Warning: This article contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Fans of the Disney+ series What If…? will be delighted to see multiple Easter eggs from the animated series in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. From incredible (and often terrifying) imagery to one of the show’s main characters getting a cameo, the series and film have multiple similarities and several direct connections. Aside from cameos and similar astonishing visuals, there is an abundance of connective tissue between What If…? and Multiverse of Madness, stemming from the characters and their choices, as well as plot points and critical elements that were essential in both the animated series and the film.
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Perhaps most importantly of all, both deal with and introduce audiences to the multiverse. The Watcher (narrated by Jeffrey Wright) gave audiences a glimpse into a variety of “what if” scenarios involving the characters we know and love from the MCU. Both What If…? and Multiverse of Madness address what traveling through the multiverse looks like, and the incredible visual similarities of seeing people crashing through other realities was a visual delight for fans. It also highlights how dangerous meddling with the multiverse can be.
The elegance and skill by which the MCU is able to string all of its franchises together with connective tissue is unparalleled. These two pieces of Marvel content continue that trend and delve deeper into the mystery of the multiverse, which was also an essential plot element of Spider-Man: No Way Home. The tricky balance of weaving together television streaming series and content made for the silver screen is not an easy thing to do, but the MCU has been successful so far. Of course, only time will tell if they can continue stringing together all of these massive projects spanning from Disney+ to the silver screen. It’s all there, and it all matters according to the brilliant minds at Marvel Studios. With all of that said, here are the connections and similarities between Multiverse of Madness and What If…?.
Into The Multiverse
Marvel Studios
While Multiverse of Madness finally gave audiences a glimpse at what multiversal travel looks like in live-action MCU, fans got a similar experience in the penultimate episode of What If…? When The Watcher is being pursued by Infinity Ultron through the multiverse, it appears as though they are literally punching each other into other realities as each different landscape shatters like glass to reveal an entirely different reality. This fascinating depiction of The Watcher and Ultron duking it out from universe to universe is somewhat replicated in Multiverse of Madness. When America Chavez opens a portal to a different reality, Doctor Strange dives to rescue her from the clutches of the Scarlet Witch, sending them crashing through multiple realities before landing on Earth-838 as designated by that reality’s Illuminati. The visual spectacle is astonishing, and, per Variety, the CGI is nothing short of extraordinary.
The visual splendor doesn’t end there. In episode four of What If…?, Dr. Strange attempts to use the Time Stone to save his love Christine Palmer from dying in a car accident. Try as he might, he cannot stop her death from occurring. Strange turns to dark magic that eventually leads to the destruction of that universe. The way What If…? illustrates a reality caving in on itself is so unique. Doctor Strange walks out of the Sanctum to see New York’s skyline slowly turning into an inky splash covering the skies in this black inky substance. Cars, buildings, and people appear to be turning into an inky black puddle as they cannot survive in a universe once irreparable harm has been done, causing a reality to collapse in on itself into nothing. Multiverse of Madness took that inky New York Skyline and brought it to live-action with tremendous flare. Once again, the visual components of this film, particularly the scenes mentioned, are outstanding, even by the high bar set by past MCU films. The similarities do not end at the striking visuals, some of which, will haunt your nightmares.
A Multiverse of Cameos
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a film loaded with cameos, particularly during the scenes involving The Illuminati in the Earth-838 universe. Fans are treated to a live-action Reed Richards of The Fantastic Four, played by John Krasinski, as well as Sir. Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role as Professor Xavier from the X-Men Fox Franchise. Another familiar face and pleasant surprise was the return of Captain Carter from What If…? Captain Carter was the First Avenger in a what-if scenario that involved her getting the super-soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers. When her shield appeared on a very small section of a Multiverse of Madness poster, people immediately began speculating. That speculation was confirmed when the trailers and TV spots revealed Captain Carter facing off against Wanda. One thing Captain Carter proves in Multiverse of Madness is that she is every bit as fierce and tough as Captain America, and that she too “can do this all day,” as she bravely stands against Wanda with Captain Marvel, even after Wanda easily — and savagely murders — both Reed Richards and Black Bolt. But as it stands now, in the Earth-838 reality, Captain Carter has no guts, thanks to Wanda.
The Concept of Variant Stranges
While it was the Disney+ series Loki, that introduced fans of the MCU to the concept of variants, What If…? reinforced the idea that the heroes we know live in the main MCU reality also exist in other realities, sometimes looking exactly like their variants…and sometimes not. We saw this in Loki with Gator Loki, Kid Loki, Sylvie, and so on. But, What If…? continued exploring the concept of variants by showing different universes in which we are introduced to variants of the heroes we’ve grown to know and love over the last decade of MCU cinematic excellence.
One of the most compelling and depressing episodes of What If…? featured Doctor Strange attempting to use the Time Stone and dark magic in order to stop his love interest Christine Palmer from dying. Try as he might, her death was an absolute point in that universe, meaning it is unchangeable, it has to happen in that universe. Attempting to change its results will cause the destruction of that universe. Still, despite these warnings from the Ancient One, Strange continued his quest, ultimately leading to the destruction of his universe in What If…? Before this happens, we see a duel between the corrupted Doctor Strange and a version of himself that was trying to reason with him. This duel is similar to the one we see in Multiverse of Madness between Strange and Sinister Strange, to be confused with the corrupted character in What If…? The two characters do have similarities, though. Both were corrupted by dark magic, and both caused the destruction of his respective universe.
Still, it is important to note that they are two different variants and the What If…? Doctor Strange does get some redemption in the season finale, whereas Sinister Strange in Multiverse of Madness is blasted out a window and impaled. We are also briefly introduced to Defender Strange in the opening sequence of the film, but he meets a very quick end. Lastly, there is the Doctor Strange from universe 838. He was also corrupted by the Darkhold and killed by his fellow members of the Illuminati after they defeated Thanos.
Zombies!
Marvel Studios / Disney
While this term is not entirely accurate to describe how Doctor Strange possesses the corpse of one of his variants, the imagery certainly gives off an undead vibe, so we’re going to roll with it. One of the most enjoyable episodes of What If…? was the zombie apocalypse episode (set around the time of Infinity War in a different reality). It is one of the darkest pieces of MCU content to date. We get another call-back to the zombie episode when Wanda absolutely decimates the Illuminati HQ when she is covered in oil from all the Ultron Sentry bots she obliterates. One scene shows Wanda, eyes glowing a scorching scarlet, covered in oil that looks like blood — a clear call-back to the film Carrie, when the young girl ends up completely snapping after a prank gone too far — and fans of What If…? will appreciate this depiction as it calls back to Zombie Wanda who elicited pure terror from her victims, many of them being her fellow Avengers. Interestingly, the Zombie episode and the Doctor Strange episode of What If…? are considered two of the best entries in the series thus far. What If…? is slated for a second season, so we could see even more Easter eggs that tie into Multiverse of Madness as we descend into the Animated Marvel Multiverse once again in What If…? Season 2.
