A new teaser for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness shows Stephen Strange summoning dragonlike monsters, and hints at a dark multiverse. It's easy to forget that, back when the MCU first started, key decision-makers at Marvel were concerned about adding magic into their science-based shared universe. That's why Thor introduced the Asgardians as ancient aliens, with the God of Thunder claiming he originated from a realm where science and magic were one and the same thing - a statement Arthur C. Clarke would have been proud of. Marvel brought in scientific advisers to help them figure out magic for 2016's Doctor Strange, rooting their version of sorcery in pseudoscience incorporating the multiverse.

The multiverse is central to the MCU's Phase 4 slate, and naturally that has major implications for Doctor Strange 2. So far, most attention has been focused on the multiversal events themselves, with the entire time-space continuum seeming to be on the verge of collapse. But a recent TV spot, "Dream," also hinted that Doctor Strange's own magic will be getting weirder than ever before. One shot of the Sinister Strange revealed a third eye opening on his forehead, a nod to the comic book version of the Eye of Agamotto, while in another shot the main timeline's Doctor Strange summoned what at first seem to be tentacles - but are actually dragons.

Related: Doctor Strange's Third Eye: New Multiverse of Madness Powers Explained

In the MCU, the Sorcerer Supreme and the Masters of the Mystic Arts typically draw energy from other planes of existence, using it to rewrite reality itself. That makes the magic Doctor Strange is using in the "Dream" TV spot particularly intriguing, because he seems to actually be using a summoning spell of some kind; drawing dragonlike monsters from another dimension to this one, controlling them so they fight on his behalf. It's a magical power that has previously only been seen in Marvel's What If...?, and there it had a far darker origin. What If...? season 1, episode 4 introduced a version of Doctor Strange who performed summoning spells to draw creatures to him, so he could consume their magic, and only then was he able to manifest their powers.

Doctor Strange Dragon Monsters

Many comic book readers know Doctor Strange best as Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, but long before that, Marvel described Doctor Strange as "Master of the Black Arts." Trailers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have already shown him reading the Darkhold; in the comics, this book of forbidden magic serves as the gateway to many unusual powers, but all of them are damaging to the nature of reality itself. It's quite possible Doctor Strange has learned this particular spell from the Darkhold, explaining why he didn't summon these creatures during his battles against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

It's possible Doctor Strange 2 director Sam Raimi simply wishes to expand the MCU's version of magic. But given the context, the more likely explanation is that Doctor Strange is indeed dabbling in the "Black Arts," using powers none of the other Masters of the Mystic Arts would be comfortable with. If this is the case, it's quite possible Doctor Strange is the one who breaks the multiverse - explaining why he's put on trial by the multiversal Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

More: Doctor Strange Secretly Met Kang - Theory Explained

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