Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has started playing in theaters worldwide, and we're sure many of you are anxious to learn more about the film's Variants.
That's what doppelgangers who originate from other realities were designated in Loki, and while the term is never used in this sequel, they are all obviously Variants of the characters we know from the MCU. The film doesn't get too crazy with them (don't expect to see a very different take on The Avengers with the same actors), but there are a lot of fun new takes on familiar faces.
In this comprehensive list of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' Variants, we explain their respective roles in the film, reveal how they differ, and share their final fates.
It goes without saying that we're getting into heavy SPOILERS here, so you'll have to hit Next if you want to find out which Variants to be on the lookout for in the Doctor Strange sequel!
8. Defender Strange
We meet Defender Strange during the film's opening scene as he and America Chavez are pursued through a mystical realm that houses the Book of Vishanti.
Realising that they're beaten, Strange decides he must take America's reality-hopping powers to stop the mysterious demonic entity from gaining them. This action will kill the teenager, and while Defender Strange seems genuinely sorry, he goes ahead with the spell, anyway.
Before it can be completed, however, he's killed by the creature. In his final act, he helps America escape before both end up in the MCU. Strange is dead, though his body later comes in handy for the MCU's Stephen Strange to inhabit through dream-walking.
7. Dr. Christine Palmer
While many fans suspected Rachel McAdams might be playing Clea in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the film heads down a far more logical route by having her portray a Christine Palmer Variant.
She lives on the same world as The Illuminati and had a similarly complicated relationship with her world's Stephen Strange before he died protecting the world from Thanos. As part of the Baxter Foundation, Christine ultimately helps the MCU's Doctor Strange escape from the Scarlet Witch alongside America Chavez.
Travelling to another reality with Strange, she plays a pivotal role in Wanda's eventual defeat and is returned to her own world after a touching exchange with the hero.
6. Illuminati Strange
When Strange and Chavez arrive on The Illuminati's world, they head to the Sanctum Sanctorum and find a statue dedicated to that reality's fallen Sorcerer Supreme.
As noted, he's credited with defeating Thanos and saving reality. The truth is a little more complicated, though, as The Illuminati reveal their Strange, a founding member of the group, succumbed to dark magic. This caused an incursion that resulted in another universe being destroyed, leaving them with no other choice than to kill the fallen hero.
Accepting his fate, Strange allows Black Bolt to use his incredibly powerful voice to wipe him from existence, and when all is said and done, he's reduced to dust.
5. Wanda Maximoff (And The Twins)
The Scarlet Witch claims her children exist in every reality other than the MCU, but it's ultimately the Wanda in The Illuminati's world that the former Avenger targets.
Possessing her doppelganger's body through dream walking, the Witch lays waste to the Illuminati and leaves her children terrified when she eventually appears before them as herself. This Wanda also has powers, though we never learn whether she's a mutant or similarly powered by Chaos Magic.
As for Billy and Tommy, they look very much the same as they did in WandaVision. We don't know who their father is, but they don't appear to have superpowers. In this world at least, they're not Speed and Wiccan.
4. Sinister Strange
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' final Stephen Strange Variant is a sinister version of the hero who isn't all that different to the one we met in What If...? last year.
He tapped into dark magic and now protects the Darkhold. Causing an incursion by searching for a world where he could be with Dr. Christine Palmer, his reality was destroyed and is now a shell of its former self. Engaging in battle with the MCU's Stephen because he wants to make the Christine Variant waiting outside his own, the unhinged Sinister Strange is ultimately defeated.
Thrown out of the Sanctum's window, Strange is impaled on a fence and dies...though his third eye still manages to open and terrify poor Christine!
3. Captain Marvel
Fans were initially convinced that this was the Superior Iron Man, but the superpowered being who powers up for a fight with Scarlet Witch is, in fact, a Captain Marvel Variant.
In this instance, it's Maria Rambeau who was granted those incredible cosmic powers, and that means Lashana Lynch reprises her Captain Marvel role, only as a Variant of Carol Danvers' best friend. Wearing a navy and silver uniform, she looks great, and is just as powerful as her MCU counterpart.
That's not enough to overcome Wanda's sheer level of power, though, and poor Captain Marvel is ultimately defeated and killed when she's crushed by a giant statue.
2. Peggy Carter
As expected after those recent TV spots, Hayley Atwell does indeed make her live-action debut as Captain Carter (and even reels off the "I could do this all day" line we know so well).
Is this What If...?'s Captain Carter? It doesn't appear so. Her costume is a little different and she has jetpacks that distinguish her from that animated Variant. Marvel Studios has yet to directly address that show's place in the wider MCU - there's no Uatu here, for example - and this Peggy Carter is clearly just her world's stand-in for Captain America.
Despite putting up a good fight against the Scarlet Witch, poor Captain Carter ends up meeting an untimely, gruesome end at the villain's hands.
1. Master Mordo
Doctor Strange is surprised to be embraced by Mordo on The Illuminati's world, especially as he mentions to America that his old teacher has spent the past couple of years trying to kill him.
We soon learn that Master Mordo, a member of The Illuminati, isn't much better than his MCU counterpart and he decides to try and kill Stephen while his allies are battling the Scarlet Witch. The former Sorcerer Supreme believes Mordo may have even been responsible for his fallen Strange's eventual demise, and let's just say the villain doesn't deny it!
Eventually beaten by the good doctor, Mordo's fate is unclear, but he manages to avoid being killed.