Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness!
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a huge turning point for the MCU as it has officially opened the multiversal doors of what is possible in Marvel films and television shows. It can also be a lot to take in. To help answer some of the movie’s biggest questions, we spoke to screenwriter Michael Waldron and he helped break down some of its most memorable moments, while also offering up a bit of a mea culpa to fans bummed out by the fate of certain characters...
Despite trailers spoiling that Professor X and Captain Carter would be showing up in the MCU’s version of the Illuminati, Marvel did manage to keep one of its biggest secrets under its Cloak of Levitation - the arrival of John Krasinski as Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards. The Multiverse really opens up the flood gates as to which characters can appear, and Waldron shared a bit on how they settled on these few alongside Lashana Lynch’s Captain Marvel and Anson Mount’s Black Bolt.
“Honestly, it was an ever-evolving lineup,” Waldron said. “I personally never dreamt that we'd end up with who we ended up with. I feel like every character we got at one point was like, ‘Well, that's the showcase character.’ So, if we can just get them, we can surround them with others. And by the end it felt like we'd gotten all of our top choices, somehow we'd made it work. And that was just so fortunate and it was great. The actors were also gracious with their time to come in and shoot that stuff and that was really fun.”
While it was… well… fantastic to see these characters in the MCU, it was just as heartbreaking to see them come to a quick and brutal demise at the hand of Wanda/Scarlet Witch. If it provides any comfort, Waldron was just as upset by the turn of events.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Waldron said to the fans saddened by the fates of these beloved characters. “I hate it when characters I love do bad stuff too, but I'm glad it elicits a strong reaction. And she's trying to get her kids, and I think she's got a strong defensible point of view in her pursuit.”
Waldron is a big wrestling fan and was also the creator of the wrestling series Heels, and we asked him if the Illuminati were brought in to “do a job for Scarlet Witch to get her over.”
“It's true,” Waldron said. “Well, look, I think nobody is as over as the Scarlet Witch, even before that moment. The challenge was, can we get her over even more? How big of a pop can we get? And it turns out a pretty big one.”
In the wrestling world, Wanda essentially turns into a heel, or a character that is portrayed as the villain of the story. This heel turn for Wanda was furthered by many of her speeches, which Waldron had a great time writing.
“Yes, of course. Well, it's just Lizzie Olson is such a weapon, same as Benedict [Cumberbatch],” Waldron said. “I've been so fortunate with the actors I've worked with in the MCU, those guys, Tom [Hiddleston], everybody in Loki. But I think that there's a lot of people telling Wanda what she should feel, why she should feel it, what she should do, what she shouldn't do and why she shouldn't do it.
“And we're meeting a version of her who is fully actualized in this movie and is sick of that. And in working with Lizzie, we tried to be selective and deliberate with Wanda expressing her point of view when she found hypocrisies [in] the stuff all these people were saying to her.”
It’s not all sad news, however, as Waldron leaves hope that this may not be the last time we see some of these Illuminati characters.
“I don't know,” Waldron said when asked if Captain Carter was the same character we saw in Marvel’s What If…?. “I'm reticent to canonize that either way. I hope not. I hope that's not the one. That'd be too bad.”
As for Professor X, Waldron wasn’t ready to confirm nor deny that the version of Patrick Stewart’s character we see in Doctor Strange 2 was the same one from the animated series, but he did share that his looks, powers, and that iconic music cue appeared as they did as a result of a love for the show.
“I guess that was kind of spearheaded by Kevin Feige, myself, and really Richie Palmer, our producer should get a lot of the credit for that, pushing that specific look and feel,” Waldron said. “We're ’90s kids and grew up loving that show and thought it'd be really cool. And it was really cool that Danny Elfman did his version of that iconic cue. That's amazing.”
Speaking of What If…?, two of the biggest connections between the Disney+ show and Doctor Strange 2 is the relationship between Stephen Strange and Christine Palmer and the question of whether or not Doctor Strange is “fated to go bad” in every universe.
“Well, I was definitely aware of What If...?. I think when I came on [the movie], the Doctor Strange episode of What If...? was still in the animatic phase,” Waldron said. “But I watched that and knew what they were doing, which was more helpful to me that [executive producer] Ashley Bradley had focused on Strange and Christine's relationship [in the episode], because I knew I wanted to focus on that as the heart of his emotional story in our movie.
“So, it didn't necessarily affect the multiverse… But it does represent one more cautionary tale of a time that is Stephen Strange, somewhere in the multiverse, has gone bad and ruined a universe. And I think that's part of what our Strange is wrestling with by the end of our movie, is this notion of weight, ‘Is every version of me fated to go bad and therefore, does that mean I'm going to go bad?’"
