DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

REALITY SHATTERS IN DOCTOR STR ANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS. WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?

WORDS: NICK SETCHFIELD

© MARVEL, ALAMY, GETTY

THEY CALL IT NOMINATIVE determinism: the idea that someone’s name shapes their career. Stephen Strange has already made a compelling case for this theory, bringing the uncanny realm of magic to the MCU in his movie debut. But hold on to your astral selves, true believers: Strange’s career moves are about to get exponentially stranger.

“Man, he gets into some trouble, I tell ya,” laughs Michael Waldron, writer of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, a sequel whose title more than hints at the full-tilt weirdness to come. “It’s some multiversal hijinks! This is a guy who, as both a surgeon and as a superhero, relishes being in control. Now he’s facing forces in this movie that are far beyond his control, and he’s really having to reckon with that. It’s an interesting conflict for him.”

Waldron has form when it comes to multiversal hijinks. With credits on the thoroughly interdimensional Rick And Morty, he also served as head writer on Loki, a Disney+ show that played in Marvel’s quantum sandbox. Loki primed audiences for future head-trips: animated series What If…? took an even deeper dive into alternate worlds while on the big screen Spider-Man: No Way Home showed the crowd-pleasing possibilities of mix ’n’ match realities.

FEARING THE VERSE

So what does this multiversal playground give a writer? “Opportunity,” says Waldron. “And traps. Pitfalls. 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. 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.

“In every way it shapes the emotional heart of the story. It has to. 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.”