Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness director Sam Raimi recently revealed that the plot was heavily influenced by several key MCU films. When Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange cast a spell to protect Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, he inadvertently opened the multiverse, causing alternate realities to collide with their own. Wong and Elizabeth Olsen join forces with the sorcerer to fix the problem with the multiverse. They are joined by newcomer America Chavez, an Avengers teammate.

It will feature a wide range of characters, including variants, alternates, and cameos of well-known Marvel characters. Doctor Strange 2 will feature returning cast members Chiwetel Ejiofor and Rachel McAdams, as well as new characters like Professor X and Captain Carter, who made their debuts in Marvel’s animated Disney+ series What If…? and the X-Men films. The multiverse premise means that the sequel’s story will be complex, with a large cast of characters involved.

Influenced By Other MCU Movies

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was recently the subject of an interview with director Sam Raimi. The director was questioned about how the stories of Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home influenced his new film’s development. Doctor Strange 2’s plot was influenced not only by Loki and No Way Home but also by other MCU projects, according to Raimi. The director’s thoughts are outlined below.

“The same writer, Michael Waldron, wrote Loki. But basically, it’s less Loki that’s the influence, and more the Avengers movies after Thanos and WandaVision storylines that funnel into our script. And the first Doctor Strange movie, I think. Those are really the influences of story. Sorry, and Spider-Man: No Way Home also. All of those things were giving us direction as to where we should go.”

Influence From No Way Home And Loki

Starting with the release of Avengers: Endgame and the team’s Time Heist, a significant number of MCU projects in the franchise’s Phase Four have dealt with the multiverse. The events of No Way Home, the third MCU Spider-Man film, which coped with the repercussions of messing with the multiverse, have a direct impact on Doctor Strange 2, which is set only a few months after that film. When Raimi mentioned WandaVision, it makes sense because the film’s trailers have featured Wanda prominently and Doctor Strange was rumored to have appeared on the show before being cut.

Doctor Strange 2 script was written by one of Loki’s key writers despite the fact that Raimi explains that Loki was less influential than other MCU movies and series. He focused on the TVA, a time and space-independent organization that was used to prevent a multiverse war. However, if Loki isn’t mentioned at all, it could mean that the upcoming film will be a standalone story with ties to the multiverse established in the series. When the film is released on May 5, it will become much clearer which MCU projects influenced Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.