Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is about to hit theaters,
showing the titular Sorcerer Supreme, Wanda Maximoff, and their superpowered companions
entering the multiverse. If you need a quick refresher on everything that Doctor Strange and
Wanda have gotten up to in the MCU so far, don’t worry, this video has you covered. This is a recap
of everything you need to know before seeing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
2016’s Doctor Strange introduces us to Dr. Stephen Strange, a highly acclaimed
and incredibly arrogant neurosurgeon. He works alongside his ex-girlfriend,
Christine Palmer, who broke up with him due to his selfish and egotistical ways.
After getting into a car accident, Strange permanently injures his hands, leaving him unable
to operate, which ruins his career. He begins searching for experimental methods to fix his
hands, eventually learning of a man named Jonathan Pangborn, a paraplegic who had mysteriously
regained the use of his legs. Pangborn directs Strange to Kamar-Taj, a mythic compound in Nepal.
Once there, he is taken in by the sorcerer Mordo and introduced to the Ancient One,
head of the Masters of the Mystic Arts who has taught all of the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj.
The Ancient One reluctantly agrees to take on Strange as a student,
although his arrogance reminded her of a former student named Kaecilius.
Kaecilius had turned against the Ancient One due her resistance of allowing other sorcerers
to study the Dark Dimension, which Kaecilius believed could not only bring him immortality,
but also potentially a reunion with his deceased wife and son. Kaecilius formed
his own rebellious faction of the Masters of the Mystic Arts known as the Zealots. Together,
they stormed Kamar-Taj’s library to steal pages from the Book of Cagliostro that would allow them
to summon Dormammu, the inter-dimensional entity that ruled the Dark Dimension.
In the present, Strange is taught by Mordo and the Ancient One, and learns about the astral plane
and the Mirror Dimension. Strange also learns that Earth is protected from interdimensional
threats by a shield generated from three different buildings around the world called Sanctums. There
was one in New York City, one in London, and one in Hong Kong. It was the sorcerers’ duty to
protect the Sanctums, and therefore Earth. Strange also befriends Kamar-Taj’s librarian, Wong,
while secretly reading forbidden texts like the Book of Cagliostro. Strange begins experimenting
with the time-bending Eye of Agamotto, which Mordo and Wong both warn him against.
Kaecilius and his zealots destroy the London sanctum, then attack the New York sanctum.
Strange acquires the Cloak of Levitation and uses it to fend off the attackers.
Strange and Kaecilius then take their fight into the Mirror Dimension for a trippy,
sorcerer battle. In the end, Kaecilius mortally wounds the Ancient One before heading off to
attack the Hong Kong sanctum. Strange tells Mordo that the Ancient One had been using power from
the Dark Dimension to sustain her immortal life, causing Mordo to feel disillusioned. Regardless,
he joins Strange on his trip to Hong Kong where they find that Kaecilius has destroyed
the sanctum and killed Wong, and now the Dark Dimension was beginning to engulf the Earth.
Strange uses the Eye to reverse time, restoring the sanctum and bringing Wong back to life.
He then enters the Dark Dimension to confront Dormammu. Strange traps himself and Dormammu in
a time loop, where Dormammu repeatedly kills Strange to no end. Eventually,
a frustrated Dormammu agrees to Strange’s demands to leave Earth for good, taking Kaecilius and the
zealots into the Dark Dimension with him. Strange breaks the loop and the Earth has been saved.
Strange then returns the Eye to Kamar-Taj and is appointed Sorcerer Supreme,
then takes up residence with Wong as protectors of the New York Sanctum.
Meanwhile, Mordo has become disillusioned by the Ancient One and Strange defying the laws of nature
and renounces his sorcerer responsibilities. Mordo then tracks down Pangborn and steals the
mystical abilities that allowed him to walk, declaring that Earth had too many sorcerers.
The story of Doctor Strange continues in Avengers: Infinity War. The villainous
Thanos is collecting all of the infinity stones in an attempt to use their powers
to erase half of the entire universe’s population. One such stone is the Time Stone, which was stored
within the Eye of Agamotto. Strange joins the Avengers in their fight against Thanos,
eventually leading them to the planet Titan for a final battle. Strange uses the Time Stone to
look into millions of different versions of the future, and in only one of them are the
Avengers successful. Eventually, Strange and the Avengers are defeated, and Thanos acquires all of
the infinity stones. After placing the stones in the infinity gauntlet and snapping his fingers,
half of the universe’s population, including Stephen Strange, disintegrate.
Fortunately, the surviving Avengers devise a plan to defeat Thanos and bring all of their
fallen allies back to life. They travel through time to various moments throughout
history to take the stones for themselves before Thanos can get his hands on them.
Once they acquire all of the stones, the Hulk uses them to bring back everyone who had died.
Strange is resurrected and leads the Masters of the Mystic Arts into battle,
who also use their magic to teleport every single hero to the final battle against Thanos. In order
to finally kill Thanos once and for all, Strange informs Tony Stark that this was the one future
he saw where the Avengers were victorious. And so, to ensure that victory, Tony Stark sacrifices his
own life to use the infinity stones one final time, killing Thanos and saving the universe.
