Could ‘Doctor Strange 2’ set the MCU up for ‘Wandavision’ season 2?

Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is expected to do a fair amount of heavy lifting when it comes to Phrase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The title alone promises to delve into Marvel Comics’ alternate realities – a concept already teased in Avengers: Endgame – and that’s before even considering what other Phase 4 titles are setting up in the meantime.

The most intriguing connection the Dr. Strange sequel has with other Marvel properties is its promised continuation of the cliffhanger that ended WandaVision. The WandaVision season finale concluded with Wanda in exile, fully embracing her magical powers and doing some astral projection double duty, Strange-style. We gotta say, after seeing what she did in Westview, it all looked a little scary.

We’ve known for a while that Elizabeth Olsen had signed up to appear in Multiverse of Madness, but only once WandaVision was over did her potential role in the movie become clearer. Could Wanda actually be an antagonist in the Dr. Strange sequel, instead of an ally? And what could this all mean for a so-far-unconfirmed WandaVision season 2?

Stephen & friends

Let’s put the WandaVision speculation on hold for a minute and let’s recap what Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has to take care of when it comes to the Sorcerer Supreme himself. The first Dr. Strange movie also gave us quite the cliffhanger: Karl Mordo didn’t just renounce his sorcerer career, he went full-on rogue and started stealing magic from other sorcerers (poor Benjamin Bratt!).

So, right off the bat, before we even get to all the multiverse stuff, Dr. Strange has to deal with a friend turned foe. And there’s no way the first film spent so much time developing Mordo simply for him to be dealt with easily in the sequel. So whatever else Multiverse of Madness ends up being about, odds are the Dr. Strange vs. Mordo confrontation will be at its heart.

Where does Wanda fit in all of this? Mordo ended the first Dr. Strange film by proclaiming there were “too many sorcerers.” That makes Wanda a target, since WandaVision revealed her powers are mystical in nature. Of course, there’s a good chance Wanda will just wipe the floor with Mordo, considering how powerful she turned out to be during her TV show.

A sorceress called Wanda

WandaVision closed its first season showing us Wanda deep in study of the Darkhold – a magic book she took from Agatha Harkness after defeating her in battle. You might be familiar with the Darkhold if you followed the MCU TV shows from before the Disney+ era: the so-called “Book of the Damned” popped up in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

While WandaVision didn’t acknowledge the AoS Darkhold mythology, WandaVision director Matt Shakman has said he imagines “it’s the same book.” But regardless of its shaky MCU past, the Darkhold also has a rich history in Marvel Comics. The comic book version of the Darkhold was created by the Elder God Chthon, who gave Wanda her powers in the first place.

In the comics, Wanda, Agatha Harkness, and Dr. Strange teamed-up to help Wanda fight back against Chthon’s attempts to possess her. None of this has anything to do with the multiverse, but it’s not hard to imagine Dr. Strange will be trying to help Wanda control her powers in the new movie. Will this happen because Wanda asks for help, or will Strange be facing her as an adversary?

Elsewhere in Phase 4

Dr. Strange is going to be dealing with more than just WandaVision’s fallout in his new movie. By the time Multiverse of Madness comes out, we’ll have already experienced Spider-Man: No Way Home and the Loki TV Show. Both projects are meant to have multiverse connections and therefore will have an impact on the Dr. Strange sequel.

Benedict Cumberbatch was part of the gazillion cast announcements for the upcoming Spider-Man sequel, so we know for a fact Dr. Strange will be teaming-up with Spidey in it. While nothing has been confirmed, the multiple casting news & rumors hint at Peter Parker taking a trip down alternate realities and possibly running into Spider-Men from previous film adaptations.

We know less about the Loki show. However, considering the last time we saw Loki alive, it was a past version of him running away with the Tesseract . . . well, it’s not much of a stretch to imagine the show will deal with Loki jumping around alternate timelines. Will this bring him into Dr. Strange’s adventures in the multiverse? There will be some sort of connection, that’s for sure.

WandaVision 2: Electric Vision

Kevin Feige, in classic Kevin Fiege fashion, has been pretty vague about the possibility of giving us another season of WandaVision. It’s not in the cards for the immediate future, but it could happen, depending on what the stories dictate. Of course, in order to have a WandaVision season 2, you need to have Wanda & Vision. Will that be the case by the time Phase 4 is over?

As things stand now, we at least know Vision survived the WandaVision finale – although it’s not the Vision we grew to know & love. Still, White Vision is better than no Vision, right? As for Wanda, it seems unlikely that they’ll kill her off in the Dr. Strange sequel, after all the work they’ve put to flesh out her character this year. Still, anything could happen.

If WandaVision does return for a season 2, it will probably be a markedly different show from season 1. The family sitcom gimmick was great, but it certainly came to an end right before it wore out its welcome. Given Wanda’s power levels now, there are no limits to what a second season could be like, so we’re looking forward to seeing what the MCU creators come up with.