Doctor Strange 2: Writer Addresses The Film’s Cliffhanger Ending

The writer of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Michael Waldron, explained why he decided to end the MCU film on a semi-cliffhanger.

In his recent interview with Rolling Stone, Michael Waldron explained why the Doctor Strange sequel ended with Doctor Strange getting a third eye in the middle of his forehead.

"I felt like we had a happy ending. We were like, like, 'Gee, you know, for a movie where a lot of bad shit happens, we got kind of a happy ending here.' We really wrapped it up and that didn’t quite seem right," Waldron said during the interview. "We kept thinking about what Mordo warned Strange in the first movie: 'The bill comes due.' It’s like Wong says, 'You possessed your own corpse.' Like, is this guy ever going to face any consequences? And it just felt like a great nod to horror movies where there’s that final twist."

Credit: Marvel Studios

One of the end credits of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness concludes that it isn’t the last time audiences will see Doctor Strange’s new third eye. In the film’s mid-credits scene, it shows Clea (Charlize Theron) informing Strange that he has caused an incursion.

After Clea opened a passage to the Dark Dimension, she asked Strange if he will join her through the portal. Strange smirks then opened his third eye, now seemingly unaffected by it, as they travel into the Dark Dimension.

Credit: Marvel Studios

In the Marvel Comics, the third eye was connected to the Eye of Agamotto, Doctor Strange’s amulet which held the Time Stone in the MCU. The Eye of Agamotto allowed its wielder to pierce any illusion, among other abilities. In addition to the main MCU Doctor Strange (Earth-616 Doctor Strange), two other MCU variants called Doctor Strange Supreme and Sinister Strange have developed third eyes, which showed up after they were corrupted with knowledge from the books of Cagliostro and the Darkhold.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now in theaters since May 6, 2022.

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