Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is playing in theaters around the world, and we already have a spoiler-free review for you at this link. That’s what you’ll want to read about the movie before seeing it to avoid having the plot spoiled. But in what follows below, we will discuss the Doctor Strange 2 deaths and what they mean for the MCU.
The fact that some characters die in Multiverse of Madness isn’t a spoiler. Death is very much part of the story in any superhero movie, especially in the MCU. And, as we already know, it’s not just villains who perish. Also, the Doctor Strange sequel is a horror movie directed by Sam Raimi. That alone should tell you that death is inevitable.
On the other hand, the deaths in superhero movies aren’t always permanent. Especially when you factor in the multiverse, which introduces infinite possibilities of the beloved characters. With that in mind, we’ll list all of the deaths in Multiverse of Madness in chronological order. Beware, big spoilers follow below if you haven’t seen Doctor Strange 2.
Every death we saw in Doctor Strange 2
We see several variants of Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in the movie, and we’ve been calling the first one that appears Defender Strange.
Defender Strange
This is the Strange that’s a friend to America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) and wants to save her with the help of the Book of the Vishanti. He even speaks Spanish. But also, he kind of wants to kill her so others can abuse her power.
The unidentified demon chasing these two kills Defender Strange after stabbing him twice. This Doctor Strange 2 death will shock you until you realize the MCU Strange is safe.
Gargantos
The one-eyed, multi-tentacled demon chasing Chavez in the MCU has met his match. It’s not just Strange fighting against him, as Wong (Benedict Wong) also comes in to save the day. The two of them do enough damage to take out this violent threat. Sadly. That’s right, Gargantos isn’t the film’s main villain, and he dies after Strange impales its precious eye with a lamp post.
We might see Gargantos in the future because the multiverse is vast and full of perils.
Most of the Kamar-Taj sorcerers
Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) reveals herself as the film’s villain very early in the story, which is a great twist for the film. She makes it clear that Strange has to hand over America. Or else. Doctor Strange chooses not to, and the Scarlet Witch ends up sacking Kamar-Taj. The sorcerers and their apprentices put up a valiant effort, but Wanda is just too strong, fighting on several levels.
These Doctor Strange 2 deaths might not seem like much. We’re looking at nameless characters that die heroically. But it’s still important for the MCU. Wanda just wiped out a large number of sorcerers. And while many remain in action, this could impact the Sorcerer Supreme’s ability to defend reality. That’s Wong, by the way.
Thanos
The next death doesn’t happen in Multiverse of Madness per se. It’s in a vision that Professor X (Patrick Stewart) shares with the primary Doctor Strange. But there is the dead body of Thanos (Josh Brolin) on Titan. And it looks like they went for the heart with the help of the Book of the Vishanti. It happened on Earth-838 (the Illuminati reality) well before the events of Doctor Strange 2. It’s still another death scene that we see on screen.
Strange Supreme
Strange Supreme is the Strange variant that founded the Illuminati. He also abused the Darkhold, causing an incursion that led to the death of an entire alternate reality. He might have found the Book of Vishanti, helping the Illuminati kill Thanos. But they killed him right then and there on Titan. They had to do it to prevent him from abusing his powers.
The Ultron army
Wanda has a field day with the Ultron bots in the Illuminati universe. We have no idea who made these sentries, as there’s no surprise Iron Man cameo in the film. But they all die while trying to defend the superheroes, which is certainly laudable.
Black Bolt
The Illuminati cameo rumors we saw prior to the release were all accurate. And they all die, starting with Black Bolt (Anson Mount). Wanda shuts his mouth Matrix-style, and his head explodes. That’s just brutal, showing that Wanda will do whatever it takes to be with her children again.
We have no idea whether we’ll see Mount as Black Bolt again in future MCU projects, but the 838 version met an absolutely brutal demise in Doctor Strange 2.
Mister Fantastic
Everyone in the office will blame genius Reed Richards (John Krasinski) for giving away the store. He told Wanda how dangerous Black Bolt is, so she killed him first. But let’s remember the entire Illuminati team thinks too little of Wanda. Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch) made that clear during the Illuminati panel before the fight.
Elasticity won’t save Mister Fantastic, as Wanda turns him into spaghetti quickly. This death is real, and it’s final for this Reed variant. But we expect Krasinski to play the MCU’s Mister Fantastic soon.
