Loki Influences Doctor Strange 2 In A Major Way Reveals Marvel

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is not just a sequel to Benedict Cumberbatch’s 2016 film, but a whole lot more than that. It

By Mabel Judith Andrady
February 24,2022
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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is not just a sequel to Benedict Cumberbatch’s 2016 film, but a whole lot more than that. It is the culmination of several MCU Phase 4 projects, including WandaVision, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and possibly What If…? and Loki’s Multiversal romps.

If you thought big-screen MCU projects would overlook the studio’s presumed supplemental or stand-alone series on Disney+, think again: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be released on May 8, 2022.

With the addition of Wanda Maximoff, fresh from her WandaVision Disney+ story, as well as Michael Waldron, who wrote Loki for Disney’s streaming service, the upcoming film has a lot to offer.

Doctor Strange 2’s producer claims that the Tom Hiddleston-led series had a significant impact on the film and served as a sort of introduction to the Multiverse.

Loki Influenced Doctor Strange 2

Loki
Loki

According to Marvel Studios producer Richie Palmer in an excerpt from Disney’s D23 Magazine, writer Michael Waldron’s involvement in Loki’s Disney+ series impacted Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

“Multiverse of Madness” is a “shotgun blast to the senses,” says Palmer, who adds, “The Multiverse will be cracked wide open.”

“We are going to be treading into new territories with this. At its heart, this is really a story about Doctor Strange entering the Multiverse for the first time. Through his experiences in Spider-Man: No Way Home, fans got to learn a little bit more about the Multiverse – but this movie is really where it’s going to get cracked wide open.”

Loki’s introduction of Variants, the reality of multiple timelines, and the destruction of the Sacred Timeline freed the Multiverse.

Michael Waldron wrote all of this, as well as the explanation of the Multiverse. It was a “blessing for us,” according to Palmer, to have Waldron return to Multiverse of Madness to “continue that story in our movie” because he “created the rules of the multiverse for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

Influence On The Alternate Timelines

The multiverse as seen in Loki
The multiverse

“We found that we didn’t need to spend a lot of time recapping the rules; we felt the audience would get a lot of that by now:” Waldron’s work on Loki helped eliminate the need for heavy exposition on the Multiverse in the film.

“It was really exciting. We found that we didn’t need to spend a lot of time recapping the rules; we felt the audience would get a lot of that by now. With Michael, we could jump into telling a good story within what’s already been established.”

While Richie Palmer discussed the influence of Loki on Doctor Strange 2, he also said that his best scenes involving “characters against the backdrop of those alternate timelines” were also a big influence.

“Michael’s strength is the character stuff. As you saw in Loki, all the best moments involved the characters against the backdrop of those alternate timelines. It’s kind of like that in our movie, too. Michael’s script brought a lot of heart to sci-fi concepts such as the Multiverse.”

Doctor Strange 2 May Make Better Sense After Watching The Disney+ Series

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS
DOCTOR STRANGE

Dr. Strange 2 appears to be Marvel’s most extensive exploration of the Multiverse and its many parallel universes, even though Marvel fans have already seen Loki dabble in the Multiverse and Spider-Man: No Way Home introduces characters from other universes into the MCU.

Insanity awaits the writer of such a story that involves so many characters and worlds, as well as paying off stories from other projects and franchises.

Consequently, Marvel Studios can rely on what has been established in Loki and the writer who established it. In fact, this is reassuring for fans because it shows that the rules they were taught to follow do matter.

One issue here is that Loki and WandaVision may now be required to watch for Multiverse of Madness for those moviegoers who don’t watch any of Marvel’s Disney+ content.

Essentially, Palmer stated this when he said, “we didn’t need to spend a lot of time recapping the rules; we felt the audience would already be familiar with them.” It’s possible that Loki characters will appear in the film, and without seeing the series, viewers may not know who those protagonists are or why Loki has changed.

The Disney+ MCU model, which debuted a year ago, has always relied on the Marvel audience to do their homework, but the Multiversal understanding ahead of Doctor Strange 2 appears to be the greatest test yet for that audience.

Palmer and the Doctor Strange 2 team were pleased to see that Waldron’s use of Loki’s various time periods and particular circumstances to create great moments between its characters was recognized.