The Marvel Cinematic Universe has expanded to incredible lengths with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where different realities have come into play. Stephen and America Chavez came across places like Earth-838 and their adventures have brought new canonical evidence to the series.
However, this has also led to several gaps in logic previously set by the MCU. This ranges from aspects like the conflict against Thanos to inconsistencies between the characters’ variants. Since the multiversal plotline will continue in future movies like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania, it’s best to brush up on the factors that didn’t make sense and need to be answered.
Why Didn't Doctor Strange See More Possible Winning Futures Against Thanos?
The Illuminati revealed to Doctor Strange that their variant had caused an incursion in another universe while looking for a way to defeat the Earth-838 Thanos; they eventually used the Book of Vishanti to slay the Mad Titan without using drastic measures like triggering the Snap as it happened in the MCU.
Since Doctor Strange claimed in Avengers: Infinity War that he had looked into all possible futures - a 1 in 14 million chance of victory existed - he should have seen the Book of Vishanti option. After all, the Earth-838 Thanos was shown dead on Titan, meaning they had fought him in the same place the MCU heroes had. Logically, Doctor Strange should have seen a victory through the Book of Vishanti among the 14 million alternatives.
How Did Vision Know About The Multiverse?
Although fans thought there would be an update since WandaVision, Scarlet Witch and Vision’s relationship was missing from Doctor Strange 2. Vision was mentioned by Scarlet Witch when she told Doctor Strange that the former theorized about the possibility of the multiverse.
It’s unknown how he might have come across that notion since the possibility of the multiverse was only known to entities like The Masters of the Mystic Arts and the Time Variance Authority. Moreover, the What If…? Ultron - who was essentially the Vision of that reality - had evolved to his extent and even he only learned about the multiverse by catching The Watcher spying on him. This leaves no plausible way for Vision to come up with his theories.
Why Did The Variants In This Movie All Look The Same?
There were quite a few variants in Doctor Strange 2 and they all looked alike. This clashes with the established canon of Spider-Man: No Way Home, where the Peter Parker variants looked nothing like each other; the eldest Peter also confirmed that his Mary Jane was different from the MCU version.
To that end, the different universes in Doctor Strange 2 should have had a high likelihood of variants that were distinct in appearance rather than the same. And yet, every character shown had the same appearance throughout the multiverse, which leaves the question of why this didn’t apply to the Spider-Man characters.
How Can America Chavez Not Have Variants When Marvel Media Have Featured Versions Of The Character?
Doctor Strange 2 established that universes exist in different forms, such as those in 3D form or those that appear like animated cartoons. It confirms that the universes seen in the comics, video games, and other media are all canonical and part of the larger multiverse.
America claims she’s the only version of herself, which shouldn’t be true since the existence of America Chavez from the comics’ Earth-616, video games’ Earth-13122, and other versions from Earth-61112, among others, have already been seen. America should have had access to their dreams because those universes exist alongside the live-action MCU.
How Can There Be Two Earth-616s?
There were several universes shown in Doctor Strange 2, with Earth-838 Christine revealing that they’ve all been named. The MCU was dubbed the Earth-616 universe, which clashes with the earlier designation of Earth-199999 that the franchise had been given for years.
It also brings up many questions about how there can be two Earth-616s since the prime universe of the comics has the same designation. The comics have stated that Earth-616 is the main reality, as seen in the 2014 Spider-Verse multiversal event - there’s a real headscratcher now over which designation is supposed to be the real one.
How Does Doctor Strange Know Of MCU Karl Mordo's Villainy?
Doctor Strange’s journey in the MCU is pretty well mapped, with the character having been the Sorcerer Supreme before he was snapped by Thanos and engaging in an adventure with Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home. This leaves little room for him to have clashed against Karl Mordo, yet the protagonist was already aware of his villainy in Doctor Strange 2.
He was apprehensive of the Earth-838 Mordo due to his belief that he was an antagonist as well and later told him that the MCU Mordo was his rival. Since Mordo was carrying out his vendetta against sorcerers in secret, there doesn’t appear any way for Doctor Strange to know about his villainous turn, much less face off against him offscreen.
Why Didn't Scarlet Witch Target A Universe Where She Had Vision And The Children?
There are many places where Scarlet Witch can appear next in the MCU due to the ambiguous ending she received. In Doctor Strange 2, her mission to steal her Earth-838 variant’s children didn’t make a lot of sense, though, since she had a multitude of options.
Scarlet Witch had knowledge of the multiverse at large, which should have variants who have the children and Vision. This is true for universes like the Earth-616 comics, meaning there must be other realities out there with a more idyllic life for Scarlet Witch. It doesn’t add up why she specifically went after the Earth-838 variant when she couldn't have Vision in that reality.
How Did Previous MCU Characters Have Nightmares If Dreams Are Always Visions Of Multiversal Variants?
The MCU has shown its characters dreaming or having nightmares previously, such as when Tony Stark had nightmares about Thanos and the Battle of New York. However, Doctor Strange 2 revealed that dreams are always projections of the multiverse, which goes against the prior canon.
After all, Tony and the other characters were well aware that their dreams pertained to them based on their experiences, so they couldn’t have been events in the multiverse. It’s more likely that the MCU has simply retconned the dreaming aspect into the series, but this opens up various gaps in logic.