Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was a big movie, but not everything Sam Raimi filmed could make the final cut. There were plenty of scenes that hit the cutting room floor with around 40 minutes of footage reportedly removed from the film during production. Among the casualties was apparently Adam Hugill’s Rintrah, a longtime ally of Stephen Strange from the comics who many fans had hoped would play a larger role in the movie’s story. The magical Minotaur does make an appearance in the movie, but he only shows up for a handful of quick scenes and speaks only a single featured line during the sequel’s runtime.
In a recent exclusive interview with our own Charles Murphy, screenwriter Michael Waldron confirmed that more of Rintrah had indeed been intended for Multiverse of Madness, but his scenes had to be sacrificed for the greater good of the project. Luckily, the creative only sees this as an opportunity to do more with the character later on:
There’s some Rintrah on the cutting room floor. But look, that’s just meat on the bone for the next go around.
Michael Waldron
In the comics, Rintrah is an inter-dimensional being from the planet R’Vaal with a gifted ability to use magic. He first encountered Doctor Strange in 1986, when the Sorcerer Supreme visited his master for a favor. He would go on to become Strange’s apprentice for a time and has grown to be a favorite cult character among longtime Marvel readers.
In the MCU, Rintrah appears to have found his own way to Kamar-Taj and is already practicing to become a Master of the Mystic Arts when Scarlet Witch attacks the sanctuary. Mercifully, he survives the assault and can be seen continuing his education alongside America Chavez at the end of the movie. Hopefully, this means we get more Rintrah in a potential Doctor Strange 3, which seems like a good bet if Waldron ends up returning to the Marvel Studios fold.
Jonathan Hickman always had a way of reinvigorating stories with some of the most popular Marvel characters. While many will remember his amazing work on the crossover event Secret Wars, he also gave us quite the iconic run focused on the Fantastic Four. It brought a new life to Marvel’s first family and redefined their position within the Marvel universe for many. It seems that may have also been a big inspiration for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron.
In an exclusive interview with Charles Murphy, the writer talked about the many influences in the film and it turns out that Hickman‘s run with Reed Richards also played a key part in how he approached the Illuminati’s Mr. Fantastic, who was played by John Krasinski.
Yes and I still have to be deliberately cagey for one more weekend about the specifics about these actors and everything, but it was really trying to draw on that Hickman version of that, of the Illuminati and how they dealt with Incursions. That specific character I love, deeply and was excited to collaborate with that actor on and how to bring him to life.
Michael Waldron
He once again highlights that he worked on bringing the character to life with Krasinski, and it’s great to see that the actor was also able to add to the character even if it’s just a brief appearance.. Though taking a strong Hickman direction is a noticeable addition to the character. Given the character’s long history, there are many iterations to choose from but many might point to Hickman‘s run as a modern definite of the character.
It’s also interesting he made a point to highlight he can’t say much more at this time. So, we’ll see if there’s more information heading our way on Mr. Fantastic and the Fantastic Four in the future. Marvel Studios does have a film planned for the team and outside of Jon Watts dropping out as a director, we don’t know what exactly their plans are just yet.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is quite the self-contained story about Strange overcoming his need for control and Wanda accepting to finally let go. Yet, we can’t deny that it also sets up quite a lot of important elements for the franchise moving forward, especially when it comes to the multiverse that is part of the madness.
The film introduces the concept of Incursions when two realities start colliding with each other and even teases how that ends up looking like when he faces off against a sinister version of himself. Yet, comic readers will quickly realize that the last time we’ve heard about Incursions we were building up to the Secret Wars crossover event. In an interview with our very own Charles Murphy, Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron teases many threats that have been piling on throughout Phase 4.
And there’s the threat. And it’s out there and now it’s out there. There’s a multiversal threat. In the same way that when the MCU first went cosmic many years ago, there was the teed up threat of Thanos. Now it’s probably a matter of you’re setting up some multiversal threats on the board. Whether it’s Kang, Incursions, whatever. It’ll be interesting to see how all those things come together.