Captain Carter
The arrival of a live-action Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) is glorious. She has no problem facing anyone, whether it’s Doctor Strange in the Illuminati court or the dangerous Scarlet Witch after she just killed Black Bolt and Mister Fantastic. Like Steve (Chris Evans), Carter thinks she can do this all day. But this Cap variant is just one of the heartbreaking deaths in Doctor Strange 2.
We don’t expect her to have survived that blow. But then again, she’s got special serum running through her veins. Whether 838 Carter died or not, we suspect that this isn’t the last we’ll see of the character.
Captain Marvel
Lashana Lynch’s Captain Marvel is just as responsible for underestimating Wanda as Mister Fantastic. And she’s just as determined as Captain Carter to beat Wanda. The duel between this Captain Marvel and Wanda is one of the movie’s highlights that will settle some debates. But this Captain Marvel can’t beat Wanda. She’s not strong enough. And it sure looks like she was crushed under one of the statues in the Illuminati compound.
Professor X
Why didn’t Professor X go into the mind of Wanda the moment the MCU’s Doctor Strange mentioned the imminent risk? We have no idea. Maybe he, too, believed the Illuminati were capable enough. He did try to save the 838 Wanda from the MCU’s Scarlet Witch. But he ultimately joined the list of tragic Doctor Strange 2 deaths.
And unlike the captains, his death is certainly final. Who knows whether we’ll see Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier reappear in the MCU again. What’s certain is that this mutant is no match for the Scarlet Witch.
Sinister Strange
After Defender Strange and Supreme Strange, there’s one more variant that Benedict Cumberbatch played. This is the one we’ve been calling Sinister Strange, who destroyed his universe after pursuing happiness with the help of the Darkhold.
His Doctor Strange 2 death is another highlight, as it occurs after a tremendous live-action battle between two Strange variants. We did see a preview of this battle in What If…?, where the more evil half of Strange prevailed.
The music-based Strange fight is absolutely amazing. But it ends with the MCU’s Doctor Strange beating and killing the evil variant. Killing is a strong word, as his third eye is still open after his body is impaled. Perhaps his spirit will do more damage down the road.
The Wundagore Mountain demons
Since we mentioned the Kamar-Taj and Ultron deaths in Doctor Strange 2, we also have to add the Wundagore Mountain demons to the list. They are there to serve Chthon and his disciples. They recognize the Scarlet Witch as the rightful heir to that creepy throne, and they defend her until Zombie Strange arrives.
Zombie Strange
Stranded in the Sinister Strange reality, Doctor Strange has to embrace the dark magic to dreamwalk into the MCU’s primary reality. Lucky for him, the dead body of Defender Strange is on Earth-616, which then becomes Zombie Strange. This Strange corpse puts up a valiant fight against Wanda, enough to save America Chavez.
Technically, Zombie Strange dies as well. Although he was already dead.
The Darkhold
Ok, this is an evil book, so we shouldn’t be adding it to the list of Doctor Strange 2 deaths. But what happens at the end of Multiverse of Madness is very important. Wanda doesn’t just destroy the remaining Darkhold copy in 616. She destroys every copy in the entire multiverse. That will annoy plenty of Wandas, Stranges, and other sorcerers and witches in the multiverse.
Wanda – or is it the Scarlet Witch?
The villain of superhero movies doesn’t always have to die. And you could possibly argue that Wanda has redeemed herself by the end of Doctor Strange 2. Then again, redeeming Wanda might take a lot more this time, considering the killing spree she went on.
But the end of Doctor Strange 2 implies Wanda might have killed herself while destroying the Wundagore Castle and the Darkhold. We have no idea how the MCU will resurrect her. Maybe the Scarlet Witch is too strong to die like that. Perhaps we’ll get a good Wanda version from 838 or someplace else. We’ll just have to wait and see what’s next.
The Doctor Strange 2 deaths that really matter
As you can see above, we’ve listed every being (or maleficent book) that perished in Doctor Strange 2. But the only deaths that really matter for the MCU are the ones from this reality. And only a single major character appears to have died. That’s Wanda, but that’s assuming Marvel is ready to kill off Elizabeth Olsen’s Avenger for good.
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