Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is out and fans have been continuing the hype train as they progress along the journey of Marvel Studios' ongoing phase 4 storyline. As fans are gearing up for the halfway point of the fourth phase, many can't help but wonder what the other realities have going on in their world and what happened to all the heroes of those respective universes.
The Doctor Strange sequel brought out a lot of big surprises, as many characters made their official Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film debut in this film. Even though they weren't part of the main MCU world, it was still a nice treat for many fans to see these icons on the big screen. The current mainline story takes place on Earth-616 while the alternate world in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was called Earth-838.
During an interview with Empire, Doctor Strange 2 co-producer Richie Palmer revealed a lot of details about the cinematic universe as a whole and also pulled the curtain back on Earth-838. "Yeah, we believe that the "838" Wanda had some children and kinda retired. She was happy living a life with her family and didn't need to prioritize being a superhero," he explained. "Maybe because of the Illuminati, maybe because of some other stuff. [...] But this is a world where Ultron seemed to work the way Tony Stark intended him to work in Age of Ultron. 'A suit of armor around the world.'"
The producer goes on to say that Tony's goal "was trying to get the Avengers to retire," which in actuality is bittersweet once one realizes that Tony on Earth-616 never got this ending. "Tony cracked Ultron, and it worked, and he went, 'Hey, whoever wants to retire and go home, can,'" Palmer said. "And then, the Illuminati came to rise behind the scenes, pulling the strings, but I think it's just a little bit of a better world for whatever reason, and Wanda was able to go and have the life that she deserved."
Seeing how the Avengers weren't present in Doctor Strange 2, it makes sense why other heroes stepped up to defend the world in case another threat were to come. This version of the Illuminati was capable of dealing with large-scale threats until Wanda showed up. This setting works very well, but it's unclear if Marvel Studios would've featured the original Avengers if their contracts were still ongoing or not.
Many fans are excited to be seeing more heroes join this ever-growing world. Right now, Marvel Studios is introducing not only a little bit of the spooky or supernatural element, but it's also diving more into the galactic realm, which is setting the stage for the next big bad who's set to replace Josh Brolin's Thanos. Some think it's Kang, some think it's Doctor Doom, and others think it's Galactus or even Magneto. One thing is for sure, Marvel Studios is entering an unprecedented era with these new heroes, so here's hoping things go as planned.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently streaming on Disney Plus.
Source: Empire (via The Direct)