In an interview with Variety, the writer behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Michael Waldron, opened up about their approach to the script and their overall goal going in. He highlighted that with the pandemic delaying the release, they had a chance to tackle the project with a fresh set of eyes, as he and director Sam Raimi reworked most of the script. He also reveals that the grizzly fate of the Illuminati has been part of his script since the first draft.
Yeah, that was there in my first draft of the script. That was the madness of the multiverse to me, really. You introduced this superhero team that makes the audience feel like they’re finally safe, and then the Scarlet Witch eviscerates them. It was a great way to knock the audience off their feet. And then hopefully, you spend the rest of the movie terrified of Wanda and what she’s capable of.
Michael Waldron
It certainly did what Waldron set out to do, as the film managed to turn Wanda into quite the force of nature. The concept also gave Sam Raimi the chance to revisit his directing styles from the Evil Dead trilogy and Drag Me To Hell. Not only did it set up just how dangerous Wanda is but also highlighted the arrogance of the Illuminati to think they can take her own or even reason with her at that time.
It also was an interesting meta twist on the concept of introducing these major characters from the characters as cannon fodder. Not only did it highlight just how dangerous the Scarlet Witch is, but gave viewers what they wanted with a brutal twist. Who knows if we’ll get some visceral deaths at this level again in an MCU project, but it does open up the possibility of some exciting horror elements in Blade.
Source: Variety