One version of Stephen Strange that undoubtedly went bad was Sinister Strange, and our Doctor Strange ran into him in a universe beset by an incursion, which we may be seeing more of in the future. The benefit of visiting this world was not only seeing what could happen were Strange to go a certain way, but also because it gave us the music fight between the two characters.
“Well, that scene was a... It was always written as a magic fight between Strange and Sinister Strange,” Waldron said. “And like so many of the fights, by the end of this, [it] sounds like I wrote none of it. I actually did none of the cool parts of the movie.
“That music fight, Doug Lefler, one of our story board artists who's worked with Sam [Raimi] forever and who boarded the upside-down kiss in the original Spider-Man, that was him that came out with that specific notion of throwing music notes at each other. And so, then it was everybody collaborating and really specifically, Sam, of course, and then Janek Sirrs, our VFX supervisor, and then Danny really refining the way it was going to sound.”
Doctor Strange and Wanda may be the stars of the movie, but Xochitl Gomez’s America Chavez is just as important to the story as the main target of Scarlet Witch. We still have much more to learn about this new character, but Waldron believes she won’t be defined by her incredible power to jump through the multiverse.
“Well, I think it's one thing to be able to harness your multiversal travel power,” Waldron said. ”That's not a power you exactly want to use all the time. If anything, I think that's an absolute ‘break glass in case of emergency’ power for her. So, I think that developing a much more refined, magical skill set will only serve better as she becomes a superhero.”
As for the Scarlet Witch… During the film’s final moments, Wanda sees the error of her ways after witnessing the horror in her children’s eyes when they see her as the monster she doesn’t want to be. In turn, she makes the decision to destroy all knowledge of the Darkhold by bringing down Mount Wundagore upon herself. It may look as though she died at that moment, but it has been proven time and time again that characters have survived much worse.
Waldron wouldn’t budge one way or the other as to if we will see Wanda again in Earth-616 (our universe!), but he didn’t fully slam the door either.
“Well, a mountain fell on her, so we'll see,” Waldron concluded.
For more, check out our Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness review, our explainer of the film’s ending and post-credits scenes, how a fan-theory cameo was “never an option,” and why we believe Scarlet Witch’s arc makes total sense.
Continue reading...
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a huge turning point for the MCU as it has officially opened the multiversal doors of what is possible in Marvel films and television shows. It can also be a lot to take in. To help answer some of the movie’s biggest questions, we spoke to screenwriter Michael Waldron and he helped break down some of its most memorable moments, while also offering up a bit of a mea culpa to fans bummed out by the fate of certain characters...
The Ever-Evolving Lineup of the Illuminati
Despite trailers spoiling that Professor X and Captain Carter would be showing up in the MCU’s version of the Illuminati, Marvel did manage to keep one of its biggest secrets under its Cloak of Levitation - the arrival of John Krasinski as Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards. The Multiverse really opens up the flood gates as to which characters can appear, and Waldron shared a bit on how they settled on these few alongside Lashana Lynch’s Captain Marvel and Anson Mount’s Black Bolt.
“Honestly, it was an ever-evolving lineup,” Waldron said. “I personally never dreamt that we'd end up with who we ended up with. I feel like every character we got at one point was like, ‘Well, that's the showcase character.’ So, if we can just get them, we can surround them with others. And by the end it felt like we'd gotten all of our top choices, somehow we'd made it work. And that was just so fortunate and it was great. The actors were also gracious with their time to come in and shoot that stuff and that was really fun.”
While it was… well… fantastic to see these characters in the MCU, it was just as heartbreaking to see them come to a quick and brutal demise at the hand of Wanda/Scarlet Witch. If it provides any comfort, Waldron was just as upset by the turn of events.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Waldron said to the fans saddened by the fates of these beloved characters. “I hate it when characters I love do bad stuff too, but I'm glad it elicits a strong reaction. And she's trying to get her kids, and I think she's got a strong defensible point of view in her pursuit.”
Waldron is a big wrestling fan and was also the creator of the wrestling series Heels, and we asked him if the Illuminati were brought in to “do a job for Scarlet Witch to get her over.”
“It's true,” Waldron said. “Well, look, I think nobody is as over as the Scarlet Witch, even before that moment. The challenge was, can we get her over even more? How big of a pop can we get? And it turns out a pretty big one.”
In the wrestling world, Wanda essentially turns into a heel, or a character that is portrayed as the villain of the story. This heel turn for Wanda was furthered by many of her speeches, which Waldron had a great time writing.
