Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Should Lead Into Doctor Strange: Damnation

The Marvel Cinematic Multiverse is on its way. In fact, now that WandaVision is rolling out its nine episodes on Disney+, one could argue that it's probably already arrived. Eventually, the Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany vehicle will lead directly into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we know that much is for certain. Olsen herself even suggested she could end up appearing in Spider-Man 3, another movie that's all but guaranteed to deal with the multiverse.

With the mythos of both Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch, there are bound to be some interdimensional threats in-store; we have, after all, already seen this teased with Dormammu and the Dark Dimension in Doctor Strange. That's why right here, right now, we're hypothesizing this multiversal chatter is leading right into a live-action version of Doctor Strange: Damnation by the time we get to Doctor Strange 3.

For the uninitiated, Doctor Strange: Damnation was a mini-event a few years back by Nick Spencer, Donny Cates, and Rod Reis. Tailing out of the events of Secret Empire, Las Vegas is riddled with sin and subsequently taken over by Mephisto. His Hotel Inferno sprung up from the depths of Hell, and even still resides in Sin City in the present-day Marvel timeline.

Should the prevailing fan theories about WandaVision come to fruition, that means Mephisto could be the puppet master behind everything unfolding in the Disney+ series. Should that be the case, that means sooner or later, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) will be called in to help patch things up, which inevitably ties directly into Multiverse of Madness.

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Say Mephisto is persuading Wanda (Olsen) to do certain things in WandaVision for whatever reason. Maybe she made a deal with the devil to bring Vision back, or they're playing on the classic Vision & Scarlet Witch series where Billy and Tommy actually shared the same soul as the Devil. Regardless of the plot, this inevitably leads to a mental breakdown from Wanda, which rips open the space between dimensions.

It's what leads to, you guessed it, the Multiverse of Madness.

Because of the sure-to-be interdimensional travel, maybe Mephisto isn't the primary villain of the Doctor Strange sequel. After all, the Sorcerer Supreme will have to worry about other threats like Dormammu, Shuma-Gorath, Nightmare, Umar, and a whole host of other otherworldly beings.

That would give Mephisto ample time to set up shop in Las Vegas, only for Strange and company to have to deal with Mephisto once and for all in Doctor Strange 3. Think of him as a Thanos Lite, a villain masterminding just a handful of movies instead of a whole saga.

By the way, a new iteration of the Midnight Sons team is introduced in Damnation which includes Strange, Wong, Moon Knight, and Blade amongst others.

As you know by now, Moon Knight and Blade are projects and active development, and there's a steady rumor the House of Ideas wants to do something with Ghost Rider as well. Instead of teaming these characters all up in a standalone Midnight Sons franchise, perhaps they'll join Strange in Doctor Strange 3: Damnation, much like what the studio managed to pull off with Captain America: Civil War.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set for release on March 25, 2022.

What other Doctor Strange stories would you like to see? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!