to collapse, allowing her to shred through the resistance of Kamar-Taj. Strange entraps her within the Mirror Dimension, to no avail. Cornered, Chavez accidentally opens a portal, allowing herself and Strange to flee across the Multiverse. After falling through many different dimensions, including one which contains a variant of Spider-Man fighting a demon created by Wanda, they land in Earth-838, a futuristic New York City. They walk towards the New York Sanctum in search of his counterpart in this universe, but as that counterpart had died defeating Thanos, they are instead greeted by this universe's Sorcerer Supreme: Baron Mordo.

Mordo invites them to sit down for tea, and the two warn him of the Scarlet Witch. They soon pass out as Mordo had poisoned the tea, and awaken in a facility elsewhere where they meet that universe's Christine Palmer, who works there as a scientist to help with managing the Multiverse. Strange is brought forth before the Illuminati for his trial, consisting of Mordo, Iron Man, Balder the Brave, Captain Peggy Carter, Blackagar Boltagon, Captain Maria Rambeau, Reed Richards and Charles Xavier. They believe that Doctor Strange remains the greatest threat in the universe which confuses Strange. Alpha arrives and reveals that their counterpart of Strange had used the Darkhold to look for alternate ways to defeat Thanos. He found the Book of Vishanti, which the Illuminati used to kill him on Titan. But Strange confessed that he had caused an incursion, an event in which reality is destroyed, and thus volunteered to be executed to prevent further destruction. Strange remains adament that Wanda is the greatest threat and asks Alpha to trust him as his Alpha would. 838 Alpha reveals that Strange is dealing with his own Alpha's consciousness at that moment and he is let down. He reveals to Strange this universes Wanda is not a threat as they managed to suppress the Scarlet Witch powers from her years ago with the help of her father, Magneto.

Meanwhile, Maximoff deploys the Darkhold to dreamwalk into her Earth-838 counterpart in Westview to interact with her children. However, Sara Wolfe manages to destroy the Darkhold, and she burns her alive in retaliation. She also threatens to kill other sorcerers if Wong does not reveal another method to dreamwalk, leading him to reveal that the book was a copy. He takes her to a castle on Mount Wundagore where the Darkhold was first transcribed. Maximoff uses the castle's power to dreamwalk back into her Earth-838 self and raid the Illuminati Headquarters in search of Chavez. Before they could vote to execute Strange, Balder, Carter, Black Bolt, Rambeau and Richards leave to respond, but Maximoff easily kills them. Alpha and Tony then head out to fight her, resulting in Alpha snapping her neck after threatening the lives of her children in every universe if she doesn't stop. He takes her body to the judgement chamber and tells Strange she isn't a problem anymore. Suddenly, the body reanimates and the battle resumes after she kills Tony, Xavier enters Maximoff's mind and attempts to liberate her from the Scarlet Witch but fails as she snaps his neck. Mordo votes to kill Strange himself, who tricks him into destroying his restraints before escaping. Alpha tells the zombie witch that she has pushed him to do something that she will regret for the rest of her life before leaving allowing her to continue her assault.

The Illuminati's efforts have also bought Palmer enough time to free Chavez and the two escape into the sewers where they rendezvous with Strange. Maximoff continues to pursue them into the Gap Junction, where Strange retrieves the Book of Vishanti. However, Maximoff destroys it, takes control of Chavez, and uses her to send Strange and Palmer into another universe. She takes Chavez back to Earth-616, abandoning her alternate self who returns home to Westview where her children have been murdered by Alpha who burns down her house. Maximoff then prepares a ritual to take her powers while 616 Alpha senses her return. Elsewhere, Strange and Palmer land in a universe that is being destroyed by an incursion and head towards its New York Sanctum. There, they find a sinister counterpart of him who had been corrupted by his copy of the Darkhold, possessing a third eye because of it.

When questioned about the Darkhold, the sinister counterpart warns against using it, but Strange engages in a musical battle in order to retrieve the book, believing it to be the only way to stop Maximoff. The fight ends with Strange killing his evil counterpart, and Palmer reluctantly agrees to assist him as he dreamwalks into Defender Strange's corpse back on Earth-616. As he travels to Mount Wundagore, the spirits of the damned inhabiting the Darkhold attempt to attack Strange in both universes, but Palmer is able to protect Strange as he binds them into a cloak. He reunites with Wong, and they fight Maximoff but are easily defeated. Alpha also arrives and engages Wanda in battle warning her that he is currently slaughtering every variant of her children so that she can't ever be with them again.

