In just the last few weeks, the forthcoming sequel to Scott Derrickson’s 2016 psychotropic head-trip Doctor Strange has been rumored to include the introductions of Nightmare, Brother Voodoo, Umar the Unrelenting, America Chavez and Namor the Submariner, in addition to the return of Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, Benedict Wong as Strange’s right-hand-mage Wong, and Chiwetel Ejiofor likely as “old-friend-turned-enemy” Karl Mordo. At this point, I may have read a rumor on Reddit that I’m personally going to make a cameo in the film as a movie reviewer as well, watching Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness.
Now, The Illuminerdi is reporting that yet another character with deep comic book history may debut in the pic. One of the people from Stephen Strange’s history that longtime fans had hoped to see some hint of in his first adventure was his romantic interest Clea. An immensely powerful sorceress herself, she first appeared in Strange Tales #126 in November of 1964, and is the daughter of the aforementioned Umar as well as the niece of Dormammu, who Strange successfully bargained with in the time-bending culmination of Doctor Strange, making her possibly the least surprising addition to this rapidly-magnifying cast. The two were even married for a time while Clea served as sovereign of the Dark Dimension before her uncle returned to usurp her, forcing her and Strange to flee back to Earth.
Given that the plot of Multiverse of Madness is confirmed to follow directly from the events of the Disney+ streaming series WandaVision and the reality-bending havoc that Wanda Maximoff is sure to wreak in that story, Clea’s introduction may wind up involving the destruction of the wall between her own reality and the one that Stephen and Wanda occupy.
Just as Strange first came to Clea’s attention in the comics when she observed him in the Dark Dimension, she may first encounter the Sorcerer Supreme as he struggles to prevent Wanda, under Nightmare’s psychic influence, from obliterating the boundaries between dimensions. This would then set Clea against Wanda if she views the Scarlet Witch as a villain that she believes Strange is trying to destroy, and that would in turn put Strange in the exponentially more difficult position of stopping Wanda while simultaneously protecting her from a far more dangerous adversary.
That would then put the formidable sorcerers at odds over how to handle Wanda’s immeasurable and uncontrollable power, just as Emma Frost and Doctor Strange himself fundamentally disagreed on the same matter in the first issue of Brian Michael Bendis’ House of M series, thus giving their relationship an arc toward a potential third film from antagonists to eventual paramours.
Though currently still lacking a director, Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness remains scheduled to premiere on May 7th, 2021, while WandaVision debuts later this year on Disney+, with a trailer expected this Sunday during the Super Bowl.