Marvel released Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer 2 during the Super Bowl, airing a shortened version of it during the big game. The trailer features plenty of new footage, including the confirmation of two big cameos that have popped up in various Multiverse of Madness leaks so far. But what’s more interesting about this Doctor Strange 2 trailer is that it confirms the big plot leak from last fall.
That’s quite an exciting discovery, considering that Marvel conducted extensive Doctor Strange 2 reshoots. Rumors said Marvel needed to fix certain aspects of the story and introduce plenty of additional cameos. Once the new Multiverse of Madness rumors started coming in after the reshoots, we didn’t know what to make of the previous plot leaks. Marvel could have changed plenty of plot elements along the way.
But the new trailer indicates that Marvel kept most of the story the same. And we know that because one of the biggest Doctor Strange 2 plot leaks is now confirmed. You should know that massive spoilers follow below.
Doctor Strange 2 trailer 2 is misleading
Before we can dissect the new video and explain the film’s plot, we’ll have to remind you that Marvel often uses its trailers to mislead the audience. The clips are cut in such a manner to trick fans. The scenes aren’t chronological, and the dialogue might not match what’s shown on the screen. On top of that, Marvel sometimes changes footage in its trailers, as we saw with Spider-Man: No Way Home.
That’s what you need to remember going into any MCU trailer, but especially Doctor Strange 2.
The best proof of that is one of the big cameos that Marvel revealed in the trailer. It’s a superhero who has three potential identities since this is a multiverse movie, so Marvel can use whatever superheroes it places. That’s the superhero seen in the image below. It could be Human Torch, and it could be Superior Iron Man. But it’s actually a Captain Marvel variant, with Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) charging Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen).
Also, the new trailer shows us various villains fighting the different Avengers who appear in Doctor Strange 2. But most of them are only temporary enemies that Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) & Co. have to defeat. The real villain is prominently featured in the trailer, but many people might not be ready to accept it.
It’s Wanda. That’s why Captain Marvel fights her at the Illuminati compound in the trailer. Wanda being the villain is a Doctor Strange 2 plot detail that we heard over and over from leaks. But the trailer might make some fans question it.
After all, we have a seemingly evil Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) version capturing the main Doctor Strange. The implication here might be that the Illuminati are some of the film’s main antagonists.
The big Multiverse of Madness plot leak
The big Doctor Strange 2 plot leaks appeared well before Marvel released any trailers for the film. It started back in fall 2021, at a time when we kept seeing No Way Home rumors confirming the big Spider-Man cameos.
The plot leaks came from different sources. One of them has a verifiable track record posting MCU rumors. The other leak came from a mysterious Redditor who posted the plot leak in late summer 2021. Both leaks offered the same general plot for the film, although the Reddit leak featured more details.
They said that Wanda will be the film’s big villain, using her newfound powers to travel the multiverse in search of her children. The Darkhold will blind Wanda, making her do awful things to anyone in her way. That involves leaving a trail of dead bodies where ever she encounters opposition.
America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) is a brand new superhero whose power is to travel the multiverse with ease. She can move between worlds just like The Watcher in What If…?. That’s the kind of power that Wanda and Strange do not possess.
However, what they can do is travel via the astral form to other realities. That’s how Wanda takes over Wanda variants from different universes. And how Strange will ultimately take over the body of a dead Strange variant — the zombie Strange we saw in the Super Bowl trailers.
Shuma Gorath will be called Gargantos in Doctor Strange 2, but the demon will only be a temporary distraction for Wong (Benedict Wong) and Strange. They’ll mainly be fighting against Wanda in the film.
The real Doctor Strange 2 villain
It’s Wanda attacking and destroying the Kamar-Taj in the battle that we see in the Doctor Strange 2 trailer. And it’s Wanda attacking the Illuminati compound in the trailer. That’s why Captain Marvel fights her.
The clue for Wanda attacking the Illuminati is in Wanda’s eyes; a typical Raimi shot for superhero movies. Stop the video, and you’ll see the reflection of the prison where the Illuminati kept Doctor Strange and Wanda.
The plot leaks said that Wanda will hurt and maybe kill several of the Illuminati members. The list of casualties will include Balder, Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch), and Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell). Mordo and Balder the Brave are also part of the Illuminati team. Wanda will also kill a Strange variant and the MCU’s primary Mordo, according to the same plot leak.
Separately, Doctor Strange will kill the Sinister Strange variant that we’ve seen in the trailers. This isn’t the Strange Supreme variant from the What If…? TV show. But it’s also an evil version of Strange.
The plot leak confirmations from trailer 2
The Doctor Strange 2 trailer 2 has plenty of scenes that confirm that parts of the plot leak are accurate.
We see Defender Strange die in the trailer and America Chavez taking that body with her. That’s probably the zombie Strange that appears later in the trailer. And it’s the MCU’s strange controlling that body from across the multiverse.
The plot leak also mentioned that Strange has nightmares about him dying horrific deaths. America Chavez will tell him that what he’s actually seeing is other Strange variants dying in alternate realities, as Wanda keeps chasing Chavez.
The small details
The wedding scene in the Doctor Strange 2 plot leak is also mentioned in the plot leak. That’s where Gargantos will disrupt reality, with Wong and Strange killing the monster.
The plot leak also mentions the big sorcerer’s battle at Kamar-Taj, parts of which we see in the trailer. We don’t see the massive force attacking the monastery, but it’ll be Wanda going after Strange, Wong, and America Chavez.
It’s only Strange and Wanda that can escape to the multiverse from that fight, and that’s how they’ll eventually end up as Illuminati prisoners. We see Strange in chains and flanked by Ultron drones in the trailer. That matches the plot leak and the CGI leaks that revealed this scene last year.
Wanda, meanwhile, will use her astral projection to find them in the multiverse, and that’s how she ends up fighting the Illuminati. Strange, Wanda and a Dr. Palmer variant will escape this face-off against Wanda.
We know from the Super Bowl short trailer that Dr. Christine Palmer is actually present at the Illuminati HQ. And this Palmer version might be more than a doctor. This Palmer variant is near the glass-made prison cells that are reflected in Wanda’s eyes.
What we don’t see in the trailer is the Darkhold book, a version of which will be destroyed at the Kamar-Taj. America Chavez is not enough. Wanda needs another copy of the book to fulfill her quest, hence the fight against the sorcerers in the primary reality and across the multiverse.
Wanda will ultimately capture Chavez and take her to a castle where another copy of the Darkhold is available. It’s Wong who will tell Wanda about the castle, as she threatens to destroy all existence.
Zombie Strange is not what you think
Strange has to fight himself in the reality where Sinister Strange resides, so he can conjure magic that will allow him to travel to the MCU’s primary reality via astral form. That’s where he will take over the body of Defender Strange, who died early in the movie. We see that zombie Strange version in the trailer, as he’s about to fight someone.
The final battle might take place at this Darkhold Castle, but this is where both the new Doctor Strange 2 trailer and the plot leak run out of details. It’s unclear what will happen in the final fight. The plot leak says that Wanda will come to her senses and destroy the Darkhold. The trailer doesn’t show any scenes to prove that. But we should assume a big fight will take place here. And that’s where we might see more surprise cameos. But this is just speculation.
If you’re having a hard time making sense of this big Multiverse of Madness leak, you should check out this Reddit post (also available below. It goes through the entire Doctor Strange 2 “theory” plot leak, and attaches screenshots from the trailers along the way.
