Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness kicked off with Stephen Strange and Wong battling it out with a squid-like creature called Gargantos. We'd later learn that the monster had been unleashed by the Scarlet Witch to capture America Chavez, and while there is a comic book character called Gargantos, the belief heading into the sequel was that this was a renamed Shuma-Gorath.
Marvel Studios kept Wanda Maximoff's villainous turn under wraps in marketing and seemingly wanted fans to believe Gargantos would be the big bad, though that proved to be a blatant misdirect.
Gargantos was ultimately dealt with relatively quickly by Strange, and there was a lot of disappointment that might be it for Shuma-Gorath, an incredibly formidable villain in the comic books who has his sights set on controlling the entire Multiverse. Well, it turns out that wasn't Shuma after all.
Talking during the Director's Commentary for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, writer Michael Waldron notes, "This is the monster Gargantos, not to be confused with Shuma-Gorath."
These comments, while brief, should come as a relief to fans.
While there may be some complicated rights issues surrounding the "Shuma-Gorath" name, this would have been a terrible waste of the character and hopefully means we'll still get to see him down the line. Remember, What If...? has teased a gigantic squid-like creature across multiple realities who we're convinced is the real Shuma.
Whether that means he'll be relegated to animation rather than live-action remains to be seen, but there's certainly a lot the Disney+ series can do with the powerful villain moving forward.
On a related note, the Director's Commentary also revealed that Strange was going to visit another reality and meet a character called Melvin Strange who was a street magician with no actual magical abilities. However, as the scene didn't build tension or raise the sequel's stakes, it was ultimately cut. Fingers crossed Melvin makes an appearance in the not too distant future, eh?
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theaters. It's now available on Digital platforms and Disney+, and hits Blu-ray, 4k Ultra HD, and DVD on July 26.