In another timeline, there is a version of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which featured a post-credits scene involving the Fantastic Four’s Mr. Fantastic. As the story goes, Mr. Fantastic was shredded by Wanda Maximoff in the Strange sequel and Charlize Theron made a debut in the post-credits scene as Clea. However, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron actually had a very different vision for the credits scene early on and it involved a Mr. Fantastic which was still alive after the events of the film.ย
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“In my very first draft, I wrote a tag just for the hell of it, of the events of the movie being recorded and reviewed by somebody in the Baxter Building, and a stretchy hand coming into frame to run it back,” Waldron told Empire. “Reed is probably my favorite Marvel comics characters so I was always gunning to get him in here somewhere.”
This scene seems to be a product of a much different version of the Strange movie. Given that this was the first draft of the film, Waldron’s credits scene likely followed a movie where Mr. Fantastic was not a member of the Illuminati which was ultimately slaughtered by Wanda. Originally, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was intending to have Daniel Craig play Balder the Brave, Thor’s brother in the Earth-838 universe and a member of that world’s Illuminati. When the COVID-19 pandemic prevented Daniel Craig from traveling to the film’s set, Kevin Feige and the team involved with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness pivoted and fulfilled the fan-casting idea of John Krasinski playing Reed Richards. This version of the character does not necessarily represent the cast member who will be playing Reed Richards from the MCU’s Earth-616, as it was labeled in the film, with rumors surrounding the Fantastic Four movie’s casting beginning to swirl.
“We got very far designing Balder the Brave and then we were waiting, and waiting, and waiting on casting,” Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness costume designer Graham Churchyard said on the Phase Zero podcast. “I took it to a prototype stage, we were kind of in that design thing, getting fabrics together and ideas and waiting for an actor. Poor Balder the Brave, he almost madeย Thorย 1, andย Thor 2, andย Thor 3, if I can simplify that. Then, it’s just like, ‘Yay! He’s gonna get an appearance!’ Poor guy. I’ve seen designs Marvel’s archive book of Balder’s helmet going back to Kenneth Branagh’sย Thor. So, he’s been a long time waiting and I don’t think he’s gonna make an appearance any time soon.”
Going back to Waldron’s quote, it seems as though there may have also been an answer to a long-running question in his version of the Strange credits scene. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers Tower was sold but the franchise has yet to reveal who bought the structure. While Tom Holland admits he knows who bought the estate, it seems possible that it is going to be rebranded as the Baxter Building where Reed Richards would have been watching the events of the film. With this scene being cut, none of this means anything for the canon of the MCU, of course.
Would you have liked to see Reed Richards in the post-credits scene of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Twitter! Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now available on blu-ray/4K and streaming on Disney+.
