What 'Dr. Strange And The Multiverse Of Madness' Taught Fans About The Multiverse
The multiverse is a fairly new concept in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It’s been teased a little bit, most notably in Spiderman: No Way Home. But in that film, we didn’t see the multiverse; instead, people from at least two other universes come to the main universe of the MCU, 616. We are told that, “the multiverse is a concept about which we know frighteningly little,” and we still know frighteningly little at the end of that movie. Luckily, we got Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness to start teaching us what the multiverse is all about.
In Multiverse of Madness, Dr. Strange meets a multiversal traveler named America Chavez. America is being chased from universe to universe by a “demon” that wants to steal her power. She and Strange visit several new (to us) universes while avoiding and figuring out how to stop the antagonist. Here are twelve things we learn about the multiverse in their travels.
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America is unique. She does not have a doppelgänger in any of the other universes. It is not stated directly in the movie, but it seems that America’s power is unique as well. There don’t seem to be any other multiversal travelers.
Everyone throughout the multiverse is connected to their doppelgängers in the other universes. When we dream, we are actually seeing something that is really happening to one of our other selves.
There is a cartoon universe. As Strange and America first travel across the multiverse, we see brief glimpses of many different types of realities. This means that Spider-Ham might become MCU-canon at some point.
Physics does not work the same way in every universe. There is one universe they pass through where everything is paint. This is the most surprising one to Dr. Strange. America has been there before and shrugs it off by saying how hard it is to eat there.
There are two rules to multiversal travel. First, you don’t know anything. Second, find food - preferably pizza. These are America’s rules, but they make sense.
Food is free in most universes. America comments that it’s strange when people have to pay for food.
Dr. Strange loves Christine Palmer in every universe. Sadly, they don’t work out in any of them.
Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, has her two children, Billy and Tommy, in every universe except the MCU’s main, 616. A bit strangely, there is no mention or sign of Vision in any of the universes they visit.
It is possible for universes to collide. It is called an incursion. It happens when someone from one universe interferes too much with a different universe. That erodes the border between the universes. When they collide, one or both universes are destroyed.
Dreamwalking is a way for people to interact with other universes. It’s done with dark magic from a book called the Darkhold. The one casting the spell possesses their doppelgänger and can control their actions. At least two versions of Dr. Strange tried dreamwalking and caused incursions.
There is a space that is not in any universe. It is the world between worlds. Dr. Strange calls it a waypoint. Christine calls it a gap junction. America’s powers allow her to travel there as well.
At the end of the movie, the Darkhold is destroyed in every universe.
It wouldn’t be right to say that we know a lot about the multiverse yet, but Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is a good introduction. The mid-credits scene strongly suggests that there are a lot more multiverse stories to tell. We should learn a lot more throughout the next phase of the MCU.
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