Phase 4 has been building up not one but multiple big threats that have the multiverse as a common trait. We technically got the Incursions teased in Loki, where we saw a cartoon hinting at an event where multiverses started fighting for dominance. At the core of all these events was Kang the Conqueror, whose Variant we first met in that very Disney+ series. Perhaps Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which will see Jonathan Majors tackle the role and could further set up where
The contents of the mid-credit scene of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness give the impression that this is the direction Marvel Studios will take the threequel. However, we also all thought a Doctor Strange sequel would include 616 Mordo hunting sorcerers and we definitely didn’t get that.
As Marvel Studios likes to do, they can lift the title right from an existing story. In 2011, Marvel Comics published a hardcover novel, written by Roger Stern, that saw Stephen Strange team up with Clea to overthrow her mother, Umar, in the Dark Dimension. The novel also included an appearance by the Black Knight and really laid out some nice mythology around his sword and the Dark Dimension. Of course, Marvel Studios isn’t much for direct adaptation, so there’s plenty of room to change it up, but a film that really explores the Dark Dimension and the nature of the Faltine could be quite a ride!
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #80 (1995)
With Clea making her way into the MCU, there’s really one other major character in Strange’s circle that feels like a must: Jericho Drumm. Brother Voodoo was rumored to appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but obviously never showed. It’s time to get him off the sidelines and, if you’re going to bring him in, you might as well do it right.
Multiverse of Madness ends with Strange developing a particularly nasty case of an extra eye, thanks to his use of the Darkhold. Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme could be a really great cautionary tale about the warning issued by Mordo in the first film: the bill comes due. And in Strange’s case, the Vishanti are probably collecting.
In the MCU’s present, Wong is the Sorcerer Supreme but fans have expected Strange to fill the role and eventually, he probably will. What would be fascinating would be for him to finally be named as Sorcerer Supreme only to have the title ripped away from him and handed over to another of Earth’s most powerful magic wielders: Jericho Drumm.
Marvel Studios could adapt War of the Seven Spheres (making a few changes along the way of course) and introduce the major Mystic principalities of the multiverse. In that arc, Strange renounced his powers after refusing to participate in the War, causing him to be stripped of many of his powers. If that were to happen in the MCU, the Vishanti would need a new Sorcerer Supreme. It’s not as glamorous as some others on the list, but it could introduce some other magic users (Doctor Druid, Salome, Cadaver, Kaluu, and more) as avatars of the principalities and turn out to be a pretty trippy film.
Strange Tales
Doctor Strange #13 (2016)
Multiverse of Madness included one very important detail about Stephen Strange’s origins that was cut from 2016’s Doctor Strange: the drowning death of his sister, Donna. While this might have seemed inconsequential, it could have been a hint to the future of the franchise. While this isn’t an adaptation of a specific arc, it’s absolutely bringing the comics to the screen.
Scott Derrickson always wanted Nightmare to be part of the Strange franchise and, to be fair, he’s arguably one of Strange’s most important villains yet to be adapted. The film could see Strange haunted by nightmares of failing to save his sister, orchestrated by The Lord of Darkness. Parts of the film could visit the Dream Dimension, of which the Nightmare Realm is a corner ruled by Nightmare. It could also introduce Sleepwalker and allow for Sam Raimi to really continue to deal with some of the really off-the-wall visuals he dished out in Multiverse of Madness.
Doctor Strange: Triumph and Torment
Marvel Graphic Novel #49 Dr. Strange and Dr. Doom: Triumph and Torment (1989)
An adaptation of the 1989 graphic novel Triumph and Torment would take the most set up ahead of its release, but it could also have the biggest payoff of any of the potential story lines Marvel Studios might adapt for Doctor Strange 3. Triumph and Torment sees Doctor Strange team up with one of the Marvel Universe’s most powerful sorcerers: Victor Von Doom. The two good doctors, Strange and Doom, travel together to Hell to free the soul of Doom’s mother from her captor, Mephisto.
