Doctor Strange 2 Costume Designer Reveals Secrets of America Chavez’s Costume

When Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness landed in theaters earlier this year, it brought a shocking number of new elements into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Among them was the first live-action appearance of America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), a character with an incredibly unique comic status quo that left a lot of people wondering how it would be creatively translated onto film. That included some subtle referencing to America being a member of the LGBTQ+ community in the comics, including a Pride flag pin and the phrase “Love is Love” written in Spanish. In a recent interview with Inverse, Multiverse of Madness costume designer Graham Churchyard revealed how those details came to be.

“In the first script, there was no comment about where she’s going in the MCU,” Churchyard explained. “I think we did a kind of subtle start to it, [production assistant] Richie Palmer said to me, ‘Yeah, do it put it on.’ It allows enough to be shown where the character is going in the MCU.”

“I was tempted to give her a different personality like she’d have a heavy metal t-shirt of a band she’d seen in the multiverse,” Churchyard added. “But [director] Sam [Raimi] found that distracting. So I took the detail to a very subtle level. The jacket’s covered in Spanish poetry, and some Portuguese witchcraft.”

While the majority of Multiverse of Madness‘ LGBTQ+ representation actually concerned America’s two moms, whose tragic disappearance partially inspired America’s quest throughout the multiverse. Still, those involved with the film have indicated that America’s own LGBTQ+ identity is in the future.

“It’s so cool that fans will get to see a young person in the middle of a big story like this, and know that things that happen in our kid lives are important because it shapes who they’ll become when they’re older as adults,” Gomez shared. “It’s exciting that we will hopefully get to see more of how things play out for America in the future.”

“[America] is a young Latina who is part of the LGBTQ+ community, and has great power,” Marvel executive Victoria Alonso added. “Children want to see themselves represented. There is this level of identity that comes to be a very important moment in an adolescent’s life – to see themselves; to not be invisible.”

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now available on digital, and streaming on Disney+.