Screenwriter Michael Waldron Shares Lesser-Known Facts About Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness
The cameo moment in the film is just a pieced-together shoot of different actors.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a movie that promises to be even more mind-bending and visually stunning than its predecessor. The film sees the return of Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular character, joined by Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Witch.
What makes this movie so promising is that it sounds like it will take everything that made the first Doctor Strange movie great and turn it up to 11. The visuals in the trailer look absolutely incredible, and the idea of seeing both Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch in one movie is extremely exciting.
If you're a fan of the first Doctor Strange movie, then you're sure to be blown away by what this film has in store. It is the sequel to the MCU's Avengers: Endgame, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and WandaVision.
In the film, Strange enlists the assistance of his friend Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme, and Wanda, the most powerful Scarlet Witch in the Avengers, to reestablish a world where things are changing.
However, a dreadful catastrophe looms that can no longer be dealt with by their might alone. What's more shocking is that Doctor Strange resembles the biggest menace in the cosmos.
Today, we're going to look at the tidbits of the movie revealed by its screenwriter, Michael Waldron. And as a caveat, beware of spoilers!
According to writer Michael Waldron, it was "fun and different" to switch from writing Loki to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
He also thought it was interesting to experiment with the multiverse concept in a TV program format rather than a Sam Raimi movie.
Raimi and Waldron ensured that Multiverse of Madness "deliberately" felt like an exaggerated Raimi horror movie in various places because the director has such a distinctive voice in the genre of horror films.
For Waldron, it was vital to make the movie driven by the stories of the characters despite its large scale.
To make sense of Wanda Maximoff's journey, Michael studied the scripts of WandaVision and observed "early cuts" of episodes while writing the movie.
While working with Elizabeth Olsen and witnessing people fall in love with Wanda Maximoff and her performance, the cast and crew of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness started filming while WandaVision was still airing.
Michael was informed of the WandaVision plot and the events in Spider-Man: No Way Home and how these works would impact the Doctor Strange plotline and the MCU as a whole.
A few days before taking a flight to London to begin filming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Olsen finished filming WandaVision.
Waldron was impressed by her complete ownership of Wanda and the Scarlet Witch.
Regarding Wanda's journey in the movie, Olsen provided Waldron and the other members of the creative team with a lot of comments and thoughts. They even changed several plot points and scenes as a result of her recommendations.
Wanda's beliefs about being fair and criticizing Doctor Strange for his deeds that make him a hero but would make her an antagonist were one plot aspect that Waldron and Olsen worked closely on together.
Wanda's actions needed to be clear to the viewers, according to the actress.
The team's favorite set moment was witnessing Olsen finally take on the role of Scarlet Witch.
According to Waldron, it was:
very physically hard performance on top of the emotional stuff too.
The writer felt that he learned a lifetime's worth of knowledge about filmmaking, storytelling, dealing with actors, and team collaboration.
Waldron spent the entire time on set, during the lockdown, filming in London, which was followed by reshoots in LA.
The performers who made it on screen said it was beyond their "wildest fantasies," according to Waldron, who referred to it as an "ever-moving target" of who was available for the Illuminati scene cameos.
It was important to consider which characters Doctor Strange might have invited and trusted to be a part of this team when deciding which characters would be in the Illuminati.
Although they appeared in every scene together, Anson Mount, Hayley Atwell, John Krasinski, Lashana Lynch, and Patrick Stewart were never present at the same time throughout the production.
Waldron thought it was "wonderful" to write Scarlet Witch annihilating every member of the Illuminati, and he enjoyed crafting some cold statements that he knew Olsen could deliver flawlessly.
Raimi actually came up with the famous "What mouth?" remark that Wanda uses before defeating Black Bolt when considering how she could get rid of him.
One of Waldron's greatest set experiences was witnessing Xochitl Gomez act in her first scenes with the film's prolific actors.
One of the things that Waldron is most eager to witness is Xochitl's portrayal of America.
Even though Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness underwent numerous reshoots over a long period of time, little of the plot was altered.
Waldron clarified that they were not intended to fix anything, but rather to further the current plot.
Even though Wanda's story is left unresolved at the film's conclusion, Waldron expects that Wanda will continue to have a role in the MCU because viewers adore Wanda and Olsen.
Among the things that Waldron admired is how Wanda's sacrifice demonstrated that the Wanda we know and love had escaped the Darkhold's grip and that she had taken this heroic action to defend Wanda Maximoffs throughout the multiverse.
The creative team was aiming for Charlize Theron to make a big entrance as Clea, but they were still in awe of how they managed to land her for the role.
While there were many versions of Clea and Stephen's first moment together, the decision to introduce this character now was always driven by the fact that Doctor Strange had just ended a chapter with Christine, and it was the opportunity to introduce this love interest from the comic book.
Waldron loves these two Easter eggs in the film.
One being Rintrah, Marvel's green minotaur character, and Raimi's yellow Oldsmobile Delta 88, which can be seen in the director's previous movies.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is another major success for the MCU franchise.
Its visual effects are some of the best in any Marvel film to date. The acting in the film is top-notch, with Benedict Cumberbatch delivering an outstanding performance as the titular character.
The rest of the cast is also excellent, and they all help to bring the film's story to life. Its story is both fascinating and exciting, and it's sure to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