As stated above, it would take some set up to get here, especially since Doom doesn’t exist in the MCU yet. Much like the do with the Fantastic Four, Marvel Studios has a big job to do in making sure that their version of Doom stands apart from Julian McMahon’s version and even farther apart from Toby Kebbell’s “Hacker Doom.” One way for them to ensure that is to develop the side of Doom’s character that Fox always ignored: his mastery of the mystic arts. Over the years, the retconning of Doom’s origin story has refined it into one of Marvel Comics’ most well-developed. If any villain deserves his origins to be told, it’s Doom, and Marvel Studios could do so through a D+ series that could serve as the precursor to this film. Of course, audiences who don’t watch it might miss out on a few finer points, but if they beginning of Doctor Strange: Triumph and Torment explains that the two Doctors are headed to Hell to save Doom’s mom, it’ll be enough. Assuming Benedict Cumberbatch isn’t going to be around the MCU forever, this is the chance for the MCU to team up two major mystical powerhouses and bring one of Roger Stern’s best stories to the screen.
Doctor Strange and The Defenders
The Defenders #3 (1972)
I’ll never NOT want to see the original comic book Defenders lineup together on screen. By the time a third Doctor Strange film heads to theaters, the trio that first formed the Defenders in the early 1970s will all have been introduced into the MCU, with Namor set to debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever later this year. Clea and Valkyrie, who were also often members of the non-team, are also on the board, leaving only really the Silver Surfer as a well-known member who isn’t quite yet primed to appear.
If Raimi is going to return for the third film, the original Defenders’ arc (which was spread out over issues of Doctor Strange, Sub-Mariner, and The Incredible Hulk) would be easily adapted and allow Raimi to work with the Lovecraftian concepts that inspired him to make Within the Woods (which allowed him to make The Evil Dead) and that he revisited in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In that arc, the Defenders came together to battle an invasion of the Undying Ones, a collection of ancient demons who existed between worlds and served The Nameless One. Adapting the arc would even allow for Raimi to introduce the MCU’s version of the Necronomicon, which would serve as the bridge from Strange to Namor, whose people could have a history with either the book or the Undying Ones themselves.
It was exciting when we got our first look at the many members o the Illuminati throughout our time with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Yet, the film gave us one last surprise in the form of its post-credit sequence. After a surprisingly go-lucky Strange is wandering the streets, he is suddenly greeted by a mysterious person in the middle of the street. Eagle-eyed viewers instantly recognized the actress Charlize Theron. Comic fans also instantly realized that she is playing the Sorcerer Supreme of the Dark Dimension and Dormammu’s niece, Clea.
To celebrate joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the actress took to Twitter and shared a small BTS image of her showing off her Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness make-up. In the comics, her costume and design were heavily focused on the color purple and it was great seeing those elements remain in their translation into live-action. Sadly, she didn’t give us a full look at the costume she wore in the post-credit sequence, which seemingly took a lot of elements from across the character’s vast comic history.
It does seem like they are setting her up as a big part of the third entry of the Doctor Strange franchise, but we don’t have an official announcement on it even happening. They may even head out into the Dark Dimension in a different film altogether, but the fact she’s pretty much signed on is an exciting one either way. Her appearance was quite the treat for viewers, and hopefully will be the first of many appearances moving forward for the actress in the MCU.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has been quite the ride. Not only does it embrace Marvel’s knack for character-driven storytelling but also gave Sam Raimi time to revisit his horror roots. While being quite a memorable film, it also gave us some iconic cameos in the form of the Illuminati. We were introduced to the remnants of the team that would eventually meet their fate at the hands of the fully unleashed Scarlet Witch after underestimating her abilities.
We just got a leak that gave us our first look at Dead Strange’s Funko Pop. It included our first look at Captain Carter with her shield. This adds to another leak via scrooge_ducktales on Instagram, which includes a listing of upcoming Funko Pop additions in the form of the various members of the Illuminati. It includes Black Bolt, Charles Xavier, Mr. Fantastic, and Maria Rambeau’s Captain Marvel. There have been FUnkos of them in the past, it’ll be interesting to see their live-action designs brought to life in the collectibles.