Having siphoned enough of America's power, Wanda's anger tears a hole in the Multiverse and opens a portal to another Earth. There, she attacks her counterpart and attempts to comfort her kids, but they openly reject her. This causes Maximoff to collapse into tears, but her counterpart comforts her, breaking her out of the Darkhold's corruption. Realizing the destruction she had caused, Maximoff sacrifices herself to destroy the castle and every copy of the Darkhold within the Multiverse as Wong and Chavez return to Kamar-Taj. Before they both return to their home universes, Strange admits to Palmer that while he has always loved her, he was too insecure about committing to a real relationship. Kamar-Taj begins to rebuild as Chavez starts her training in the mystical arts, while Strange returns to New York and repairs the watch his Palmer gifted to him. Shortly after, Strange encounters Clea, a sorceress who warns him that Wanda has caused an incursion and that they must put a stop to it. She opens a portal to the Dark Dimension and the two walk in.

While Strange and the others arrive back at Kamar-Taj and discuss Chavez's future, Deadpool and X-Force wander through an open Multiverse gate she created by accident. She closes it when she notices them but Strange questions who the hell they are. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Scott Lang arrives home to find Hope sitting in the kitchen with Loki who tells her he was waiting for the real Ant-Man, Scott looks confused before Loki tells them that they are about to face a danger unlike anything they have ever seen before

## Cast

* Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange / Stephen Strange/Sinister Strange / Stephen Strange/Defender Strange / Stephen Strange/Illuminati Strange
* Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch / Wanda Maximoff
* Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez
* Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Karl Mordo / Karl Mordo
* Benedict Wong as Master Wong
* Rachel McAdams as Doctor Christine Palmer / Christine Palmer/Night Nurse
* Calum Kelmer as Alpha the Eternity Warrior / Alpha the Eternity Warrior/Illuminati Alpha
* Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier/Professor X
* Tom Cruise as Tony Stark/Iron Man
* Michael Stuhlbarg as Doctor Nicodemus West
* Topo Wresniwiro as Master Hamir
* Yenifer Molina as Gargantos
* Mark Anthony Brighton as Master Daniel Drumm
* Sheila Atim as Sara
* Adam Hugill as Rintrah
* John Krasinski as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic
* Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter/Captain Carter
* Anson Mount as Blackagar Boltagon/Black Bolt
* Daniel Craig as Balder the Brave
* Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeua/Captain Marvel
* Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man
* Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr/Magneto (Flashback)
* Josh Brolin as Thanos (Archive footage)
* Jett Klyne as young Tommy Maximoff
* Julian Hilliard as young Billy Maximoff
* Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Post-Credit; Uncredited)
* Zazzi Beets as Domino (Post-Credit; Uncredited)
* Josh Brolin as Cable (Post-Credit; Uncredited)
* Tom Hiddleston as Loki (Post-Credit; Uncredited)
* Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Post-Credit; Uncredited)
* Evangeline Lilly as Hope-Van Dyne/Wasp (Post-Credit; Uncredited)

## Appearances

### Locations

* Earth
	+ New York City, New York
		- New York Sanctum
		- Chrysler Building
		- Avengers Tower
	+ Kathmandu, Nepal
		- Kamar-Taj
	+ Wanda Maximoff's Hideout
	+ Westview, New Jersey
		- Vision Residence
* Multiverse
	+ Mirror Dimension
	+ Astral Dimension
	+ Dark Dimension

### Events

* Westview Anomaly (mentioned)
	+ Battle of Westview (indirectly mentioned)

### Items

* Cloak of Levitation
* Sling Ring
* Eye of Agamotto
* Tao Mandalas
* Eldritch Whip
* Staff of the Living Tribunal
* Darkhold
* Book of Vishanti
* Vibranium
	+ Captain Carter's Shield
* Captain Carter's Uniform
* Starforce Uniform
* Ultron Sentries
* Time Stone (mentioned)
* Runes of Kof-Kol (mentioned)

### Sentient Species

* Humans
* Frost Giants
* Mutants
* Zombies
* Inhumans

### Creatures

* Ravens
* Sheep
* Dinosaurs
	+ Tyrannosaurus
	+ Triceratops

### Organizations

* Masters of the Mystic Arts
* Illuminati
* New York City Police Department
* Avengers (mentioned)
* Cafe La Llave Espresso (billboard)

## Production

On April 20, 2017, *Deadline* reported that Scott Derrickson would work on a *Doctor Strange* sequel after he finished his work on the television series *Locke & Key*.

On October 19, 2017, Kevin Feige stated that the film would be released a number of years after *Doctor Strange*.

On March 31, 2018, C. Robert Cargill, a co-writer of *Doctor Strange*, revealed plans for the film to ideally feature Karl Mordo and Nightmare as villains.

On June 28, 2018, Kevin Feige revealed that there were plans to make a sequel to *Doctor Strange*.

