Warning! Spoilers ahead forDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
From Sam Raimi’s direction to Danny Elfman’s score to the breathtaking performances to the stunning visual effects,Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnesshas been widely praised for various things. But Michael Waldron’s script has been heavily criticized for its overuse of exposition dumps and its focus on worldbuilding over plot. The emotional arcs feel like an afterthought while the setups for Marvel’s multiversal future take precedent (at least in the first and second acts before it becomes a full-blown Raimi horror movie with zombified Strange teaming up with the souls of the damned to fight the Scarlet Witch).
Waldron was already in Marvel’s pocket whentheDoctor Strangesequelneeded a new writer, as he’d been the head writer ofLokiin its first season. When Waldron was asked about the connections between his various MCU projects in an interview withThe Playlist, he cryptically teased, “It’s all intertwined and it all stands alone.” This is exactly the kind of spoiler-free answer that Marvel’s creatives are trained to deliver. If anything, this quote created more buzz forMultiverse of Madnessbecause it was unclear if, on top of everything else, it would also manage to cram in a few references to the events ofLoki.
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Alas,Multiverse of Madnessdoesn’t have any overt connections toLoki. There are no cameo appearances by Sylvie or Mobius or Loki himself and Strange doesn’t stumble across the Citadel at the End of Time. During their jaunt through various alternate realities, Strange and America Chavez never stop off in one of the familiar universes fromLoki’s first season. They get arrested by a secret society watching over the timeline, but it’s not the TVA; it’s the Illuminati.Multiverse of Madnessdoesn’t follow on fromLoki’s season 1 finalein any truly meaningful way, but it could be setting up the second season in subtler ways than cramming in a God of Mischief cameo.
Doctor Strange’s Incursion Might Benefit Loki
Instead of rehashing ideas fromLoki, theDoctor Strangesequel wisely focuses on exploring new universes, including one made of paint. The two universes that the movie explores in the most depth (besides Earth-616, of course) are Earth-838 and a universe destroyed by a Darkhold-corrupted Strange. The events on these two worlds dig into the conceptual notions that define the MCU’s multiverse and could prove to be relevant to the trickster godwhenLokireturns for season 2.
America can travel between universes because she has the magical ability to open up star-shaped interdimensional portals. ButMultiverse of Madnessmakes it clear that, for everybody else, it’s much more difficult. In order to return to Earth-616 to save America and Wong from the Scarlet Witch’s wrath, Strange had to meddle with the souls of the damned to “dreamwalk” into his own corpse. As revealed bythe mid-credits scene, this caused an “incursion” that could destroy the whole universe. A newly three-eyed Strange joins Clea in the Dark Dimension in the hopes of preventing that from happening.
These plot points could be the key to what happens inLoki’s next season. In the season 1 finale, Sylvie created the tangible multiverse by killing “He Who Remains” and branching out the Sacred Timeline. This seemingly created the chaotic cosmic circumstances for stories likeWhat If…?,Spider-Man: No Way Home, and indeedDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessto even take place. The finale episode’s bombshell cliffhanger ending saw Loki trapped in the wrong universe. He’s back at the TVA’s headquarters, but this version of Mobius doesn’t know who he is. The final shot of the season is a statue teasing that this universe is controlled by a more comics-accurate Kang thanthe “He Who Remains” varianthe met at the edge of time.
Could Loki “Dreamwalk”?
The season 1 finale left Loki with a problem – beingstuck in the wrong branch of the spacetime continuum– andMultiverse of Madnesshas presented a solution (albeit a dangerous solution) with the concept of “dreamwalking.” As soon as Loki finds out about “dreamwalking,” he won’t hesitate to do it, no matter the threat of an incursion. This is the trickster god, who fans have seen double-cross his own brother time and time again. He won’t let something trivial like the destruction of a universe stand in the way of what he wants.
There are a few avenues that the second season ofLokican take. Loki will either embrace his new universe and set out to conquer its ruler to claim the throne for himself, or he’ll want to return to his own universe. Season 2 could even combine both storylines, starting off with Loki trying and failing to conquer Kang before realizing he can “dreamwalk” back into his original universe to recruit the help of Sylvie and Mobius.