Keep in mind the Funkos included in the visual aren’t actually the ones that are getting released, as these are those that have already been made available in the past. So, we’ll see how different the designs may turn out. John Krasinski‘s Mr. Fantastic and Anson Mount‘s Black Bolt had the most comic-accurate designs we’ve seen on the silver screen. So, they’ll definitely make some great additions to anyone’s collection.
A new leak has made its way online that reveals part of the next Doctor Strangein the Multiverse of Madness Funko Pops. While we’ve gotten the tease of Sinister Strange in the past, this lineup includes our first look at the fittingly named Dead Strange, who we initially expected to be a zombified version of the character from the multiverse. It also includes America Chavez, who takes on a new role by the end of the film which was originally going to even lead into Spider-Man: No Way Home until the release dates got shuffled around.
The additional reveal is Captain Carter, who already had one from her appearance in the What If…? series. Yet, the fact that an Illuminati member is getting a Funko could mean that the others aren’t too far behind, which would be some exciting additions to any collection. The fact they added the iconic ponytail and nightmare cape consisting of beings from hell just adds that extra flair to once again highlight just how insane the whole concept was when it happened in the film.
If there’s already packaging out there, it means the official announcements shouldn’t be too far out. We still have to wait a bit until we get a clearer look at their designs, but it’s a fun tradition to explore new Funko Pops with each new Marvel series. We’ll see if the rest are also going to get announced at some point, as it would seem strange not to make use of the biggest cameos in the film for those interested to add to their collection.
While the Illuminati have been heavily teased throughout the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailers, a latter one getting a little too spoiler happy, they still managed to keep surprised when John Krasinski showed up on the screen as Mr. Fantastic. He’s been a fan favorite to take on the role for quite some time, and people finally got their wish even if Wanda turned him into string cheese. Doctor Strange writer shared what it was like working with the actor to bring the character to life.
I’m not involved in the casting, but as with all of these performers, I worked really closely with him in bringing that character to life with him and Sam. And especially on that one, because that was the one character that had no real precedent ever in the MCU, at least. Figuring out how we want this guy to be — that was a lot of fun. That particular character is certainly one of my favorite comic book characters.
Michael Waldron
In the same interview with Variety, he hints that it was Kevin Feige that made the necessary calls to make this dream casting a reality. When asked though if he might have any idea if we’ll see him return in the role at some point, all he could really answer was that:
It’s a question for somebody else
Michael Waldron
Of course, he’s not responsible for castings, and with Jon Watts exiting the Fantastic Four project, there are a lot of opportunities to let him bring the role to life. Of course, they may have a better chance this time around of actually exploring the character with the rest of the Fantastic family. Our very own Torjborn Frazier made his case for him continuing the role, which you can check out by clicking here.
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.
When early fan theories went crazy over Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, everyone assumed that the events of Loki would directly lead to this film. Yet, those that left theaters might’ve been surprised that non of the story points from that series would lead into the film, besides the birth of the multiverse. Still, even with the series’ head writer on board, they purposefully avoided referencing or building their film with the Disney+ series in mind, as it would “have complicated things.”
If it had been necessary, I think we would have. But as it was, it felt, even to me, like we were just reaching. Nothing would have made me happier than to get to write dialogue for Tom or Owen or Sophia. But it felt like this was a story happening separate of that TVA purview. And that might have complicated things. You know, this movie was already handling a lot, and that might have just confused things even further. So I think we were okay without it.
He makes a good point, as it already was building upon the WandaVision Disney+ show with Scarlet Witch’s development. It would’ve also had to strongly focus on building upon the world that Loki set up with the TVA, which could potentially distract from the film’s overall plotline. They probably had to pick their battle on what they focus on, as they could’ve also given the Illuminati’s role to the TVA in some capacity, which may not have had the same impact.
Waldron also highlights how they keep a strong focus on how they approach their stories and they aren’t just doing it to connect everything for the purpose of connection git. We’ll see what the future has in store for Loki with a second season underway. There’s also the fact that Kang will make his appearance in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp sequel, which may actually connect the TVA with the Quantum Realm. We’ll see what the future has in store for them.
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