The Disney+ series What If…? was actually an inspiration for the film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The Marvel Phase Four movie was a deep dive into the chaotic nature of the multiverse and for the first time, delivered an unbridled look into the extent of its reach and the havoc one could unleash if their separate worlds collide.
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Kevin Feige, the President of Marvel Studios, has remained central to the development and building of the story of the Doctor Strange sequel and it was his vision to recreate some part of the What If…? Season 1 Episode 4’s narrative in the live-action Marvel film.
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The Overlap of Doctor Strange 2 With What If…?
Bryan Andrews, the director of the initial season of the Disney+ animated series recently revealed a few behind-the-scene actions that went into the creation of Benedict Cumberbatch‘s second solo venture. While the film touched upon a hoard of new ideas, the crux of the matter was inherently about dealing with personal loss and tragedy and overcoming it.
This is a theme that we also find in What If…? episode 4 titled, What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? One simple turn of fate could shift the scales of the foreseeable future in waves that can forever change the fabric of the current reality, that was what What If…? strived to convey and what Kevin Feige was so mesmerized by that he wanted it reproduced on the big screen.
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Kevin Feige’s Advice to the Doctor Strange 2 Crew
The Marvel Studios pioneer and visionary had one request to the team of writers and collaborators working on the Doctor Strange 2 script during its pre-production phase — that they watch the What If…? Strange Supreme episode. Bryan Andrews revealed,
“Another reason is that Benedict Cumberbatch did an amazing job playing evil Doctor Strange, and that was long before ‘Multiverse of Madness’ was really getting started. They had kernels of ideas, so Kevin had them watch our stuff and was like, ‘You guys better watch out, cause this shit’s good.’
And they came out of that meeting just going like, ‘Oh my God, what are we gonna do for a movie?’ I think they borrowed a lot from what we were trying to do in that episode, which is crazy.”
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Although we do not see Stephen Strange losing Christine Palmer to death in the sequel, the audience does find a sense of letting go that accompanies the feeling of closure between the pair. Now that the multiverse is open to traverse and the Earth-838 is officially in the mainstream MCU, it remains to be seen if future re-enactments of episodes from What If…? are brought into the fold by Marvel and to what extent.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now streaming on Disney+ and What If…? Season 2 is set to premiere on the streaming platform in 2023.
Source: Deadline
