Now that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has been out for about a week, it’s time to go a little more in-depth into the plot of the movie and where it comes from. Since the Marvel Cinematic Universe is based off of the Marvel comics, some of the best movies have taken bits and pieces of comic plots and used them to make an already exciting story even better. Thor: Ragnarok, for example, took inspiration from “Planet Hulk,” which finds the two Avengers stranded on Sakaar and battling it out gladiator style, while Captain America: The Winter Soldier is based almost entirely on Volume Five of the “Captain America” comic by Warren Ellis and Steve Epting.
Another comic series that’s been raising eyebrows and leaving people wanting more is the “House of M” storyline from 2005. During the press tour for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Elizabeth Olsen stated that she’d love to see her character go in that direction, but she thought it’d be too dark for Marvel.
The “House of M” storyline follows the X-Men and the Avengers as they try to decide what to do with Wanda Maximoff once they discover that Charles Xavier can’t hold her powers back for much longer. Wanda has gone mad after her dream reality with her husband, The Vision, and her twin boys has been wiped away by Professor X. The main consensus is to kill her, but of course there are outliers who want to find another way, such as Captain America. However, Wolverine says that it’s the only way, which sends Quicksilver back to his father, Magneto, to warn him about what they intend to do to Wanda. The two groups arrive to see her, but she is missing and then, one by one, the members of the X-Men and the Avengers begin to disappear in a flash of white light.
Now, they’re in a new world where homo superiors (mutants) rule over the homo sapiens (humans), and Magneto and the House of M rule over the mutants. The only one who can remember his past life is Wolverine, and he makes it his mission to wake everyone from this alternate reality where their greatest dreams have been granted. In this reality, Wanda has two children that she hides away with until they are discovered by Doctor Strange. It is then revealed that it was Quicksilver who suggested the idea of a “perfect” world to the Scarlet Witch, and Magneto punishes him for it with death, only to have Wanda bring him back to life and turn on her father.
The iconic quote “No more mutants” is uttered, and in a flash of white light, the number of mutants in the world goes from millions to hundreds all because Wanda said so. The question is, could this ever happen in the MCU?
After the events of Multiverse of Madness, Wanda’s fate is up in the air, but if we’re assuming that she survived, then it is possible we’ll see a plotline similar to “House of M.” Of course, we’d need the introduction of mutants first, but with America Chavez’s new introduction into the universe, multiversal travel is now possible. Whether it be an accident on America’s part or Wanda teaming up with the girl to go look for her sons, the possibilities for introducing mutants are endless.
Once mutants are introduced, and if Wanda still doesn’t have her sons back, there is the possibility that she goes mad (again) and unleashes her powers unwillingly. This wouldn’t make her the villain again to repeat Doctor Strange‘s plot, but would make her the one needing to be saved from her own power and madness. There are many routes Kevin Feige and his team could take if they wanted to take her character and the universe in this direction ⏤ we’ll just have to wait and see if that’s what he decides.
