six things you need to know to better understand the multiverse of Marvel movies

After these collective adventures with the avengers and Spiderman in 2018 and 2021, Stephen Strange returns in a solo adventure. Entitled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessthe film is directed by Sam Raimi, known for directing the first trilogy Spiderman in 2002. The film, which comes out next May 4, promises many surprises for its spectators. With the main theme, the multiverse and its many mysteries.

Before immersing yourself in a journey between universes, franceinfo gives you a six-step summary of previous mentions of the multiverse in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Concept from the comics, it was gradually introduced in previous films and series released since 2018. We summarize what you need to know before going a little further from May 4 in Doctor Strange 2.

The multiverse, a concept from the comics of the 60s

The multiverse established by the Marvel Cinematic Universe was largely inspired by what has been done before in the comics of the Marvel Comics branch. Its roots go back to the early days of comic books, in the 60s more precisely.

The Marvel Universe’s first contact with another reality dates back to 1962 in issue 103 of Strange Tales, a former comic book format from Marvel publishers. The story tells of Johnny Storm, a member of the Fantastic Four, transported to a dark alternate universe called the Fifth Dimension. Subsequently, the concept of travel between the multiverse was then generalized among American comic book authors: a technique now common among comic book writers, seeking to connect all their stories and their different characters.

The new central theme of Marvel films since 2018

It is on the mysterious and infinite postulate that the multiverse offers that Marvel Studios builds its new cinematic era. Since 2008 with the film iron man and until the spectacular finale ofAvengers: Endgame in 2018, it was the quest for the Infinity Stones that made up the main plot and united the feature films. Since then it is the theory of universes parallel to the one in which we live and the existence of alternative realities which form the backdrop of the new films.

It is therefore fromAvengers: Endgame and of Spider-Man: No Way Home that the spectators saw disembarking heroes from different realities. In the latest Spider-Man, fans even had the pleasure of seeing three different versions of Spider-Man brought together in the same film. It is Par through exchanges between characters, notably that between Stephen Strange and the Elder, the master of the Sorcerer Supreme, that the concept of the multiverse has really been explained. It promises to be explored extensively in the new film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Alternate realities, introduced in the “Loki” series

Marvel Studios has really begun to explore its multiverse on the small screen, with the arrival in June 2021 of the Disney + series Loki. The writers introduced the existence of a Court of Anachronistic Variations (TVA), a kind of time police, held by an enigmatic antagonist. This authority is responsible for arresting and killing anyone who tries to alter the past or the future. Their goal: to avoid any creation of new timelines because of anomalies that could disturb the main reality.

And it is in this series that an alternative version of the Asgardian Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, ends up overcoming the organization and triggering the extension of parallel universes.

Parallel universes, explored in the series “What if…?”

It is a continuation of the end of the first season of Loki than the animated series What If…?also available on Disney+, came into play. The work presents itself as an anthological saga where each episode presents a universe parallel to that of the main reality. With heroes certainly known to the general public like Thor, Doctor Strange or Black Panther, but different from what spectators usually know.

From a universe where Black Panther has become a guardian of the galaxy, to one where the heroes have become zombies, the possibilities for alternate universes are endless. But this is the one where resides Dark Strangea universe where a dark version of Stephen Strange managed to destroy his world, which will have an intrinsic connection with the next film Doctor Strange.

Scarlet Witch capable of altering reality, born in “WandaVision”

Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch and former Avenger, will also be back strong and more powerful than ever, after the recent events of Wanda Visionout on Disney+ in January 2021. It’s in this series that we learn a little more about the hidden capacities of the magician, in particular her power to create different realities within a universe and to raise the dead.

These episodes suggest that Scarlet Witch wields immeasurable power capable of structurally altering all the realities of the multiverse, revealing her as a true ticking time bomb. Fans are quick to theorize about the scope of his abilities, which have already been covered in the comics. House of Man event comic from 2005 in which the Scarlet Witch was given the opportunity to reshape reality as she pleased.

Endless possibilities, like the arrival of the X-Men in the MCU

Rumors have swirled about the probable arrival of the X-Men – the group of superheroes who have several films under their belt – and their leader Professor X, played by Patrick Stewart. The X-Men feature series began in 2000 with its first installment and spanned no less than 10 films until 2019 with the release of X-Men Dark Phoenix. Since the acquisition of the studios of the 21st Century Fox by Disney in December 2017, the firm with the big ears did not hide its desire to integrate the group of heroes into its MCU.

In an interview dedicated to the American press for the promotion of the next season of Star Trek Picard, the 81-year-old British actor could only vaguely confirm his involvement in this film. However, he said he was excited to see so many fans happy about his return to the next MCU film.

Between a real desire to do something new and a desire to please fans of the first hour, Marvel Studios now has all the cards in hand to reveal a whole new narrative framework to its cinematographic universe, thanks to the infinite possibilities of the theory of multiverse. At the risk of losing some occasional spectators along the way, who could find it difficult to hang up the wagons between the different characters and the universes in which they evolve. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which comes out on Wednesday May 4, in any case promises to open up the field of possibilities even more within the Marvel empire.