This article contains MAJOR spoilers for Multiverse Of Madness.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has finally arrived, fully kickstarting the MCU's newest saga by blowing the doors of the Multiverse wide open. As promised, Sam Raimi's first outing in the MCU introduced new variants of the former Sorcerer Supreme, with each variant having their own impact on the movie's story.
Due to Multiverse Of Madness' two-hour runtime, some Strange variants had more screen-time than others and were a lot more important within the story. From the Illuminati's very own ill-fated Strange Supreme to Defender Strange's own corpse being both resurrected and possessed at the same time, each variant changed the story in many different ways, setting certain events into motion and each affecting the movie's climactic ending.
Clea
Clea was one of the Doctor Strange variants we were likely to see appear in Multiverse of Madness, and she finally made her long-awaited debut in the movie's first post-credits scene. Although we didn't see much of her in the movie, her arrival teases a huge Marvel Comics event - Secret Wars.
In Marvel Comics, Clea is the Sorceress Supreme of the Dark Dimension and becomes Strange's love interest - which has been confirmed to be the case in future MCU movies. We'll have to wait a few years before we finally see Clea and Strange's adventures throughout the multiverse, but it's something comic fans can start to get excited about.
Defender Strange
Despite only appearing at the beginning of Multiverse of Madness (in one of the movie's best costumes inspired by the comics), Defender Strange proved right from the start that not every Strange is heroic - as he attempts to sacrifice America Chavez's life without consulting her, before meeting a gruesome death.
Whilst short-lived, Defender Strange's death set up Strange's overall character arc throughout the movie, where we saw him transform from a selfish sorcerer to a selfless hero. Without his ironic sacrifice, America would not have met Earth-616's Strange, and Stephen would not have had his dream, so his untimely demise was actually significant for Multiverse of Madness' story.
Sinister Strange
The lone survivor of the incursion that annihilated his universe, Sinister Strange stood alone in his decaying Sanctum Sanctorum, surrounded by the bones of those running to Strange for help, before being visited by Earth-616's Strange. This variant had been entirely corrupted by the Darkhold and its power, and engaged in an incredible musical duel against Earth-616's Strange - and was impaled on a fence not long after.
This Strange variant helped Strange on his path towards becoming a better person, as it made him realize the true horror that could come with corruption, selfishness, and power. Furthermore, his death led to Earth-616's Strange and Earth-883's Christine Palmer to use this reality's Darkhold to dream walk into Earth-616 and combat Wanda.
Supreme Strange (Earth-883)
Throughout Strange's journey in the Multiverse of Madness, he visits Earth-883, a technically advanced version of Earth featuring its own Fantastic Four team (including Reed Richard's children), its own X-Men team, its own Inhumans team, and its own Avengers team. Above all of these groups, however, stood the Illuminati - an elite group of the world's greatest heroes who watch over their Earth, which used to include a variant of Doctor Strange.
However, by the time we saw Earth-883, this variant of Strange was nowhere to be seen - and in one of the movie's biggest surprises, we learn that he was executed by Black Bolt on Earth-883's version of Titan for becoming corrupted by the Darkhold. This was incredibly important for the story, as Strange finally dueled against Baron Mordo as the Illuminati deemed him one of their universe's biggest threats, and frantically ran from Wanda with America and Christine, with the new realization that his own abilities were insanely powerful - and that every other variant of Strange was evil.
Zombie Strange
Zombie Strange, or more specifically Earth-616's Doctor Strange using a Darkhold spell to dream walk through Defender Strange's corpse, was an insanely powerful variant of Strange during Multiverse Of Madness, to the point that he managed to use the Souls of the Damned to battle Wanda.
Although he wasn't around for long (and although he wasn't What If...?'s Zombie Strange), he managed to enter Scarlet Witch's Throne despite sorcerers not being allowed to enter, and managed to genuinely scare Wanda for the first time throughout the movie - leading to a gruesome duel and inspiring America Chavez to finally beat Wanda.
Doctor Strange (Earth-616)
The main star of the Multiverse of Madness, Earth-616's Stephen Strange saves America Chavez's life very early on in the movie, and, unlike his multiversal counterparts, risks his life to protect her from the terrifying Scarlet Witch. Throughout the movie, we see Strange become less self-centered and more selfless, working on his journey towards truly becoming a hero.
Even after meeting multiple different variants of himself, all evil and all corrupted, Strange never gives up on America, even defying his closest ally Wong when he is ordered to take her powers. Instead, Strange motivates America, helping her harness her powers to defeat Wanda the correct way. Furthermore, by the end of Multiverse of Madness, we saw Strange potentially become the Avengers' strongest hero, as using the Darkhold to dream-walk inspired him to study its spells to use to his benefit - defying every other Strange variant we encountered throughout the movie.