After Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home, it became clear that Marvel was going all-in on the Multiverse—aka the kind of plot device allows for three different Spider-Men to appear in one film. The brand new Super Bowl trailer for their next cinematic feature, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, suggests a movie that’s going to over-deliver on what the title promises. To help make sense of it all, let’s break down all the footage to give you context on what you may have missed.
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Since the end of No Way Home, Doctor Strange has been having nightmares with visions of death and destruction. Some of these images include the mystical arts home of Kamar-Taj in Nepal under siege, America Chavez, aka Miss America (Xochitl Gomez), held up by some sort of monster, and (a version of) Strange falling through a portal. In the comics, Miss America has a handful of powers, including super strength and flight, but her most important ability—especially for a multiversal movie—is the power to kick open star-shaped holes to travel between realities freely. We see a few of these shapes pop up throughout the latter portion of the footage, so she and Strange will certainly leverage this ability to jump around various universes.
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A few of those opening images chart similar events from the first trailer, but the latter point is worth mentioning. In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, you’ll notice this version of Strange dressed in a red costume and a white-streaked ponytail. You can see a better quality image of this costume in the teaser trailer, which aired during the broadcast, but the suit is a nod to Strange’s time in the Defenders comic book series (specifically Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson’s 2011 stint on the title). Given the Multiverse of it all, we’re probably seeing a Strange variant, perhaps one dedicated to defending (heh) all of the various realities.
After a relatively thankless role in the first installment, Rachel McAdams is back as Strange’s love interest Christine Palmer, although it looks like she’s marrying someone else. Of course, something interrupts the special day. The cause for commotion? The one-eyed monster Gargantus, who we saw facing off against Strange and America in the first trailer; you’ll notice the next shot after the one of Christine is America running through a similar-looking street from the initial teaser.
One other note about Christine: the spot that actually aired during the Super Bowl showed her inside some interior with America captured in a sort of holding cell. Does she end up coming along for the ride? Or are we seeing an alternate version of Christine?
Here’s where things begin to get really interesting. As Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Mordo—last seen at the end of the first Doctor Strange absorbing the magical power of others—explains Strange’s destruction of reality, we see Strange placed into a set of tech-y handcuffs and walked by a set of robots (similar to the Ultron Sentries from Age of Ultron) into some sort of chamber wherein we hear, and slightly see, none other than . . .
. . . Sir Patrick Stewart. Give it up for the MCU debut of Professor Charles Xavier—or some version of Professor X at least. Fox once held the rights to the X-Men series, but with Disney’s acquisition of Fox back in 2019, the franchise is back in the hands of Marvel Studios. The X-Men franchise will undoubtedly have its own set of movies at some point in the future. Still, the inclusion of Stewart in Multiverse of Madness feels like a nice treat in the interim.
But that’s not all: The gathered chamber likely means audiences will get to see some version of the Illuminati. In the comics, the Illuminati is a secret society of the best and brightest minds intended to function as a superhero United Nations. The initial set of founding members included Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, Professor Xavier, Black Bolt, Namor, and Black Panther. For a few different reasons, we won’t see the exact group form in Multiverse of Madness. However, a new Multiversal Illuminati could be a great place to slot in a handful of cameos alongside Stewart. Might we see Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter variant from the Disney+ animated series What If? A new poster released alongside this trailer contains a tease of her shield, so she’s probably a safe bet. Another possible clue in the poster includes a figure that looks an awful lot like Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool. With Sir Patrick returning, the likelihood of some other old Marvel actors also returning to reprise their roles is a strong possibility, as there are a handful of seats in that council room.
See the Captain Marvel-like figure attacking Wanda inside the Illuminati’s lair? It’s not Carol, but some alternate version of either Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) or her daughter Monica (Teyonah Parris), last seen in WandaVision. The short hair leans Maria, but wouldn’t it be interesting for Wanda to face off against some version of Monica, given their history together in Westview?
The rule-breaking Wanda tells Strange about likely refers to the post-credits sequence of WandaVision. If you remember, Wanda has the Darkhold, an evil spellbook, which is helping her to scour the multiverse in search of her children—Billy and Tommy—who went missing when Wanda’s spell over Westview fell. In fact, we see Wanda interacting with some version of herself inside her old Westview home. Wanda’s search has probably caused her to run afoul of the space-time-continuum, and she’s not keen on how Strange’s misbehavin’ gets rewarded while hers is punished. All this is setting the stage for a seemingly villainous turn.
As Wong cries out to Strange, we see the sorcerer absorbing shadowy figures and becoming inherently zombie-like in the process. Is this our actual Strange? Or just another variant? There’s a solid possibility Marvel is playing coy with a lot of the footage—as is the case in all Marvel trailers—but this doesn’t look good for dear ole’ Stephen. Nevertheless, it’s one hell of a visual to end a deeply exciting trailer on—and one that harkens back to Raimi’s horror-filled roots. Is May here yet?