Doctor Strange 2 Writer Explains the Fate of the Illuminati, and Why it was Necessary
With the film currently dominating the box office, some fans have a lot of questions for one sequence in particular; Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer, Michael Waldron, talks about the fate of the Illuminati and why it was so necessary.
There are few films in the MCU that have been met with the expectation and anticipation that was present for the latest Doctor Strange sequel.
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The film was primed to be the vehicle for the unexpected to occur, as the multiverse provided the perfect avenue for Marvel fans to see the mind-bending conjurings of alternate realities in which Marvel characters old and new could co-exist.
The promotional campaign for the film promised one iconic return in the form of Patrick Stewarts Professor X, and with the debut of the multiversal collective teased in the trailers, the film gave fans an incredible sequence that will undoubtedly live on in infamy.
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Please, be warned, SPOILERS follow; so if you haven’t seen Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we suggest you stop reading, go watch it, and come right back here!
Still with us? Alright then.
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The film brought forth the Illuminati, only to be killed in horrific fashion by the film’s main antagonist, Wanda; which left many fans’ jaws on the floor.
After all, why would you hype up, and introduce, this iconic Marvel team only to horrendously exterminate them in the same scene?
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Well, Doctor Strange 2 writer Michael Waldron explains the fate of the Illuminati, and why it was ultimately necessary.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Waldron stated, “Yeah, that’s a blast, that’s probably my favorite sequence in the movie. The idea for that was not in my outline; I was writing the first draft and I guess I felt like, as I put it, the movie needed to get drunk.”
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Waldron continued, “It felt like we’re at the point where I need to find the madness in the multiverse here. I had no idea: Would I be able to use these characters? Would this even be possible? But I knew with Sam [Raimi] that if we did it this way, it would be amazing. And so I wrote it in.”
“I was watching Aliens a lot as I was writing.” Waldron elaborated, “Because just tonally this movie is a thriller and a [feature-length] chase. I just love how Aliens goes to great lengths to tell you how badass the Space Marines are- and then they just get slaughtered.”
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The writer continued, “Then you are really scared of the Xenomorphs for the rest of that movie, and that’s what I wanted to accomplish with Wanta. At the end of that Illuminati sequence. I hope you were truly terrified of the Scarlet Witch.”
Although the moment, during the film, felt like a cheap attempt at subversion by delivering fan-casted and fan-favorite characters only to kill them, it does make sense for Waldron to want to scare the audiences into understanding the stakes at play for Doctor Strange and America Chavez.
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And mission accomplished, she was terrifying.
