What If...? introduced a Doctor Strange Variant who was so desperate to save Christine Palmer is his reality that he eventually doomed his entire universe. The trailers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have suggested we'll now see that Sorcerer Supreme in live-action, and producer Richie Palmer commented on the possibilty during a recent interview with D23 (via The Direct).
Initially explaining that "after all the decisions he's made over the years, this movie really shows Stephen reckoning with himself," Palmer appeared to confirm that it is indeed What If...?'s Strange Supreme.
"Things get pretty trippy. We love that episode of What If...?, and we hope to do it justice," he teased. "It shows another version of Doctor Strange - one who let the universe he lived in be destroyed because of his love for Christine. If he was capable of that, for a selfish reason, is that something that our Stephen would be capable of doing, too?"
"We'd like to think, 'No, our guy's the hero,' but you never know," Palmer concluded.
Seeing as the sinister-looking Strange in the trailers for Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange sequel has repeated lines said by the What If...? Variant, we can't help but believe they're one and the same. After he joined the Guardians of the Multiverse to defeat Infinity Ultron, we're not sure what leads to him being part of that exchange between the MCU's Stephen Strange and Master Mordo.
However, if the latter is looking to show Strange just how dangerous he has the potential to be, then it's feasible he conjures the Variant up to explain how the "hero" obliterated an entire universe. That would be a fun way to pay homage to What If...? and establish the animated series as an important part of the wider MCU mythos in the process.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to be released in theaters on May 6.
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