Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige himself came up with Mister Fantastic's brutal death scene in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Directed by Sam Raimi, the recent Doctor Strange sequel is the second standalone movie for Benedict Cumberbatch's titular character. The film, which earned mostly positive reviews from both audiences and critics, sees Doctor Strange protect the super-powered America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) from the wrath of Scarlett Witch, who is determined to reunite with her children in another universe at all costs.
Like many of the MCU films that came before it, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness features a handful of exciting cameos. The movie features the Illuminati, a superhero team in Earth-838. In addition to John Krasinski as Reed Richards/ Mister Fantastic, the secretive superhero group is comprised of Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Black Bolt (Anson Mount), Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell), Maria Rambeau/ Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch), and Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Much to the surprise of many fans, the Illuminati's appearance is relatively short-lived in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, with Wanda showing up and promptly killing every member in gruesome fashion, starting by sealing Black Bolt's mouth shut and then shredding Mister Fantastic into spaghetti-like strips.
In a new interview with Befores & Afters, Industrial Light & Magic VFX Supervisor Julian Foddy reveals that the idea to shred Mister Fantastic actually originated with Feige. Foddy explains that the reference material Feige provided was someone pushing a lump of modeling clay through a garlic press, creating a bunch of strings. Check out Foddy's full comment below:
"The starting point [for Mr. Fantastic's death] was some reference that was passed to us by [VFX supervisor] Janek Sirrs directly from Kevin Feige. It was someone passing a lump of modeling clay or Play-doh through a garlic press. Janek also had some reference of the Play-doh ‘Barber Shop’ toy, which was a little figure with holes in the head and you’d turn a handle and the Play-doh would come out. That was the kind of look we were going for."
As President of Marvel Studios, Feige clearly oversees the more "big picture" aspects of the MCU, but, as evidenced by Foddy's story, he also clearly likes to get involved in some of the smaller moments as well. Each Illuminati death in the Doctor Strange sequel was memorable and shocking in its own way, but Mr. Fantastic's demise was particularly surprising just because fans had been calling for Krasinski to be cast as the character for years. The Play-doh inspiration is also notable, considering Mister Fantastic's superpower essentially involves being especially malleable and stretchy.
While the introduction and subsequent deaths of the Illuminati has proven somewhat divisive amongst MCU fans, there's no denying that each character's death was befitting of their own respective superpowers. With Black Bolt essentially killing himself with his own sonic scream and Captain Carter getting cut in two by her own shield, Mister Fantastic's stringy death is certainly a fitting way for the character to go. With the fan response to Krasinski's take on Mister Fantastic being mostly lukewarm, it remains to be seen if the actor will reprise the role for any MCU films outside of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Source: Befores & Afters
