By: Salman Said

The official trailer of ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ has arrived, and fans are excited. The trailer was the number one trending video on YouTube. The movie is directed by Sam Rami and is set to release on May 6th, 2022.

It takes place chronologically after ‘Spider-Man No Way Home’. *If you haven’t watched the new Spider-Man movie, spoiler alerts are in place*. The movie’s main-conflict revolves around the collapsing multiverse after Dr. Strange fails to make everyone forget Peter Parker is Spider-Man (in order to save the multiverse from collapsing he made everyone forget who Peter Parker was altogether).

In the trailer, we see that his actions had detrimental after-effects, and now many different characters are entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe like America Chavez. Her powers allow her to enter different multiverses and it looks like she’ll be playing a big role in the movie. We’ve already seen both previous Spider-Men and their respective villains, but now it looks like they aren’t the only ones arriving.

The movie trailer opens with Doctor Strange waking up from a nightmare; interestingly, the villain of the film was speculated to be Nightmare, but after COVID pushbacks and a change of directors, it appears that the initial storyline line and antagonist might’ve changed. Nightmare was Doctor Strange’s original enemy, and his powers include manipulating the dreams and nightmares of those he haunts (like Freddy Krueger). He also has complete control over the nightmare world he creates, as well as conscious control over the bodies of those he possesses. However, a shift of setting in the trailer reveals another plot line altogether without him.

During the trailer, we see Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch), played by Elizabeth Olsen, who we haven’t seen since ‘WandaVision’, the hit Disney+ series. She’s become a scorned mother on a mission to find her children again, potentially in the multiverse itself after losing them. The last time we’d seen her she was mastering chaos magic and had fully embraced her sinister side. In the trailer we heard an unsettling and ominous comment made by her to Doctor Strange, “You break the rules, you become the hero. I do it, I become the enemy.” The statement appears to be a set-up for the heartbroken mother to do whatever it takes to find her children, even if it means destroying the multiverse itself.

The Fox-Disney merger was a big topic back in 2019 and something all Marvel fans were excited about. Finally the MCU got its prized characters back including the X-Men, Fantastic 4, and the popular red anti-hero Deadpool. This adds to the excitement that fans already had when we saw Deadpool interacting with MCU’s Korg during a trailer for Ryan Reynolds’s new movie, ‘Free Guy’. It’s been almost 4 years since the merger and fans are wondering when we’ll get to see these characters team up with our favorite MCU characters.

The wait might not be as long as we think, because during the trailer we hear the voice of Patrick Stewart, also known as Professor X, the leader of the X-Men. This has many people wondering if the multiverse opening has allowed these characters to arrive in the MCU just like it had with Andrew Garfield and Tobey Macguire’s Spider-Men.

Though it’s all speculation, many fans are excited to see characters like Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier, or another Iron Man played by Tom Cruise.

Nonetheless, many moviegoers are thrilled about this film. It has the potential to pull in enormous numbers at the box office, as we witnessed the latest film ‘Spider-Man No Way Home’ hit the $1 billion mark in global sales, making it the first movie to do so since the pandemic began two years ago.

Marvel has had a significant influence on the film industry, and it’s clear that many fans are delighted to see their favorite actors and actresses perform their iconic characters on the big screen.