Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was, at its title suggests, Marvel's big foray into the world of the multiverse. The existence of multiple Earths and timelines left fans with much to ponder, as did the plot itself.
Perhaps most prominent in the mind of fans was the fate of Scarlet Witch, which is intrinsically bound with the multiverse as a whole. However, in the time since Doctor Strange 2 was released, we still haven't been given a clearer answer by those in charge.
Marvel boss Kevin Feige teased in September 2022 that it might not be as clear-cut as it appears. "I don't know that we saw her under rubble?" he explained. "I saw a tower coming down, and a little red flash. I don't know what that means."
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Likewise, Scarlet Witch herself Elizabeth Olsen has spoken about the potential for a solo movie for Wanda. Or, if not an entire solo film, a return to the MCU. With all of this at play, it's worth a refresher on what actually went down (pun intended... but not in a sexy way!) in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Spoilers follow, duh.
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The film starts with a dream sequence in which Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is in a sort of multiverse waypoint with America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) who are trying to get to the Book of Vishanti to stop a demon from killing and taking her powers.
Seeing no other option, Strange takes her power – which will kill her – but is fatally wounded by the demon before he can finish the job. In her panic, America opens a multiverse portal and as she goes through it, Strange wakes up.
He heads to Christine Palmer's wedding, which is interrupted by a creepy one-eyed octopus that is also trying to kill America. With Wong's (Benedict Wong) help, the sorcerers defeat the creature and interrogate America, who reveals she can travel the multiverse.
She confirms that the Strange from the dream was 'Defender Strange', whose body travelled to their Earth (Earth-616) with America and that dreams themselves are the multiverse. As proof, she leads them to Defender Strange's body; Strange buries his multiversal corpse (a handy plot point to remember for later).
Wong and Strange bring her to Kamar-Taj to protect her before Strange goes to Wanda for help. He discovers it is she herself, Scarlet Witch, who is hunting America; this is when the movie really kicks off.
Most of the film is preoccupied with trying to save America from Scarlet Witch, and in their first conflict at Kamar-Taj, America sends herself and Strange into another universe in order to escape Scarlet Witch (poor Wong is left behind).
Even though Scarlet Witch is trapped in our universe, she can use the Darkhold to dreamwalk into other universe's Wandas in order to track down America. She wants America's power so that she can travel to a universe where she can live happily ever after with her two sons.
One of Wong's disciples manages to destroy the book and an incensed Scarlet Witch wrangles out of him that while the book may be gone, it was just a copy. The spells inscribed in it are actually in a cave on Mount Wundagore – a place no sorcerer has survived going.
So, of course, Scarlet Witch asks him to bring her there, and when they arrive she discovers a massive carving of what appears to be her (or at the very least, a witch) and giants who bow to her. Done with Wong's help, she throws him over the edge of the cliff.
In the alternate universe (Earth-838), Strange discovers a statue to himself revealing he died fighting Thanos. He's confronted by a seemingly friendly Mordo, only to discover Mordo has drugged and imprisoned him and America.
Strange is dragged in front of the Illuminati, while America is being held in a research facility led by none other than Christine Palmer (with red hair) who is a multiverse expert in this universe.
The Illuminati reveal that their Strange got his hands on the Darkhold to try and use it to defeat Thanos, only to be driven mad by the book's powers. The statue of Strange was just a story to tell the masses as Thanos was actually defeated by the Book of Vishanti.
Strange-838 was so corrupted by the Darkhold that the Illuminati executed him and before Strange-616 can cause any such drama, they set about deciding whether to execute this Strange too, claiming that in every Universe all Stephen Stranges are the same.
Then, having tapped into the powers on Wundagore, Scarlet Witch dreamwalks into Earth-838's Wanda and heads to the lab to kidnap America, brutally murdering every Illuminati member in her path.
Christine reveals that her Strange created a way to get to the Book of Vishanti and leads him and America through an underground tunnel. Unfortunately, Scarlet Witch bests them, destroys the book, grabs America and pushes Strange and Christine into a multiverse portal America created.
In this other universe, in which everything has been destroyed seemingly from an incursion event (in which the presence of a multiversal being in the wrong universe causes them to collapse on themselves and destroy everything).
Strange finds his other-other self, who has a third eye and has his own Darkhold (there's one in every universe). Strange wins against his evil alternate self and sets about using the Darkhold to dreamwalk into Earth-616, so now it's time for the big finale.
Doctor Strange 2 ending explained – is Wanda dead?
Strange uses the Darkhold to dreamwalk into his Defender Strange corpse and uses that body to go to Wundagore to stop Wanda and free America (Wong – who didn't die – has climbed up the mountain to help).
He knows he can't defeat Scarlet Witch with his zombified body, so Strange tells America she can control her power to best her.
America also realises she can't beat Scarlet Witch in a fight, so ends up showing her Wanda-838 who she had dreamwalked into. Naturally, Wanda-838's sons are freaked out by this version of their mother, who touchingly tells Scarlet Witch that she should take heart that the boys are loved.
Scarlet Witch sees the error of her ways and brings Mount Wundagore down on top of her, destroying every universe's copy of the Darkhold at the same time. It's not made clear whether or not this kills Wanda too and we never see her body after the mountain is destroyed.
However, we've no doubt that if Marvel has future plans for Wanda, they can reveal that she survived the implosion. Maybe she just blocked herself in to stop her causing any more harm, rather than outright killing herself. It would be a bit of a crap MCU ending for her if she is actually dead.
If you're hoping that Olsen has the answer for you, she doesn't. "It's weird that I'm expecting to return but no one's told me I'm doing anything! But in my mind, I'm just making the assumption that they'll have me again," she explained of her MCU future.
"I don't know to what capacity, but I hope I'm back. I hope there's also more fun to be had in something different. Where do we go? I feel like we've done so much with her. It's been really a wild couple years with her."
The movie's writer Michael Waldron also won't be drawn on if Wanda is still alive, saying that it's "up for interpretation".
"She made some kind of sacrificial act that destroyed the Darkhold in every universe, which is protecting Wanda in every universe from being seduced by the Darkhold. Whether she's dead or not remains to be seen," he noted.
Away from Wanda's fate, the sequel ends with some other setups for the future.
Back at Kamar-Taj, America is training under Wong's supervision and Stephen heads back to New York City only to discover that he now has a third eye too – seemingly a result of using the Darkhold in the movie's finale.
This cliffhanger is fairly quickly resolved by the mid-credits scene which sees him strolling down the street, apparently all good. The scene sets up Doctor Strange 3 and gives us a new character to get excited about, but you can read about that here.
Instead, we're now just going to get down to thinking of the ways in which Wanda could have survived to fight another day...
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is out now on Disney+
![Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness [DVD]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1654869402-51BnASiek9L._SL500_.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness [DVD]")
![Marvel Studios: The Infinity Saga - Collector's Edition [Blu-ray, region-free]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1592930813-51rTY4QSSxL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Marvel Studios: The Infinity Saga - Collector's Edition [Blu-ray, region-free]")
Gabriella Geisinger is a freelance film critic and journalist, with a focus on J-drama & film, and the Japanese production industry. She was previously Locations Editor at Screen International and Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy. Her writing can also befound in Curzon, 1883, and more. A born and raised New Yorker, she loves coffee and the colour black, obviously.
