Doctor Strange 2: Rumored Original Plan for MCU Sequel Confirmed by X-Men ’97 Creator

Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch wasn’t originally planned to be the main villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness .

X-Men ’97 creator Beau DeMayo recently confirmed a rumor from scooper MyTimeToShineHello that outlined what the original story for the Doctor Strange sequel was before Michael Waldron came aboard and rewrote the screenplay.

What was the original plan for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?

In a post on X , DeMayo wrote that the “OG drafts” of Multiverse of Madness did the Scarlet Witch “justice,” revealing that the sequel would have opened with Wanda recovering with Strange after Westview (depicted in WandaVision ) and “feeling bad about what she did. She helps him, Wong and Chavez (who she tutors) beat Nightmare across Multiverse, where she also sees her variants happy with her kids.”

DeMayo continued, “Still, Wanda resists and she — not Chavez — helps Strange save the day against Nightmare, who turns out to be a Darkhold-corrupted Strange variant. Also, she used her experiences in WandaVision to warn Chavez about abusing her power. Only after saving the day, unable to resist finding a multiverse where she can be with her kids, does Wanda — sobbing — break from Strange and accidentally beheads Wong, who tries to stop her from fleeing into the multiverse. That was [the] film’s cliffhanger.”

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DeMayo added that the original plan “made far more sense” and featured a Wanda who was “torn up by guilt in classic comic book fashion and keeps apologizing to Strange as she vanishes and leaves him with his dead friend’s body.”

DeMayo’s X posts reveal a radically different Doctor Strange sequel, with the Scarlet Witch only making a villainous turn at the end of the movie instead of right at the beginning. The original Multiverse of Madness plan also ended with the accidental death of Wong, who has become a fan-favorite character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe largely due to his appearance in the Disney+ series, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Had Marvel followed through with its original plan for Doctor Strange 2, Wong likely wouldn’t have appeared in She-Hulk, as it was set after the events of the sequel.

It remains to be seen what the future holds for Doctor Strange, Wong, America Chavez, and Scarlet Witch, the latter of whom is currently dead in the MCU. Benedict Cumberbatch has hinted that he will reprise his role of Doctor Strange in Avengers: Doomsday, which reportedly begins filming in 2025. However, Marvel Studios has not yet officially announced the cast for Doomsday, beyond Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom .

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is available to stream on Disney+.