Nothing can ever be simple or straightforward when it comes to Doctor Strange. The concept of the multiverse is sure to throw a wrench in the gears of the MCU, and the latest trailer revealed a bunch of footage that only brings up more questions than it answers. But even in the madness, there are a few tidbits that give us an idea of what’s coming. Here are eight important details that you may have missed in the latest Doctor Strange Multiverse of Madness trailer.
Keep in mind that we will be focusing on the TV spot that aired on Sunday as a part of the trailer that went live on YouTube at the same time.
Steven Strange Variants
Back in May, the show What If began to introduce MCU fans to the idea of the multiverse. Mysterio hinted at its existence in Far From Home but we didn’t see any variants of well-known characters until What If, Loki, and No Way Home. One of the most notable variants we saw was Strange Supreme which appears to be making a jump from What If in some way or another.
This variant was the first one seen in the original trailer in a room with low lighting and an inhuman skin tone. This version of Strange makes a return in the new trailer, but we also see a few more variants. Defender Strange is one of the big ones that we know next to nothing about. In one of the comics, this variant became the leader of the Defenders, as the name would imply. There’s not much else to say about him except that his hair looks different with two long stripes of gray hair going from the edge of his hairline to the back of his head.
The other variant that we saw in the trailer got a little more screen time than Defender Strange. However, this one looks infinitely more horrifying. This variant looks strikingly similar to the zombie version of Steven Strange from What If. The doctor is missing an eye and his hands are decomposing. There’s even a creepy shot of zombie Strange with multiple skeleton arms.
Crumbling Buildings
This is a detail that is right out in the open but may not be picked up by those who decided to skip out on What If. Back in the episode titled What If Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands, we see very similar imagery late in the episode. Long story short, Strange destroys the universe by time traveling and interfering with fate when he tries to save his love, Christine, from dying in a car accident.
As the universe starts to fall apart in What If, we see a very similar occurrence of buildings starting to crumble upwards into the sky. What we see in the trailer is almost a one-for-one recreation of what we see in What if when the universe is on the brink of collapse.
This new trailer and the original certainly painted the idea that the situation in Multiverse of Madness is extremely dire. Although the stakes in both trailers have seemed fairly high, there’s no indication that these similar visuals mean a universe-threatening situation is at hand.
Wanda Returns to Westview
It’ll be interesting to see Wanda return to the big screen for the first time since the events of WandaVision. She appears to be keeping her distance from the rest of humanity after she mind-controlled an entire small town in rural New Jersey.
Near the end of the Doctor Strange trailer, we see a handful of clips of Wanda talking with Strange and fighting other characters. But if you blink you might miss something in the scene where she is seen kneeling in full Scarlet Witch garb in front of a more casually dressed Wanda.
The area where they are in the trailer looks striking similar to the house Wanda had in Westview during WandaVision. It also looks like the two Wandas or her and someone else were fighting since there’s a lamp and many other objects strewn around the room. It’s not entirely clear how they’ll make it back to this location in Multiverse of Madness, but it’s sure to be a wild ride.
Glowing Figure Fighting Wanda
At first glance, it might seem like Captain Marvel was in the latest Doctor Strange trailer. There was a person seen briefly fighting Wanda that had the same glowing aura around them that Carol Danvers has when she flies around. This leads me to believe that the character we’re seeing here is someone we know but whose abilities we haven’t seen in full force yet.
Some people are speculating that it’s the Human Torch/Johnny Storm fighting against Wanda in the trailer. But I’m of the opinion that it looks more like someone with powers that are similar to what Danvers possess. A few people on Twitter are of the opinion that it’s Superior Iron Man. The biggest problem is that Iron Man has never had an aura around them as we see in the video. That means our best guess at this point would be that this character is Monica Rambeau.
Much like the two Wandas returning to what looks like their Westview home, it’s not entirely clear why Rambeau would be fighting her. They parted ways on good terms after WandaVision. But it’s possible that S.W.O.R.D. or some other organization that Rambeau is associated with is looking to apprehend Wanda for what she did in Westview.
Doctor Strange Statue
This is a bizarre shot that you might easily dismiss and forget about when watching the Doctor Strange trailer. Near the end when Maximoff and Strange are talking as it cuts between different shots we see a statue of what appears to be the good doctor in front of one of the sanctum.
