Heading into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a prevailing belief among Marvel Cinematic Universe fans and commentators has been that Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) would serve as the film’s main antagonist. However, director Sam Raimi says that while this is true to an extent, it’s a bit more complicated than that.
During an interview with Fandango, Raimi was asked who he considers to be Multiverse of Madness‘ main villain — Wanda, Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) himself, the multiverse itself or perhaps all of the above. “Well, there’s iterations of our characters throughout the multiverse,” the director replied. “So, if I were to say Strange… I’m not really supposed to answer this question, but I might be saying altered Strange. Same with Wanda and Mordo. But I would say, at different times, all of the above.”
Marvel fans have been skeptical of Wanda ever since the Disney+ series WandaVision, which didn’t exactly portray the character in the best moral light. Furthermore, while the two are ostensibly working together in Multiverse of Madness, promotional material for the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel seems to suggest that the Scarlet Witch is at odds with the former Sorcerer Supreme. “You break the rules and become the hero. I do it and I become the enemy,” Wanda tells Strange. “That doesn’t seem fair.”
That said, promotional material for the film has also revealed that an evil, multiversal variant of Strange will most likely be a major antagonist. At this point, MCU fans are certainly no stranger to evil Strange variants, considering the events of the Disney+ animated series What If…?.
Then, there’s Mordo, who was an ally of Strange’s in the first Doctor Strange movie before turning heel. Back in 2016, the film’s post-credits scene seemed to suggest that Mordo would be the main antagonist of the sequel — though, of course, a lot has happened in the MCU since then. With all that in mind, it only stands to reason that the question of who “the bad guy” in Multiverse of Madness is wouldn’t have a totally cut-and-dry answer.
“In Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary,” an official synopsis for the Doctor Strange sequel reads.
Find out for yourself who is truly the big bad of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness when the film releases in theaters on May 6.
Source: Fandango
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