Doctor Strange 2 & Loki Writer On Being Custodian Of The MCU Multiverse

Loki head writer and Doctor Strange 2 scribe Michael Waldron has opened up about being the custodian of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's multiverse. The third series in the Disney+ realm of the MCU sees the titular God of Mischief arrested by the Time Variance Authority after escaping with the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame. Loki is tasked with helping track down another variant who is taking out members of the TVA. Tom Hiddleston leads the cast for the series which also includes Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Sophia Di Martino, Sasha Lane, and Eugene Cordero.

The fifth film in Phase Four of the MCU, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will pick up the story beats from WandaVision and Endgame and the titular sorcerer will be forced to put his study of the Time Stone on hold to deal with a friend-turned-enemy, in turn unleashing an unspeakable evil. Benedict Cumberbatch returns to the role alongside Rachel McAdams, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Benedict Wong, while Xochitl Gomez will make her MCU debut as America Chavez. After original team Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill departed due to creative differences, Sam Raimi took the helm while Waldron started over with the script, working from Jade Bartlett's original draft for the sequel.

In an interview with Screen Rant to discuss the Disney+ series, Waldron reflected on the multiverse nature of both Loki and Doctor Strange 2. Not ready to outright call himself the custodian of the concept, Waldron credited the other storytellers in the MCU with the ability to take ownership of their tales and their larger ties to the expanding MCU multiverse. Check out what Waldron told SR below:

"I don't know. I I think that everybody - all the filmmakers and writers of the MCU - are all custodians of this thing, because we all end up both creating problems and solving problems for one another. So, if I can just create problems for myself and not for some other poor writer, I guess that makes life a little bit easier."

As the MCU has expanded, Marvel Studios has done a solid job of bringing in new voices to the fold for their projects while only coming back to writers or directors if they bring a unique angle to the material, including Guardians of the Galaxy's James Gunn or the Russo Brothers. So to see Waldron not only get to show his chops with Disney+'s Loki but also with the Doctor Strange sequel is rather impressive, indicating Marvel has a lot of confidence in his writing and ability to introduce the multiverse to audiences. Early reviews of Loki indicate Marvel's faith in Waldron hasn't been misplaced.

With Loki's arrival on Disney+ imminent, fans won't have to wait long to see just how the series will continue infusing the MCU with multiverse inklings. Though there is still a little under a year left until Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness hits theaters, it shouldn't be long before the first looks at the highly-anticipated sequel arrive. With production having wrapped in April and the first looks at Chavez, Strange, Wong, and Wanda already revealed, new material may come sooner than fans think.

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