Warning: This post contains MAJOR spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The MCU's multiverse is open and Doctor Strange 2's post-credits scenes for even more.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has plenty of twists and turns, major game-changing cameos, and an ending that leaves things open for more storytelling in the MCU. The sequel is the second solo film featuring Doctor Strange, though this one is more of an ensemble that introduces America Chavez and focuses on Wanda Maximoff, whose story continues from the end of WandaVision.
The film, the 28th entry into the MCU, lays the foundation for what’s to come while also offering plenty of intrigue and a close-ended story. Here are the biggest spoilers from the film, including which characters die.
Scarlet Witch Is Doctor Strange 2’s Biggest Villain
Following the events of WandaVision, Wanda Maximoff was seen using the Darkhold while hearing voices of her children from across the multiverse. Although it seemed like Wanda had grown from the events of the Disney+ series, she is convinced that her sons need her in every universe. By the time Doctor Strange catches up with her in the film, Wanda has been using the Darkhold for quite some time, using its magic to conjure creatures to go after America Chavez throughout MCthe multiverse in a bid to steal her powers, which allow her to move through any dimension. The fact that Scarlet Witch is the big bad of Doctor Strange 2 is revealed fairly quickly and the rest of the movie is spent trying to stop her from harming America.
America Chavez Doesn’t Have A Doppelgänger
While the film establishes that Doctor Strange, Wanda, and many others, including Christine Palmer and Mordo, have doppelgängers in other universes, America Chavez reveals she has none. She’s been to various parts of the multiverse and has found there is only one version of her. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness doesn’t spend much time contemplating what this could mean, but it’s a detail that could certainly play a role in the MCU’s future.
Doctor Strange Has Third Eye After Using The Darkhold
The trailers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness teased that Sinister Strange possessed the Third Eye, the Eye of Agamotto. After Doctor Strange fights his evil doppelgänger, he uses the Darkhold in a bid to stop Wanda and it doesn’t seem to corrupt him in the way it did his predecessor. However, in the final scene of the film, Doctor Strange keels over in pain before a third eye blinks on his forehead. Its appearance is the result of the sorcerer using the Darkhold for a long period of time.
The MCU Officially Introduces Fantastic Four & X-Men
For a long time the Fantastic Four and the X-Men were off-limits to Marvel because they were owned by 20th Century Fox, which Disney acquired the rights to back in 2019. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness manages to incorporate Reed Richards (aka, Mr. Fantastic), wearing his famous blue Fantastic Four uniform, and Professor Charles Xavier, a telepath who is the founder of the X-Men. Though the rest of their respective teams are not in the film, and Reed and Xavier are both from another universe, their appearances mark the first official connection to the MCU.
The Illuminati Are All Murdered By The Scarlet Witch
The Illuminati — Reed Richards, Professor Xavier, Maria Rambeau’s Captain Marvel, Captain Carter, Black Bolt, Mordo — go toe-to-toe with Scarlet Witch in one of the best and most gruesome fight scenes in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Wanda doesn’t hold back and, despite the team’s collective powers, they are no match for the magic of the Scarlet Witch. Her magic slices Mr. Fantastic into spaghetti-like pieces, disappears Black Bolt’s mouth and kills him without getting physically near him, uses Captain Carter’s own shield to slice her in half, topples a statue onto Captain Marvel, and snaps Professor Xavier’s neck. Brutal. Mordo is the sole survivor of the MCU's Illuminati.
Earth-838’s Doctor Strange Was Killed By The Illuminati
When Doctor Strange arrives in another world, designated Earth-838, he discovers that his doppelganger died fighting Thanos. However, he soon discovers that this alternate version of himself went after the Darkhold in a bid to stop Thanos, only he grew to have more power and began dream-walking into his other selves. While he ultimately helped defeat Thanos alongside the Illuminati, with the help of the Book of Vishanti, Strange’s use of the Darkhold to traverse the multiverse destroyed an entire world. Deciding he was too dangerous, the Illuminati decided he should be killed and Earth-838’s Doctor Strange agreed.
Scarlet Witch Topples The Darkhold Temple & Dies
After realizing that was causing fear in her sons from another universe, Scarlet Witch takes a moment to step back. And once she had the reassurance that the Wanda from Earth-838 was going to always love Billy and Tommy, Scarlet Witch understood what she had to do, and so she decided to destroy the Darkhold temple in its entirety so that no one would use the magic book again. In addition to that, she destroys the Darkhold in every dimension. As the temple collapses, it comes down on top of her, seemingly killing her for good.
Doctor Strange Goes With Clea To Fix An Incursion
After Wanda destroys the Darkhold temple and the multiverse is more or less righted for the time being, Doctor Strange is visited by a mysterious woman (who is credited as Clea, a sorceress), who appears from a portal beckoning Doctor Strange to come with her to fix an Incursion — when the boundaries of universes collide and are annihilated from existence — he caused. Without hesitation, Doctor Strange opens his third eye, says he’s not afraid, and goes with her, teasing what’s to come next on his journey.
All Versions Of The Darkhold In The Multiverse Are Destroyed
By the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda realizes that she’s scaring her kids from another world, seeing their fear of her written squarely on their faces. With the promise by her doppelganger that Tommy and Billy will be loved, Wanda decides to destroy the Darkhold temple, using her powers to collapse the entire ancient foundation. At the same time, Wanda was able to destroy all of the Darkhold books in every universe to prevent anyone from using them again in the future.
Doctor Strange Possesses His Dead Body From Another Earth
Doctor Strange wouldn’t go down without a fight and, despite being held back by the Illuminati for a bit, managed to use the Darkhold to possess another version of himself’s dead body, which he’d buried on the roof of the New York Sanctum at the start of the movie. He officially became Zombie Doctor Strange, taking on Wanda from a whole other universe while she remained in the main one. Possessing a dead multiversal body also provoked demon spirits who were against this plan because it went against the natural law of things.
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