‘Doctor Strange 2’ writer says the hero will face the consequences of his actions

You’ve probably seen it at least once by now, but spoilers ahoy for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

The events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have left Benedict Cumberbatch’s title hero in an interesting position, and not just because that third eye opening up on his forehead turned out to be the Darkhold’s version of “f*ck around and find out”.

Charlize Theron’s Clea appeared on the scene to immediately invite the Master of the Mystic Arts on a brand new adventure, which we’re all assuming will serve as the basis for Doctor Strange 3. Of course, the alternate realities aren’t going anywhere, either, with Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron teasing where things could potentially be heading in an interview with ComicBook.

“That’s the bill coming due. As Wong says, ‘You used the Darkhold to possess your own corpse.’ Surely, there must be some fallout. It was a little bit of a throwback to old Evil Dead, and that groaner of an ending, or it’s just like, ‘Oh my God, things turned out bad in the end.’ So, yeah. We’ll see what all that means for Stephen.”

The former surgeon’s interactions with Wong, America Chavez, and to a lesser extent Wanda Maximoff have softened his cold-hearted center, which Waldron hinted could be another key part of his continued arc.

“The multiverse has forced a mirror up in front of his face, and has made him do some self-reflecting, that I think he’s refused to ever do. Even when he got into that initial acciden, instead of really thinking about who he was, instead he went and just became the most powerful sorcerer alive. This is a guy who doesn’t want to go to therapy. I think now, there’s been some forced self-reflection over the course of this adventure, and I think he’s probably more capable than ever at working as part of a team.”

While we definitely don’t need to see Stephen Strange in therapy, his most recent standalone adventure has at least set him up to head down a new narrative path, one where he’s not quite as selfish as he’s been so far.