Does Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness What If? Connection Mean We Could See The Watcher?

By Kofi Outlaw

Will Marvel's cosmic observer The Watcher (aka Uatu) be making an appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? That question is on Marvel fans' minds after the first Doctor Strange 2 trailer dropped online – just one part of a larger question about the Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel. After the trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ended with the reveal that an "Evil Strange" variant plays a pivotal role in the storyline, fans began to wonder if In the Multiverse of Madness wasn't more closely tied to Marvel's What If...? animated series than it may have initially seemed. 

One of the more standout episodes of the What If...? anthology of alternate-universe MCU stories was that of "Strange Supreme." In that alternate origin story, Stephen Strange was in the car with his love Christine Plamer when he had his life-changing crash, and Palmer ended being killed, instead of Strange suffering the hand injury that finally cracked his mountain of an ego. Motivated by grief instead of vanity, Strange's studies of the mystic arts went off the rails, in an attempt to thwart destiny and prevent Christine's death. The variant Strange battled, conquered, and absorbed countless mystical and demonic entities in order to become "Strange Supreme," a being who could alter the flow of destiny. Tragically, however, all he ended up doing was destroying his entire universe in a battle with his own variant – a fight which left Strange Supreme as the broken sole survivor in his realtiy. Strange Supreme eventually redemption by working with The Watcher on the Guardians of the Multiverse team, which stopped the threat of Infinity Ultron before he conquered the multiverse. 

The sight of a broken universe in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with a nefarious variant Strange living there has fans convinced it is Strange Supreme. While there's debate about how the trailer presents things – and whether Strange Supreme is a hero or villain currently – it's a definite possibility that the What If...? character is in the film – especially since Benedict Cumberbatch voiced Strange Supreme in the animated series, thereby establishing a foundation for this live-action performance.

It's also pretty notable that Marvel cast Jeffrey Wright (Westworld, The Batman) as The Watcher and had him interact with Cumberbatch's Strange Supreme in a significant way. The two characters are definitely connected now, and if Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is dealing with yet another threat to the Multiverse, then Uatu could once again come off the sidelines to aid Stephen Strange, Scarlet Witch and America Chavez find a powerful ally (Strange Supreme) to fight the powerful foe threatening the multiverse.

Plus, including The Watcher in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness would be a great way for Marvel to further legitimize the events of What If...?  

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be in theaters on May 6th. What If...? is now streaming on Disney+. 

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