Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
After the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) returns to face new multiversal conflicts in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Is your head still spinning from jumping through all of those multiverses? Wondering what exactly happened to the sorcerer at the end of the movie? You're in luck because we've unraveled the ending, much like the Scarlet Witch unraveled Mr. Fantastic.
Consumed by the grief of losing everyone that she loved and having those losses be for nothing, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) becomes the reluctant villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Driven by the all-consuming power of the Darkhold that has promised her that the multiverse will reunite her with her children, Wanda seeks out America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), a newcomer superhero who can travel through the multiverse, to steal her power and harness the power of the multiverse for herself. The film’s crescendo arrives when defeat seems imminent, as Doctor Strange and Christine (Rachel McAdams) are stuck in another universe and America is ready to be sacrificed on the altar of Wanda’s Wundagore Mountain throne.
In this strange topsy-turvy universe, Doctor Strange and Christine stumble upon the Strange Manor, where this universe’s Doctor Strange is watching from a tower window. 616 Doctor Strange ventures into the manor, hoping that somewhere within his inner sanctum that this Doctor Strange may have the Book of Vishanti, or at the very least something that can help them get back to the universe where America is.
This twisted universe’s Strange comes across like a reclusive man who has the weight of the world on his shoulders. It isn’t until he and 616 Strange starts talking about the situation that he is in, that the cracks in the facade become apparent. When the two meet, the reclusive Strange asks our Strange to verify that he is, in fact, the same as him. Strange talks about their late sister Donna who fell through a frozen lake when they were children, and he wasn’t able to save her. This Strange seems the closest to our Doctor Strange, especially when he references the exact moment between him and Christine at the wedding that opened the movie. But that’s when everything comes undone. Evil Strange reveals that he has been killing other Stranges by taunting 616 Strange about nightmares where he feels like he’s been pushed off a cliff.
Like Wanda, this universe’s Doctor Strange has been corrupted by the Darkhold, which forces our Doctor Strange to face off against him in a musical battle (I kid you not!) that culminates in the evil Doctor Strange getting thrown out the tower window and landing on a fence spike. I guess this time, he’s the one falling. Before the evil Strange takes the swan dive out the window, he warns 616 Strange that using the Darkhold comes with a price.
Christine rushes inside the manor and finds 616 Strange preparing to tap into the Darkhold’s power to save America. Strange assuages her fears that he is not going to go down the same path that her Strange went down by asking her to stay with him and protect his body while he dreamwalks back into his own universe. Strange defies the laws of magic by dreamwalking into the corpse of the Strange that died in his nightmare at the start of the film, and nearly pays the price as the souls of the damned try to drag him to hell. Christine helps him overpower the creatures and utilize their power to become a super-strong Zombie Strange.
At the top of Wundagore Mountain, Wanda has nearly achieved her goal when Zombie Strange arrives to kick ass and take names later. Luckily, Wong (Benedict Wong) has also rejoined the fight to help take out one of Wanda’s stone guardians. Wanda calls Strange out for his hypocrisy—he chastised her for dreamwalking and there he is doing it, but there’s very little time for playful barbs when Strange’s damned souls descend upon Wanda. Wanda manages to overpower Strange and Wong once more, breaking through their spells and seizing America. Strange bolsters America up and assures her that she is capable of summoning her powers when she needs them.
Right as Wanda wraps her fingers around America’s throat, posed to take her powers and kill her, America opens up the multiverse and forces Wanda to be judged for her actions by her sons. And it’s not just any universe, it’s the one that she just dreamwalked in—the one that she formed a brief emotional connection with. The boys are terrified; they run, they scream, they hide, and it’s that fear that finally leads Wanda to realize that she has become a monster. In the end, it’s the Wanda from 838 that saves the day because she comforts our Wanda and assures her that the boys will be loved. That’s all she wants.
Wanda and America return to Wundagore and Wanda decides that the only way forward is for her to destroy the Darkhold, her throne, and ultimately herself. By doing so, her throne becomes a tomb—just as it was believed to be at the start. America and Wong travel back through the multiverse to reunite with Strange and Christine, while the walls come tumbling down around Wanda. It’s a disappointing end for one of Marvel’s most powerful characters whose only crime was being a grieving mother, but Marvel operates on the “no body, no death” rule, so she’s sure to show up again someday.
At the Strange Manor, Strange discovers that Wanda destroyed the Darkhold in every universe, not just her own. Surely that will have a larger impact on the universe. Strange and Christina share a moment where Strange finally comes to terms with his feelings for Christina—he loves her, every version of her—but of course, the one in his own universe has found her happily ever after with someone else.
In the final moments of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse, everything seems to be back to normal. America is training under Wong’s tutelage, though her hasty style is a little reminiscent of Strange when he was training. Strange repairs the watch face of the wristwatch Christine bought him, but things simply cannot stay status quo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As Strange ventures out one morning, the cost for using the Darkhold arrives in the form of a third eye. In the mid-credit scene, the ramifications of his actions ramp up even further when Clea (Charlize Theron) shows up and asks Strange to help her repair the incursion that he caused. It seems like he might be in the multiverse of madness a little while longer.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse is in theaters now.
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