At first, it just might seem like a memorial to a Strange variant who died defending New York. But then if you take your focus away from the statue you’ll notice that this is most likely not the Sanctum Sanctorum in Greenwich Village. The plants on the sides of the surrounding buildings and the trees out front don’t look like New York City. It also doesn’t look like London or Hong Kong, so this could be a new Sanctum location.
Then there’s always the possibility that if this is a scene where Strange stumbles into the future that it could be any one of those places. Just because it doesn’t look like any present-day location that doesn’t mean much when you factor in time travel. Any of the sanctums could look drastically different in the future.
Ultron Robots Hinting At Tony Stark Variant
Age of Ultron is absolutely the middle child of the Avengers movies. People usually rave about the first one, Infinity War, or Endgame. Ultron doesn’t get enough love. While we don’t know much about the details of Multiverse of Madness yet, any big MCU fan would at least question why four Ultron Sentry-looking robots seem to be leading Strange through a building while handcuffed. Although Ultron was the key villain in What If, it seems unlikely that we’ll see a triumphant return in this movie.
It is still entirely possible that these robots are under the control of someone other than Ultron. It may be strategic editing in the video, but it looks like these robots are guiding Strange to the room where he first meets the Illuminati and Professor X. Assuming these events happen in the order they’re shown in the trailer, it’s very possible that the owner of the robots is in that room.
Tony Stark is one of the founding members of the Illuminati but the one we know is dead. Despite that, it’s not impossible that a variant of Tony Stark could be in control of the robots. There have been many fans predicting that Tom Cruise will enter the MCU as Superior Iron Man, an evil version of the MCU’s biggest hero. While there’s no conclusive answer to who the robots are or who controls them, this Iron Man variant theory at least seems within the realm of reality.
Cyttorak
This one is a bit of an educated guess. There’s a creature we see early on in the trailer that’s binding America Chavez’s arms and legs with bands similar to the ones Strange uses in past movies. There has been some back and forth on whether this is just a spell Strange uses or if he’s actually invoking the Demon/God Cyttorak.
Even if Strange’s magic has nothing to do with this deity, that doesn’t rule out the possibility that what we see in the Doctor Strange trailer is the MCU’s Cyttorak. The biggest knock against this theory is that the Lord of Oblivion from the comics looks nothing like who we see in the video. The best comparison that most people would know is Juggernaut. Cyttorak essentially looks like a giant demonic version of the X-Men villain.
If this truly is Cyttorak, then Strange and his friends will surely have their hands full in Multiverse of Madness. Strange has faced a multiversal threat before when he took on Dormammu. However, Cyttorak’s Crimson Gem makes him even more dangerous since anyone who comes in contact with it becomes the new Juggernaut. This lets the demon sit back while his avatar wreaks havoc on Earth. Even if Juggernaut is defeated Cyttorak can just find a new avatar.
Illuminati/Professor X
Up until this point in the MCU, there has been almost no mention of the group known as the Illuminati outside of an easter egg in Iron Man 2. This highly secretive assembly of heroes originally consisted of Tony Stark, Steven Strange, Charles Xavier, Black Bolt, Reed Richards, and Namor. Each one represented a different part of the Marvel universe like science, magic, mutants, and more. And for the first time, we may be getting a glimpse at the MCU version of this group.
There’s a clip in the trailer that’s just a few seconds long featuring Strange in cuffs being led to a room with six chairs. You can’t really make out any of the people in the chairs even if you pause the video and zoom in on the individual characters. But there is one character we know of that will be making their MCU debut in Multiverse of Madness. In this scene we hear his unmistakable voice speak the line, “We should tell him the truth.”
The captions for the trailer refer to this character as Mysterious Voice, but it’s extremely obvious that it’s Patrick Stewart as Professor X. This will be a huge step towards the introduction of X-Men’s mutants to the MCU. As long as there aren’t any retcons around Ralph Bohner and Moon Knight doesn’t have any surprise cameos, then this will be the first time that an X-Men character will be featured in any MCU content.
If you want to spend some time digging through the Doctor Strange trailer to see if we missed anything big, you can find it down below. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness releases in theaters only on May 6.
Published: Feb 18, 2022 09:04 am