Screenwriter Michael Waldron says Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness encourages him to go weird for Loki season 2. Currently the highest-grossing movie of the year, Doctor Strange 2 plunged the MCU Phase 4 into the multiverse as Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) attempts to protect America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) from the mysterious enemy hunting her across universes. While Multiverse of Madness broke out of MCU expectations by leaning more heavily into the horror genre, it also wasn't afraid to show that much of the multiverse is just plain weird.
Waldron, the screenwriter behind Doctor Strange 2, is no stranger to weird. He joined the MCU as an executive producer and writer for the Disney+ series Loki. The show was originally intended to be a miniseries that followed Loki (Tom Hiddleston) after he escaped with the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame, but during production, Marel Studios ordered Loki season 2. The show continued the time-travel shenanigans that Endgame brought to the MCU and added even more complications, as Loki ran afoul of the TVA and several variants of himself, including an alligator. After destroying several timelines and killing off many Loki variants, Loki season 1 left unanswered questions for both Loki and the audience to solve.
Following the release of Doctor Strange 2, Waldron sat down with Polygon to discuss how some of Multiverse of Madness' more trippy moments may carry over into the rest of the MCU. During the discussion, he's asked if those odd moments could mean Loki season 2 will be weirder as well, and the Loki writer/producer admitted that it could. While Waldron qualifies his answer by saying he thought Loki season 1 had already reached the pinnacle of weirdness, he also admits that writing Doctor Strange 2 encouraged him to be bolder. Read Waldron's full answer below:
I don’t know if I could go any weirder than we went in season 1. We had an alligator drinking wine out of a kiddie pool. That felt like the Mount Everest peak of weird! I think there’s plenty of opportunity there. We’re always looking to outdo ourselves, but hopefully it’s always driven by character. And yeah, I learned on this movie once again, no idea is too crazy. You can write Stephen Strange possessing his own corpse, and maybe you’ll end up shooting it. That encourages me to be bold, which is good.
While Waldron's comment about Alligator Loki raises a good point, it's important to note that the Loki season 2 story won't be weird just for the sake of it. He makes it clear that, while the writers always want to top their previous work, staying focused on the characters is essential. Loki season 1 had the huge task of not only introducing new concepts to the franchise, with variants, timelines, and the TVA, but also redefining Loki's character as separate from Thor. Loki season 2 will need to continue that character arc, while also focusing on season 1 finale cliffhanger.
Loki season 2 is currently in development and will begin filming soon, but it's still unclear how the Disney+ series might intersect with the rest of the MCU. Many had assumed that Loki season 1 would lead into Doctor Strange 2, but none of the Loki variants appeared in the film. Perhaps, Marvel will use Clea's (Charlize Theron) introduction in the Doctor Strange 2 mid-credits scene to bring her and Doctor Strange into Loki season 2, similar to Yelena's (Florence Pugh) appearances in Black Widow and Hawkeye. Whatever happens, Waldron seems confident that Loki season 2 will top the first.
Source: Polygon
