Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was not shy about killing off a few big characters (even if they were Variants), and wasted little time in kicking-off the death toll by eliminating one of the former Sorcerer Supreme's alternate reality counterparts in the opening scene.
As Defender Strange and America Chavez flee from a demonic entity (referred to here as the "Ribbon Creature), the former makes the difficult decision to sacrifice his young ally in order to prevent her powers falling into the wrong hands, which we'd later learn belonged to The Scarlet Witch.
Chavez ultimately manages to escape by punching open a portal to the 616 Universe, while the creature impales Strange on one of its tendrils.
Concept artist Ian Joyner has taken to Instagram to share three keyframes depicting Defender Strange's "tragic end," and both the Variant and the creature look quite a bit different here to the versions we saw in the movie.
In Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg, and Rachel McAdams. The film is directed by Sam Raimi, and Kevin Feige is the producer. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Eric Hauserman Carroll and Jamie Christopher serve as executive producers. The screenplay was written by Michael Waldron.
The Doctor Strange sequel is now in theaters, and is set to hit Disney+ on June 22.