It seems like a lifetime ago now, but when original director Scott Derrickson was beginning to put the pieces into place for the Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel that would eventually become Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the status of Rachel McAdams’ Christine Palmer was very much up in the air.
The actress is hardly known for appearing in a raft of big budget blockbusters, while it wouldn’t be unfair to say that she didn’t get much to do in the first installment as the latest in a long line of generic MCU love interests, and it was initially claimed that she wouldn’t be returning at all.
Eventually, she was confirmed to be joining the Benedicts Cumberbatch and Wong, along with Chiwitel Ejiofor, in reprising their roles from the original. In a new interview with IndieWire, McAdams admitted that she wasn’t always guaranteed for Doctor Strange 2, especially when Derrickson first dropped out of the director’s chair.
“Not necessarily. I think there was a lot of script work being done and then there was sort of a changing of the guard. I was still in the dark, and then it was like, ‘Alright, I’m coming now, OK!”
Given the star’s generally sunny disposition, there was probably a little more to the situation than that, but Christine’s screentime has been substantially improved in Multiverse of Madness, where she ends up accompanying the title hero and his new charge America Chavez on their multiversal adventure.
Should Doctor Strange 3 end up happening, which it almost certainly will, then maybe McAdams will simply sign on the dotted line with no questions asked.