On December 11, 2018, *The Hollywood Reporter* reported that Scott Derrickson would be returning to direct the sequel. It was also reported that the film's script would be worked on throughout 2019 and that the film was expected to begin production in early 2020 for an expected release in May 2021.

On July 20, 2019, at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Kevin Feige revealed that the title of the film would be *Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness* and that it was scheduled to hit theaters on May 7, 2021. After Feige revealed the title of the film, Scott Derrickson stated *"If I'm gonna do it, it has to go into the territory that drew me into the Doctor Strange comics in the first place, which is how they dipped into the gothic and the horror and the horrific, and we're going to make the first scary MCU film."* It was also announced that Elizabeth Olsen would be reprising her Marvel Cinematic Universe role of Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch in the film, as it would connect to the events in the Disney+ series *WandaVision*.

On October 17, 2019, *Collider* reported that Marvel Studios had tapped screenwriter Jade Bartlett to write the film.

On November 7, 2019, Kevin Feige revealed that the film would tie-in with the Disney+ series *Loki*.

In January 2020, it was reported that the film would start production on May 4, 2020 and that it would shoot in London, New York and Los Angeles.

On January 9, 2020, *Variety* reported that Scott Derrickson had stepped down as director due to creative differences, but that he would remain on the film as an executive producer, which Derrickson himself affirmed. It was also reported that there wasn't expected to be any delays when it came to production.

On February 5, 2020, *Variety* reported that Sam Raimi was in talks to replace Scott Derrickson as the director of the film. It was also reported that Rachel McAdams would not be reprising her role as Christine Palmer in the film, despite an earlier report that she would be returning.

On February 7, 2020, *The Hollywood Reporter* reported that Michael Waldron, head writer and showrunner of *Loki*, had been tapped to write the film, replacing Jade Bartlett. That same day, C. Robert Cargill clarified that neither he nor Scott Derrickson ever wrote a draft of the screenplay prior to their departure from the film and that Waldron's script would therefore not be derivative of their work.

On April 3, 2020, it was announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film had been pushed back from its initial release date to November 5, 2021.

On April 14, 2020, Sam Raimi confirmed that he would be directing the film.

On April 24, 2020, it was announced that the film had been pushed back to March 25, 2022, after its November 5, 2021 release date was assigned to *Spider-Man: No Way Home*.

On June 25, 2020, Chiwetel Ejiofor revealed that he would be reprising his role as Karl Mordo in the film.

On September 2, 2020, it was reported that the film would begin production in the United Kingdom in November.The next day, it was reported that the working title of the film was *"Stellar Vortex"*.

On October 1, 2020, Benedict Cumberbatch revealed in an interview that the film was scheduled to begin production in late October or early November.

On November 20, 2020, *The Hollywood Reporter* reported that the film had started production.

On December 10, 2020, *Deadline* reported that Rachel McAdams would be reprising her role as Christine Palmer in the film, despite an earlier report that she would not be returning. That same day, during Disney’s 2020 Investor Day, Kevin Feige announced that Xochitl Gomez would portray America Chavez in the film and that the film would connect to the events of *Spider-Man: No Way Home*.

On January 6, 2021, in an interview during *Jimmy Kimmel Live!*, Elizabeth Olsen revealed that the production of the film had been suspended due to a lockdown that was implemented in England as a way to try to slow the spread of COVID‑19.

On February 11, 2021, it was reported that Adam Hugill had joined the cast of the film and that he would portray Rintrah.

On February 18, 2021, in an interview with *Inverse*, Danny Elfman revealed that he would be composing the score for the film.

On February 25, 2021, it was reported that the film would wrap production on April 23.

On April 17, 2021, it was reported that the film was shooting scenes in Somerset.

On July 14, 2021, *The Hollywood Reporter* revealed that Tom Hiddleston was expected to reprise his Marvel Cinematic Universe role of Loki in the film.

On August 4, 2021, it was revealed that the film had shot scenes in Longcross, Iceland, and Italy.

On October 18, 2021, it was announced that the film had been pushed back from its March 25, 2022 release date to May 6, 2022.

On November 12, 2021, *The Hollywood Reporter* reported that the film would undergo six weeks of additional shooting that would be comprised of both additional photography and reshoots.

On January 12, 2022, *Deadline* reported that the film had wrapped up additional shooting on January 8.

On February 13, 2022, the film's official trailer was released and it revealed that Patrick Stewart would portray Charles Xavier/Professor X in the film. Stewart previously portrayed the character in 20th Century Fox's *X-Men* film series. That same day, the film's official poster was released and it revealed that Peggy Carter/Captain Carter would appear in the film.