Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness dropped some cameos that were maybe even more surprising than the three Spider-Men in No Way Home. Having long-awaited characters such as Fantastic Four‘s Reed Richards and X-Men’s Professor X finally make their way into the MCU, only to be dispatched by Wanda minutes later was a very twisted joke that felt like it could have only come from Sam Raimi.
The writer of Multiverse of Madness, Michael Waldron, recently admitted to Empire magazine that Reed Richards is probably his favourite comics character. “That’s the big one, right? I always wanted Reed Richards in this thing.”
Waldron told Empire that before he even knew Richards being in the Doctor Strange sequel would be a possibility, he included him in a ‘pie-in-the-sky’ post-credits scene. “In my very first draft, I wrote a tag just for the hell of it, of the events of the movie being recorded and reviewed by somebody in the Baxter Building, and a stretchy hand coming into frame to run it back.” It was an opportunity to do at least something with a superhero he’s always loved.
Waldron continued; “Reed is probably my favourite Marvel comics character. So I was always gunning to get him in here somewhere.”
And as for Wanda’s fate? She recognised the darkness that had corrupted her at the end of Doctor Strange 2 and took herself out of action, shall we say. “She’s removing herself from the board… For now? Forever? We’ll see,” hints Waldron. “I’d like to see her again…”
While we wait to find out more about the future of the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men in the MCU, check out our guide to the remaining movies and TV shows in Marvel’s Phase 4.