Warning! Spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
There's some missing information about America Chavez's powers in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which creates a plot hole in her story. Although Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch are the two main characters in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, America Chavez is the heart of the movie. Scarlet Witch seeks her multiverse-hopping powers to reunite with her sons Billy and Tommy, and Doctor Strange must defend America to protect the entire MCU multiverse.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness establishes that while America Chavez's powers constantly save her life, she doesn't have much control over them. Scarlet Witch, who has zero experience in multiversal travel, believes she can use them to visit the exact universes she wants, and America's limitations don't seem to be an obstacle for her. Apparently, the ability to choose when to open a portal and which universe it connects to is not entirely a matter of technique, as America Chavez can create a star-shaped portal by believing in her own potential during the final battle against Scarlet Witch. Then, at the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, America is shown training in the Mystic Arts at Kamar Taj, where she struggles with summoning a regular magic portal.
However, if America now has more control over her innate multiversal powers, why is she training in the Mystic Arts and not searching for her moms? Doctor Strange and Wong should be studying exactly what's keeping America from choosing the universes she travels to. After all, Scarlet Witch seems to know what's missing, given that the portals themselves are her only worry. The nitty-gritty of America Chavez's powers don't need to be fully explained during her debut appearance, but the reason why she couldn't control her abilities would have helped understand why Scarlet Witch was so close to fully traveling through the multiverse while America couldn't find her mothers. Doctor Strange 2 doesn't clarify what's stopping America, resulting in the plot hole.
Perhaps what America Chavez needs lies somewhere in the teachings of the Mystic Arts, and understanding basic magic might help her harness the nuances of the multiverse. If Doctor Strange and Wong experimented with fully-multiversal methods right away, they'd run the risk of sending America to an unknown universe with no way to get her back. America could have more control over which universe she lands in, but she might not be able to return. As a sorcerer, America may develop the necessary abilities to overcome this. Although not the same as magic, witchcraft may be what helps Scarlet Witch choose which of her infinite multiversal variants she wants to possess.
Future appearances will certainly develop America Chavez's multiversal powers. Similarly, America's reunion with her mothers will probably be set up over the course of multiple MCU installments. America Chavez needs to grow as a hero before achieving her main goal, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is only the beginning. Still, a brief explanation of her limitations would have made the main conflict a little clearer.
