Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Evil Doctor villain, explained

This is the new trailer Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness reintroduces us to many of the good doctor’s old friends and frenemies — like Wong and Baron Mordo — and even some new ones, like the Scarlet Witch and America Chavez. But it isn’t snippy on the villains, either.

Doctor Strange appears to be back in a battle against his own hubris… maybe from another dimension. Stephen Strange is shown in the trailer facing an evil version.

Some are wondering if we haven’t seen this Doctor Strange before in a very unlikely place: What if …?, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first canonical animated series. Is this a valid connection?

The Evil Doctor Strange: An Examination

Image: Marvel Studios

In three episodes, Doctor Strange was portrayed as an alternate version. What if …?: “What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?” “What If… Ultron Won?” and “What If… the Watcher Broke His Oath?” In his home universe, Stephen Strange never accepted the death of Dr. Christine Palmer, and became obsessed with resurrecting her by any means necessary.

This Doctor Strange Supreme began amassing power by absorbing the energy of magical beings, growing more twisted and eldritch with each capture — eventually breaking the laws of reality to bring a terrified Palmer back to life, an act that caused the destruction of his home universe. However, he would not be content with that broken universe forever.

Strange Supreme was called upon by the Watcher to help defeat Ultron, threatening the multiverse. He became the leader of the Guardians of the Multiverse. He was last seen promising to protect the final fragment of his universe. This jail now housed alternate versions of Killmonger and Ultron who were constantly battling for control of the Infinity Stones.

Do you believe Doctor Strange is the Supreme of Multiverse of Madness

Image: Marvel Studios

It’s natural to think that if the MCU multiverse already has an Evil Doctor Strange, he’s the one who has shown up in the trailer of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

However, the connection has not yet been confirmed by anyone involved on Marvel’s side of things. The closest we’ve come is a quote from What if …? Bryan Andrews director, where he stated that people behind the scenes Multiverse of Madness We took a closer look at the evil version of this character. “And maybe they were a little bit inspired,” he told The Verge. “I like to think that they were.”

It’s completely possible that Multiverse of MadnessYou will take the thread What if …? started — it might even be likely! However, there is a multitude of universes and the possibility that Evil Doctor Strange could exist on many different worlds. It is almost certain that there will be an infinite number of them.

This is regardless of the fact that Multiverse of Madness’ Evil Doctor Strange is the same as What if …?’s, there’s still a new Doctor Strange villain in the trailer with previous history.

Is that Shuma Gorath?

Image: Marvel Studios

Shuma Gorath is the tentacled boy who fights Doctor Strange in Manhattan’s streets.

He’s the Marvel Comics’ most popular Cthulhu like. His story is typical Lovecraftian, a tale of ancient people beyond the comprehension of mortals who arrived on Earth to govern primitive man. Then they fled to alternate dimensions in anticipation of their return. His most notable role in Doctor Strange’s history is that he overwhelmed the mind of the Ancient One, forcing Strange to execute his teacher to save the world.

His most notable role outside of Marvel Comics might be that he has been included as a playable character in several of Capcom’s Marvel fighting games. According to Capcom’s Takeshi Tezuka, his team specifically requested Shuma-Gorath from Marvel Entertainment.

“Marvel Comics had very little visibility and awareness in Japan at the time,” he told Polygon, “and so I remember when we were trying to select the characters for inclusion into the game, we wanted characters that Japanese gamers could easily identify with as well.” But you can read more about that in our oral history of X-Men: Children of the Atom.

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of MadnessIt is expected to be released in theaters by May 6, 2022.