Doctor Strange 2: Dormammu Inspirations for Charlize Theron’s Clea Revealed

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness actually used Dormammu as an inspiration for Charlize Theron’s Clea. The costume designer for the MCU feature joined Comicbook.com’s Phase Zero podcast to talk about all the wild threads. However, we saved Theron’s new hero for last. Graham Churchyard explained that they looked toward her uncle from the comics for the primary inspiration this time. With Doctor Strange headed for the Dark Dimension in whatever property he appears in next, it seems likely he will cross paths with Dormammu again. Last time Marvel audiences saw the villain, he was trying to vaporize the former Sorcerer Supreme at the end of the first Doctor Strange movie. Now, Benedict Cumberbatch’s hero will have to try and fix the calamity he wove during Multiverse of Madness. Luckily, he’s going to have some help this time around.

“Well, that was Ian Joyner and John Staub and all those amazing guys at Vis Dev, with all those illustrations,” he explained. “And we made that whole costume in London, but we never met her, so that was quite traumatic in itself.”

And then I sent that out to LA and did a couple of Zoom fittings with her and then resolved a few things with the whole amazing costume team at the Marvel warehouse,” Churchyard continued. “And then two or three fittings later, that was it. She was on set. But the inspiration, oh my God, that would take another whole interview by itself because that went from someone who was sort of a gardener in the dream scape in the multiverse, to then this sort of warrior, a warrior from another dimension. And she is Dormammu kind of daughter, niece from the dark dimension. 

“So all of those things were immensely inspiring to her costume. Because in the comics, it’s the shoulders,” he added. “So I found a way to resolve the shoulders without making them completely solid. If you get a really close look at them, they’re actually transparent around the metal frame on the shoulders. So I let a bit of light coming through just so that they don’t feel like quite so sort of blocky.”

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently streaming on Disney+.

Did you love Clea’s new look? Excited for Doctor Strange 3? Let us know down in the comments!