“Yes, of course. Well, it's just Lizzie Olson is such a weapon, same as Benedict [Cumberbatch],” Waldron said. “I've been so fortunate with the actors I've worked with in the MCU, those guys, Tom [Hiddleston], everybody in Loki. But I think that there's a lot of people telling Wanda what she should feel, why she should feel it, what she should do, what she shouldn't do and why she shouldn't do it.
“And we're meeting a version of her who is fully actualized in this movie and is sick of that. And in working with Lizzie, we tried to be selective and deliberate with Wanda expressing her point of view when she found hypocrisies [in] the stuff all these people were saying to her.”
It’s not all sad news, however, as Waldron leaves hope that this may not be the last time we see some of these Illuminati characters.
“I don't know,” Waldron said when asked if Captain Carter was the same character we saw in Marvel’s What If…?. “I'm reticent to canonize that either way. I hope not. I hope that's not the one. That'd be too bad.”
As for Professor X, Waldron wasn’t ready to confirm nor deny that the version of Patrick Stewart’s character we see in Doctor Strange 2 was the same one from the animated series, but he did share that his looks, powers, and that iconic music cue appeared as they did as a result of a love for the show.
“I guess that was kind of spearheaded by Kevin Feige, myself, and really Richie Palmer, our producer should get a lot of the credit for that, pushing that specific look and feel,” Waldron said. “We're ’90s kids and grew up loving that show and thought it'd be really cool. And it was really cool that Danny Elfman did his version of that iconic cue. That's amazing.”
Multiverse of Madness’ Connection to What If…?
Speaking of What If…?, two of the biggest connections between the Disney+ show and Doctor Strange 2 is the relationship between Stephen Strange and Christine Palmer and the question of whether or not Doctor Strange is “fated to go bad” in every universe.
“Well, I was definitely aware of What If...?. I think when I came on [the movie], the Doctor Strange episode of What If...? was still in the animatic phase,” Waldron said. “But I watched that and knew what they were doing, which was more helpful to me that [executive producer] Ashley Bradley had focused on Strange and Christine's relationship [in the episode], because I knew I wanted to focus on that as the heart of his emotional story in our movie.
“So, it didn't necessarily affect the multiverse… But it does represent one more cautionary tale of a time that is Stephen Strange, somewhere in the multiverse, has gone bad and ruined a universe. And I think that's part of what our Strange is wrestling with by the end of our movie, is this notion of weight, ‘Is every version of me fated to go bad and therefore, does that mean I'm going to go bad?’"
The Music Fight and Its Spider-Man Connection
One version of Stephen Strange that undoubtedly went bad was Sinister Strange, and our Doctor Strange ran into him in a universe beset by an incursion, which we may be seeing more of in the future. The benefit of visiting this world was not only seeing what could happen were Strange to go a certain way, but also because it gave us the music fight between the two characters.
“Well, that scene was a... It was always written as a magic fight between Strange and Sinister Strange,” Waldron said. “And like so many of the fights, by the end of this, [it] sounds like I wrote none of it. I actually did none of the cool parts of the movie.
“That music fight, Doug Lefler, one of our story board artists who's worked with Sam [Raimi] forever and who boarded the upside-down kiss in the original Spider-Man, that was him that came out with that specific notion of throwing music notes at each other. And so, then it was everybody collaborating and really specifically, Sam, of course, and then Janek Sirrs, our VFX supervisor, and then Danny really refining the way it was going to sound.”
America Chavez’s Future in the MCU
Doctor Strange and Wanda may be the stars of the movie, but Xochitl Gomez’s America Chavez is just as important to the story as the main target of Scarlet Witch. We still have much more to learn about this new character, but Waldron believes she won’t be defined by her incredible power to jump through the multiverse.
“Well, I think it's one thing to be able to harness your multiversal travel power,” Waldron said. ”That's not a power you exactly want to use all the time. If anything, I think that's an absolute ‘break glass in case of emergency’ power for her. So, I think that developing a much more refined, magical skill set will only serve better as she becomes a superhero.”
As for the Scarlet Witch… During the film’s final moments, Wanda sees the error of her ways after witnessing the horror in her children’s eyes when they see her as the monster she doesn’t want to be. In turn, she makes the decision to destroy all knowledge of the Darkhold by bringing down Mount Wundagore upon herself. It may look as though she died at that moment, but it has been proven time and time again that characters have survived much worse.
Waldron wouldn’t budge one way or the other as to if we will see Wanda again in Earth-616 (our universe!), but he didn’t fully slam the door either.
“Well, a mountain fell on her, so we'll see,” Waldron concluded.
For more, check out our Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness review, our explainer of the film’s ending and post-credits scenes, how a fan-theory cameo was “never an option,” and why we believe Scarlet Witch’s arc makes total sense.
Continue reading...