During the time of Strange’s death, Wong has been named the new Sorcerer Supreme. After his
resurrection and the defeat of Thanos, Strange rejoins him in the New York Sanctum. Eventually,
Peter Parker pays Strange a visit after his identity as Spider-Man is exposed
to the entire world by the villain Mysterio. Peter asks Strange to cast a spell that would
make everyone forget that he was Spider-Man. Despite Wong’s warnings of the spell’s danger,
Strange agrees to help Peter. While casting the spell, Peter accidentally distracts Strange,
causing the spell to backfire and break open the multiverse. Multiple villains from other
multiverses that knew Spider-Man’s true identity were pulled into Peter’s universe,
alongside two other Peter Parker variants. The three Spider-Men team up to defeat their
villains so Strange can send them back to the universes they belong in. Strange manages to
hold together the fracturing multiverse and send the villains and alternate Spider-Men back home.
But, to do so, he had to cast a new spell that would make everyone, including himself,
forget the existence of Peter Parker. It was a sacrifice Peter was willing to make, and so,
the spell was cast, the day was saved, and the multiverse was seemingly closed and restored.
And that’s the last we’ve seen of Doctor Strange. But he’s not the only character that will be
entering the Multiverse of Madness! So now let’s take a look at Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch.
We are first introduced to Wanda and her twin brother Pietro in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Wanda,
unbeknownst to her, was born a witch. After their parents’ deaths, Wanda and Pietro joined
the enhancement program run by the villainous Hydra. All of the other test subjects died, but
Pietro developed superspeed, and Wanda’s magic was amplified, giving her psychic abilities.
Eventually, Wanda and Pietro break free from Hydra and team up with the Avengers to defeat
the villainous robot Ultron. To help fight Ultron, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner develop
a super-powered android named Vision, who is powered by the Mind Stone. The Avengers,
the Maximoffs, and Vision travel to Sokovia to defeat Ultron. During the battle,
Pietro sacrifices himself to save Hawkeye and a young boy.
After defeating Ultron, Wanda and Vision officially join the Avengers and fall in
love. When the villainous Thanos arrives to collect the infinity stones, the Mind Stone
that gave Vision his life was obviously a top priority. Despite the Avengers’ best efforts to
protect Vision and defeat Thanos, the villain defeats the Avengers and takes the Mind Stone,
killing Vision. Having acquired all of the infinity stones, Thanos snaps his fingers,
wiping out half of the universe’s population, including a heartbroken Wanda.
Once the surviving Avengers defeat Thanos and bring back all of their fallen friends,
Wanda is left heartbroken as Vision is still dead. Wanda visits the home that
Vision had bought for them to grow old in in the small town of Westview. Overcome with grief,
Wanda unleashes a chaos magic Hex that transforms Westview into a sitcom-themed false reality,
trapping all of the town residents inside to act out Wanda’s happy fantasy life.
Wanda materializes a new version of Vision, and the two live in domestic bliss. Eventually,
Wanda gives birth to twin sons, Tommy and Billy. The kids age rapidly and develop superpowers, with
Tommy gaining superspeed like Pietro and Billy gaining magical abilities similar to his mother.
Wanda’s hold on Westview begins to weaken and the intelligence agency S.W.O.R.D. attempts to enter
the town to free the citizens and take down Wanda. They send in Agent Monica Rambeau, daughter of
Captain Marvel’s best friend Maria Rambeau, to stop Wanda and save the residents of Westview.
S.W.O.R.D. even recovers the dead body of the real Vision, reviving him to weaponize against Wanda.
As S.W.O.R.D. and their Vision enter Westview, Wanda’s Vision fends them off. Wanda’s Hex causes
Monica to develop superpowers which she uses to defend her new friend from the S.W.O.R.D.’s head,
Tyler Hayward, who has gone rogue to kill Wanda. Meanwhile, Wanda discovers that her neighbor Agnes
was actually a witch named Agatha Harkness who had come to Westview to absorb Wanda’s powers. She had
been manipulating Wanda the entire time, and even created a fake Pietro to further her plans. Agatha
tells Wanda that she was actually the legendary Scarlet Witch, who was more powerful than the
Sorcerer Supreme and was destined to destroy the world. As the series comes to a close, Hayward is
arrested, Hex Vision restores the reconstructed Vision’s memories, and Wanda assumes the title
of Scarlet Witch, defeating Agatha and trapping her in the innocent and powerless Agnes identity.
Realizing the trauma she had caused the people of Westview, basically enslaving
them to deal with her own trauma, Wanda makes the difficult decision to make things
right. She lifts her Hex on the town and says a tearful goodbye to her family as Vision, Billy,
and Tommy are erased from existence. Wanda then retreats to a secluded mountainside cabin where
she begins studying the Darkhold, a magical book from the Dark Dimension that had been in Agatha
Harkness’ possession. The book contained more knowledge about the true depths of her powers
as the Scarlet Witch. While studying it, Wanda hears her sons calling out to her for help.