How the MCU is tearing apart the universe is covered in this in-depth guide.
In the words of Zoolander, “Major Marvel’s universe is so hot right now!” Whether it’s the MCU, Everything Everywhere All At Once, or even a forthcoming DC movie, you can’t throw a rock in modern culture without hearing about the multiverse.
As if everyone was trying to get a piece of Marvel’s next great thing, or that this is all just a huge coincidence. A Bug’s Life and Antz, for example, were both released around the same period, but since when has a notion been so prevalent that it can’t be ignored?
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However, the universe is now residing rent-free in my head, so I decided to explain it and how Marvel has been dealing with it so far.
The following movies and the Loki Disney Plus programme will be subject to mild spoilers before we go any further. On top of that, we’re excluding the animated Spider-Verse and Morbius films since they’re Sony films rather than Marvel films.
Is it possible to explain what the Multiverse is?
Let’s set the stage for Marvel’s take on the Multiverse before diving in. The Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics is the theoretical foundation for the multiverse hypothesis. There are multiple universes existing simultaneously in space and time with our own, to sum it up.
Doctor Strange poster features Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange surrounded by fragments of Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff.
Or, to put it another way, consider what it’s like to live in a big city like New York City. If you were to go down a busy street, you could meet someone who looks like you if you had made other choices. There is a chance that these other versions of you are real. They’re all real, and they’re all here right now.
At this very moment, I’m writing this blog article from my workstation inside my apartment, where no one else is present. If I were to write this in another universe, I may have a family of my own buzzing about in the background. Henrietta T. Casey may be a version of myself that is identical to Henry T. Casey, except instead of being a male, I’m a woman. So on and so on, indefinitely.
This raises the question of how it relates to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War depict Marvel’s universe.
Quentin Beck (Mysterio) claimed that he arrived to Earth from another universe in Spider-Man: Far From Home, although Doctor Strange sort of touched the matter after that.
Strange informed Tony Stark at the conclusion of Avengers: Infinity War that he has “viewed” over 14 million different worlds. As a result, only one of those scenarios resulted in the Avengers stopping Thanos and reversing the murderous “snap,” which “blipped” half of the universe.
Strange’s rolodex of possible possibilities was our first glimpse of the universe to come. The number of futures is mind-boggling. To put it another way, every choice the Avengers made may create a different universe entirely. What if…? The Avengers’ first shot at Thanos wasn’t ruined by Star-Lord Peter Quill, and so on and so forth. Strange didn’t explicitly use the term “multiverse” throughout this chat, but it was apparent what was happening.
Later in Avengers: Endgame, they attempted to steal the Infinity Stones through time-traveling. Steve Rogers, on the other hand, tried his best to clean up after them since they were aware of the dangers of modifying history and the potential for other endings (while still giving himself a wholesome and happy ending with Peggy Carter).
Multiverse: The MCU is not a linear set of heroic events; rather, there are numerous alternative outcomes to the MCU’s events.
WandaVision and Loki, two characters from Marvel’s cosmos.
Final scene of WandaVision’s credits showed Wanda as Scarlet Witch, floating through a massive tome known as the Darkhold and praising its strength. In addition, we could make out the cries of her fictitious boys Billy and Tommy, who were desperate to find their mother. Wanda seems to be searching for the boys in other universes. As for the single Loki series, it’s like multiverse 101 in miniature. This episode, on the other hand, focused more on the constantly diverging chronology and its many iterations. In case you missed it in Endgame, the Avengers had a lot of fun with the Time Heist.
As a result of an accident, Loki was able to leap out of the scene at the conclusion of the first Avengers movie and become a different Loki. One who was enraged to learn that he was fundamentally non-canonical in the first place. Because we all witnessed Loki die at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, the Loki show had to happen this way.
We also discovered during the Loki performance that variations are not unique to this one Loki, and that they are common. Sylvie Loki, a female Loki, a baby Loki, a big evil boasting Loki, an aged Loki portrayed by Richard E. Grant (who looked like Loki from the OG books), and even a charming alligator Loki. They were all Loki on the inside, yet in many ways they varied from one other. Even Thor was murdered by one.
He Who Remains, who some perceived as Kang from Marvel Comics, was another huge influence on multiverse idea in the Loki show. A secret fortress where HWR claimed to be preserving the holy chronology and recounted how he discovered a succession of worlds that were operating in parallel—the multiverse!—like cards piled on top of one other.
Moreover, he gave our anti-heroes the power to write their own tales. But Sylvie refused, killing He Who Remains and shattering the holy chronology that resulted from her refusal.
This, my reader, is likely to have a major impact on the MCU, although we haven’t yet seen the immediate results.
For those unfamiliar with Marvel’s multiverse, it’s a system in which there are many distinct versions of each of us. In addition, the holy chronology has been violated, which should portend horrible things.
Spider-Man: No Way Home introduces Marvel’s universe.
When the Spider-Man movies came out, the universe turned into something far more entertaining and fan-servicey than you can say “Hello, Peter.” Doctor Strange granted Peter Parker’s request in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which resulted in the universe being opened up.
There was a clearer explanation of how things went wrong when Peter Parker (Tom Holland), Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), and Dr. Strange were all together. When Strange convinced Doc Ock that Spider-secret Man’s identity is Peter Parker, Doc Ock revealed to him that the Peter Parker he was familiar with was not Tom Holland.
In other words, Strange’s magic shattered the multiverse’s boundaries for anybody who knew Spider-secret Man’s identity. These folks kept showing up as new MCU characters for the remainder of the film. Even the world as we know it was in danger.
We eventually see the white outlines of all these prospective multiverse-crossers in the sky. We witness Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote return to their own portion of the universe when the crisis is resolved, however. But a teaspoon of the black sludge remained, and who knows what mischief it will do today.
As a general rule of thumb for Marvel’s multiverse: Don’t open the doors between realities too wide.
Doctor Strange 2’s alternate reality system, the multiverse
According to the Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness trailers, it seems that the good Doctor is being held responsible for his temporal crimes..? He may have gone a little too far in his desire to aid the kids in his community.
And in the Dr. Strange 2 Super Bowl teaser, it seems like Professor Charles Xavier—the X-Man himself—has made his way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The question remains: Where was Xavier at all times? Or did Doctor Strange’s activities lead the Marvel Cinematic World (MCU) one only seen in the Fox films to combine with the MCU universe only seen in the Disney Plus movies? He may have arrived because of the activities of Sylvie, who was at He Who Remains’ castle at the time.
Because how can you walk into the universe if you don’t know what it is, these and other questions about the multiverse should be solved in Doctor Strange 2!