Doctor Strange Writer Reveals the Danger in Creating the MCU’s Multiverse

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron has acknowledged the dangers of creating the MCU multiverse and the considerations behind such an expansion.

As reported by GamesRadar, Waldron recently sat down with SFX Magazine to weigh up the pitfalls and opportunities that come with exploring the MCU multiverse, noting the delicate balance that needs to be found when adding multiple layers to a story and the importance of making it “personal” when expanding your horizons to pack it all in.

“The danger is you can expand your scope too wide, and you can actually reduce the stakes if you don’t make it personal as you go bigger and wider,” Waldron explained. “But the opportunity in the multiverse is to have characters confront literal ‘What ifs?’ and alternate versions of themselves and perhaps others in their lives. It’s an interesting way to hold up a mirror to characters.”

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will see Benedict Cumberbatch’s magical superhero traversing the “mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary” and push the boundaries of the Multiverse further than ever before — and this will seemingly come with several emotional implications.

“In every way, it shapes the emotional heart of the story,” Waldron added. “The multiverse isn’t just a MacGuffin where we’re like, ‘Okay, this is just a kitschy thing that we’re playing with in this movie.’ If you’re faced with alternate realities and with alternate versions of yourself that has to become the emotional heart, exploring who you might be if you were a different version of yourself, if you made other choices, the right choices or the wrong choices. It’s complex stuff, emotionally, and that’s exactly why it’s so thrilling and so great for a cast as dramatically talented as this one.”

Waldron said he watched the first Doctor Strange movie several times while preparing for the sequel because he wanted to really understand the titular character and the journey he’d been on. “I wanted to figure out, ‘Okay, who was that character in that movie? Who was he at the end of it?'” he quizzed. “And then, ‘Alright, so what has he been through over the course of these Avengers movies and everything else, leading through to Spider-Man?'”

Doctor Strange 2 is out in theaters on May 6, and fans have been speculating whether everyone from Deadpool to Bruce Campbell will appear, with the latter possibly playing an alternate version of Strange. This would certainly fit with the recent direction of the MCU, which has seen both Spider-Man and Loki team up with variants from across the multiverse.

Sam Raimi directed the movie from a script by Michael Waldron, based on characters created by comic book legends Steve Ditko and Stan Lee. Xochitl Gomez will make her MCU debut as America Chavez in the film, which also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, Elizabeth Olson as Wanda Maximoff, and Benedict Wong as Wong.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Author: Adele Ankers. [Source Link (*), IGN All]

Shop with us!